Why Use the Photo Challenge Rule?
The Photo Challenge rule rewards customers with points for uploading a photo that you review and approve. It is a flexible way to reward the actions that matter to your brand but do not happen inside a normal online order.
Common ways stores use it:
Reward a screenshot of a Google or Trustpilot review a customer has left
Reward user generated content, such as a customer wearing or using your product
Reward an unboxing photo or a photo from an in person event
Reward proof of any action you want to encourage, on your terms
You stay in full control. Every photo comes to you for a quick review, and you decide whether to approve the points or reject the submission.
Availability
The Photo Challenge rule is available on the Growth plan and above. If you do not see it in your list of earning rules and would like it enabled, reach out to the Mage Loyalty team through live chat.
Create the Photo Challenge Rule
You can run more than one Photo Challenge at the same time, each with its own title, instructions, and reward. Follow these steps to add one.
From your Shopify admin, open the Mage Loyalty app.
In the left menu, click Loyalty.
Scroll to the Earning Points section and click Add Earning Rule.
Select Photo Challenge from the rule type list.
Fill in the challenge settings (covered in the next section).
Click Save Changes. The challenge is now Active and visible to customers.
Configure the Challenge
These are the settings you will fill in when creating or editing a Photo Challenge.
Field | What It Does |
Title | The name customers see for this challenge in the loyalty widget. For example, "Share your Google review". |
Instructions | A short explanation shown to customers in the upload window, telling them exactly what to photograph. For example, "Upload a screenshot of the Google review you left for us." |
Points reward | The points a customer earns when you approve their photo. This is the default amount, and you can change it for any individual submission at the point of approval. |
How often can a customer earn this? | Choose One off or Custom. See the Upload Limits section below for how each option behaves. |
Days between uploads | Only shown when you choose Custom. Sets how long a customer must wait before uploading again. For example, 1 for one photo per day, 7 for one per week, 30 for one per month. |
Email reminders | Found under Advanced settings. When on, Mage Loyalty emails you a weekly summary of any submissions waiting for review on this challenge. |
Custom icon | An optional image shown next to the challenge in the loyalty widget. If you do not upload one, a default camera icon is used. |
Status | Turns the challenge on or off. Only active challenges appear to customers. |
Tip
Clear instructions lead to better submissions and fewer rejections. Tell customers exactly what needs to be visible in the photo, for example the star rating and the review text for a review screenshot.
How the Photo Challenge Works
Every photo is reviewed by you before points are awarded. Here is the full flow from upload to points.
Step | Stage | Detail |
1 | Customer uploads a photo | The customer opens the challenge in the loyalty widget, reads your instructions, and uploads a photo from their phone or computer. |
2 | Submission goes pending | The customer sees a message that their photo is under review. The submission appears in your review queue. |
3 | You review the photo | You open the submission, view the photo, and decide whether it meets the challenge. |
4 | Approve or reject | Approve to award points, or reject with a reason. Points are only ever awarded when you approve. |
5 | Customer is notified | On approval, points land in the customer's account and they receive a Photo Challenge Approved email (if enabled). On rejection, they see your reason and can try again. |
Upload Limits (How Often Customers Can Earn)
The frequency setting controls how often a customer can take part. There are two options.
One off
The customer can earn from this challenge once. After their first approved photo, the challenge is complete for them.
If a photo is rejected, the customer can try again the next day until they get one approved.
Custom
The customer can earn from this challenge repeatedly, with a wait between uploads that you set in Days between uploads.
For example, 1 allows one photo per day, 7 allows one per week, and 30 allows one per month.
How the wait works
The wait counts every upload, whether it was approved, rejected, or still pending. This stops customers uploading many photos at once. If a customer tries to upload too soon, they see a message telling them the limit has been reached, and when they can upload next. The wait is counted in calendar days in your store's timezone.
Managing Submissions
Once your challenge is live, customer photos arrive in your review queue.
To open the review queue:
Open the Photo Challenge rule from the Earning Points section.
Click the Submissions button on the rule, or open the Photo Challenge Submissions page.
On the submissions page you can filter by status (pending, approved, or rejected), by challenge if you run more than one, and by customer email. The list updates as you change the filters.
