Let’s Start Talking About Year 6 Of The Jaftex Video Challenge
Summer is finally here! Do you know what that means? Yes, of course, you do! The Jaftex Facebook Live Shop Tour Video Challenge is right around the corner starting August 1, 2023. If you were paying close attention, you will have realized that in the title of this blog that I just call the contest the Jaftex Video Challenge. There is a good reason for that. Let me tell you about it.
When it comes to social media and guiding our customers, we always like to be on the cutting edge to help our customers stay on top of the ever-changing social media environment. As such, we did a little pivot this year to step up the challenge with the times. What we are planning this year is to have two different formats for submitting videos. I will talk about this more in late July when we share the contest rules, but for the time being, I wanted to get our valued customers thinking about what we have up our sleeves so they can be in the proper mindset when August arrives and plan accordingly.
Drum roll please…..this year in addition to allowing live video submissions as we have in the past, we are also going to allow our valued customers to submit a one-minute Reel. Reels are super popular right now and we want to force our shop owners into the fray for their benefit so they can start to build Reels into their normal social media cadence. Shop owners participating in the challenge can submit both formats of videos, but they can only win one prize in one of the categories.
Speaking of prizes, we have other plans this year to make things interesting and even more exciting. If we have more than 200 submissions in a category (Reels or Live Video), Uncle Scott will offer a kicker prize. In other words, I am bribing all my customers to get involved with the challenge so our kicker prize can well…..kick in. Before the kicker, the top prize will be a $1500 credit. If the kicker gets triggered, there will be an additional prize added for a $2500 credit. Enticing right? I think so! And, I am willing to put my money where my mouth is for the quilting community to win.
Now that we got all that out of the way, I wanted to share a variety of helpful videos and articles to get shop owners thinking about the contest and how they want to attack the Reel portion. This is especially helpful for those who have never created a Reel. Below are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Single Product: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FG0Q8na5mRc
- Multiple Products: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8bpc7vGcs2g
- Walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/32G4IOz3VKU
- Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/28uI1dZOuUU
- Caption Tour: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SQ1HG1_SkMU
- Vlog Perspective: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/r0Hme84yzVc
- Short and Sweet: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nRv9T64kiB4
Also, here are some great resources to help you embrace Reels like a pro. These write ups are all from the Social Media Examiner. It was the Social Media Examiner event in San Diego that turned me on to embracing videos for my business about 6 years ago. It was also the same time that I started pushing my customers to embrace video. In other words, I have them to thank for pushing me, and you shop owners, to use more video in business. In hindsight, this was a prescient move and that is a good thing.
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-make-instagram-reels-like-a-pro/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/instagram-reels-strategy-what-marketers-need-to-know/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-instagram-reels-insights/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-sell-with-instagram-reels-and-stories/
Lastly, I wanted to share some industry related Instagram Channels where you can find some other great examples of Reels.
- https://www.instagram.com/aurifilthread/reels/
- https://www.instagram.com/missouriquiltco/reels/
- https://www.instagram.com/thewholecountrycaboodle/reels
- https://www.instagram.com/maureenmaker/reels
- https://www.instagram.com/geometryandjoy/reels/
- https://www.instagram.com/stitchedbystarlight/reels/
With July right around the corner, it’s a great time to start diving into these resources so you can get the most out of your submissions for the Jaftex Video Challenge 2023! Good luck!