One way of measuring your competition success is by the number and quality of the submissions you receive. However, many competition organizers get lost in the operations, that they forget the outreach and communication part. The number of applications received does not only depend on marketing, it can be as simple as good & timely communication with your audience.

Start with the below steps:

1. Optimal Landing Page

Keep the applicants informed about all information and updates related to your competition, with a dedicated website. Include the concept, themes or/and tracks, timeline, deadline, and FAQs. An informative landing page attracts the right audience and makes conversion easier. Check out Untap website builder to get some ideas.

2. Clear communication Messages

Communicate the objective and the prize first thing, to grab attention, then give clear instructions on the application process. And don’t forget to communicate the deadline.
Be clear about your objectives, who’s eligible to apply, what are you judging criterion, …etc. One thing that is usually overlooked is the language and tonality, while using your brand guidelines, make sure your language and tonality would attract the right audience.

3. Social Media

You probably check your social media accounts on a daily basis, so do your audience. There are nearly 3.5 Billion users on Social Media, out of 7.7 Billion world population. Imagine how many potential applicants you can reach through social media. Start with posting on your own accounts, push the announcement through your partners, network, or pages and online communities that are relevant to your audience.

4. Communicate with your audience

Keep the communication going throughout the competition. Post updates, reminders, and deadline countdown.

Communicate with applicants through emails, sending them reminders to submit their pending applications. You can go the extra mile by sending personalized feedback or general tips and tricks to write better applications.

5. Multi-phase application process

Don’t scare away applicants with one long application form, that starts with basic information all the way to final project. At first, you need to get to know your applicant, and encourage them to introduce themselves and their basic idea.

Make the first round of applications more about the applicant and later ones more about the idea, and keep getting details as you shortlist qualified applicants. Check out how our multiple submission round engine works here.

6. Easy Application Process

Make the application form experience easy for applicants, through:

    – Autosave information, so that applicants can pick up where they left off each time.
    – Dedicated participant account, where they can track their progress and check their application status.
    – Eligibility check.

Always remember that your mission is to reach the right audience, then encourage them to apply. If you managed to imagine the applicant’s journey you will be able to identify the gaps that you need to solve in your current process. We have only put here the most common ones.