The International Performance Marketing Awards arrive for the first time this year, seeing the industry compete on a global stage in an evening celebrating the success and diversity of the performance marketing industry.
Ahead of the awards night on October 23, and with the entry deadline ending in just one month (July 25, late entry August 4), PerformanceIN has put together a list of dos and don’ts to help you create the perfect submission. Make sure you tick all the boxes before sending us your entry.
Here are our top tips.
Short & sweet
Our judges typically have hundreds of entries to go through and spend around three days examining them. Ensure your application is brief and concise so they can easily and quickly find out what makes your campaign unique.
It’s also important to stick to the set guidelines – if you’re asked to provide a two-page executive summary, follow the instructions to avoid a potential penalty. If you need to add anything else, you can attach supporting evidence in the appendix.
Take your time
It’s easy to spot a last-minute entry and judges can tell if you’re recycling an old one. Make sure you allow enough time and take care when drafting your submission. An application written in a rush, containing grammatical or spelling errors, will reflect badly on your campaign as a whole. Make sure you proofread before hitting ‘send.’
This is also important in terms of the layout of your entry. Make it clear for the judges to read by choosing the right design; feel free to use bullet points and highlight important information in bold.
When planning your entry writing process, you should also be wary of late client sign-off. Leave enough time after finishing your draft for clients to approve of your submission so you don’t miss the deadline.
Clear message
Pick clear objectives as they will be taken into account when benchmarking it against the campaign’s result. Include as much relevant information as possible as judges will need clear evidence when it comes to KPIs and ROI. Don’t worry about sensitive information being shared further – we honour the confidentiality of all submissions and this will be for the judges’ eyes only.
Also, it’s worth remembering that judges often like to ‘see’ the campaign they are reviewing and along with your message and information, you can provide supporting evidence. This is a good way of adding more detail and context, whether it’s a screenshot, graphics, video or testimonials.
Prove your understanding
The awards are about showcasing excellence, innovation and best practice in performance marketing. Make sure you emphasise how these core values manifest themselves in your campaign when submitting your entry. Tell judges about your unique selling points and what makes your campaign stand out.
Finally, don’t forget to carefully read the criteria to ensure your entry is relevant to the award you compete for.
You should also remember…
All submissions should focus on international activity between 1 June 2016 to 14 July 2017. You are allowed to enter multiple categories with the same campaign, however, you must draft separate entry for each submission.
You can include one piece of maximum one page as supporting evidence. This needs to be relevant and add value to your entry, for instance, client testimonials, campaign snapshots, videos or photos. If any of the information you provide is sensitive, please make sure it’s labelled with “Judges’ Eye Only” so it’s not shared elsewhere.
We provide a number of templates you can use for your entry – using them is not a requirement, however, they provide guidance as to what is expected from your entry and you might find them helpful while drafting it.
Please bear in mind that in the past, failure to include information required in the criteria has been a deciding factor.
Best of luck!
Dates for your calendar
04.04.17 Entries open
20.06.17 Voting open
25.07.17 Entries close
04.08.17 Late entries close
05.09.17 Shortlist unveiled
06.10.17 Voting closes
23.10.17 The International Performance Marketing Awards Ceremony