Reviewing a submission
Click a submission to open it. You will see the photo, the challenge and its instructions, and the customer's details.
Click Open full size to view the photo at full resolution in a new tab.
To approve, confirm or change the points to award, then click Approve. The amount is prefilled with the challenge default.
To reject, click Reject and enter a reason. A reason is required and is shown to the customer.
Tip
Set aside a regular time each week to clear your queue. Customers are waiting on their points, and a quick turnaround keeps the reward feeling worthwhile. The weekly reminder email helps you keep on top of this.
What Happens When You Approve
The points are added to the customer's account immediately.
The customer receives a Photo Challenge Approved email, if that email template is enabled (see Email Notifications below).
A Photo Challenge Approved event is sent to your connected marketing tools, such as Klaviyo, Omnisend, Postscript, and Attentive. This lets you trigger flows or build segments off the approval (see Targeting Approvals below).
The customer's updated balance is synced to your connected apps.
What Happens When You Reject
No points are awarded.
The reason you enter is shown to the customer next to their submission in the loyalty widget.
The customer receives a Photo Challenge Rejected email, if that email template is enabled.
The customer can upload again, following the challenge's upload limit, unless it is a one off challenge they have already completed.
Email Notifications
Two customer emails relate to Photo Challenges, plus a reminder email for you. The two customer emails are turned off by default, so switch them on if you want customers to be notified.
When It Sends | |
Photo Challenge Approved | Sent to the customer when you approve their photo and points are awarded. For photo challenges this replaces the standard Points Earned email. |
Photo Challenge Rejected | Sent to the customer when you reject their photo, including the reason you entered. |
Weekly reminder (to you) | A weekly summary of submissions waiting for review, listed per challenge. Controlled by the Email reminders setting on each challenge. |
Common Mistake
Expecting customers to be emailed on approval without enabling the Photo Challenge Approved email. If that template is off, customers still get their points, but no email is sent. Turn on the Photo Challenge Approved email in your Email Templates settings if you want customers notified.
Target Photo Challenge Approvals in Your Marketing Tools
When you approve a photo, a Photo Challenge Approved event fires to your connected marketing platforms. It includes a Challenge Name property set to the title of your challenge (for example "Share your Google review"), along with the points awarded, the approval status, and the submitted and approved dates.
This means you can build flows and segments in tools like Klaviyo that target photo challenge approvals specifically. For example, trigger a thank you flow whenever the Photo Challenge Approved event fires, filtered to the Challenge Name of your challenge.
Note
The event identifies the challenge by its Challenge Name, so use a clear, distinct title if you plan to target it in marketing. To learn how to build flows from Mage Loyalty events, see the Setting up Klaviyo Flows guide.
What Customers See
The challenge appears in the Ways to Earn section of your loyalty sidebar and widget, with your title, instructions, and points.
Customers can upload photos taken on their phone or computer, including iPhone photos and screenshots. Images are optimised automatically before upload.
After uploading, customers see the status of their submission: under review, approved with the points earned, or not approved with your reason.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Common Mistake
Vague instructions. If customers are not told exactly what to photograph, you will receive off topic photos that you have to reject. Be specific about what needs to be visible.
Common Mistake
Letting the queue build up. Customers expect a reasonably quick decision. Keep the weekly reminder on and review submissions regularly so points are not delayed.
Common Mistake
Forgetting to enable the Photo Challenge Approved email. Customers get their points either way, but they will not receive a confirmation email unless the template is switched on.
Troubleshooting
The challenge is not appearing to customers
Confirm the challenge Status is set to Active.
Check that your overall Program Status is enabled on the main Loyalty page.
A customer says they cannot upload again
Check the challenge frequency. A one off challenge is complete after one approved photo. A custom challenge has a wait between uploads.
Remember the wait counts every upload, including pending and rejected ones, and resets at the start of the next day in your store's timezone.
A customer did not receive an email after approval
Check that the Photo Challenge Approved email template is enabled in your Email Templates settings.
Confirm the customer has an email on file and has not unsubscribed from loyalty emails.
Still need help or can't find the answers you're looking for? Reach out to the Mage Loyalty team through our live chat support.