This year the European Performance Marketing Awards opens its doors for the first time. After 10 incredible years of rewarding performance marketing innovation and excellence in the UK, we have increasingly come under pressure to allow entries for companies around the globe who have activity across Europe, and not just the United Kingdom.
The first ever European Performance Marketing Awards will aim to reward companies that excel in at least one market, handing them the opportunity to compete against their European peers.
When PerformanceIN launched the mainland European Conference back in 2009, the key aim was to share knowledge, best practice and facilitate networking. By showcasing a list of groundbreaking campaigns and technology, the new Awards will only help build our beloved industry and cement those aims further.
With the standard entry deadline looming ahead – fixed on April 22 - we’re revisiting the Award series’ list of Dos and Don’ts, which continue to reign true ahead of its debut in Europe.
Make sure you check these off before you make your submission and put you and your team in the running for a coveted European Performance Marketing Award.
Do
Be concise. Brevity and concision prevails, as our judges spend around three days examining hundreds of entries. Make your pitch punchy and eliminate the waffle. The judges will be much more likely to pick up on your success if you do.
Don’t
Cut corners. A perceived lack of effort and care over your entry reflects badly on your campaign as a whole. Judges will be quick to spot a submission that’s been botched together at the last minute. Additionally, make sure your entry is proofed for grammar and checked for facts.
Do
Keep within the stated parameters. Your ‘Executive Summary’ is just that, so make sure you keep it to a maximum of two pages and you’ll avoid a potential penalty. You can add supporting evidence in the appendix, but don’t base the quality of your entry on this.
Don’t
Recycle an old entry. It might be tempting to re-submit an entry from another award ceremony, but it’s unlikely to make the grade (and pretty easy to spot).
Do
State your USP. The PMA judges look for originality and innovation. Identify what makes your campaign unique, and perhaps more importantly, necessary, then condense this into a single sentence or short paragraph.
Don’t
Be vague with your objectives. Be selective and clear with your objectives as they’ll be a point of reference when benchmarking the success of the campaign’s results. Directly link your results back to these objectives. Please note that we honour the confidentiality of all entries, so pack it with as much information as possible.
Do
Provide clear evidence of success. Judges will need clear evidence in terms of solid KPIs, such as sales and engagement, not just percentage increases, with emphasis on the ROI of the campaign. Bear in mind this will be for the judges’ eyes only.
Don’t
Leave client sign-off until the last minute. We all know how long this can take, so make sure you draft your entry up in good time to avoid a last minute panic before deadline day.
Do
Provide supporting evidence. Some judges like to ‘see’ the campaign when they review it; you can add a single piece of supporting evidence in the form of illustrative graphic, video, screenshot for example, while client testimonials can provide a refreshed perspective.
Don’t
Overlook design. Use bullet points if it makes your point clearer, make certain points or stats bold to stand out within the text.
Do
Pay homage to the PMA’s core values. The awards are about demonstrating excellence, innovation and best practice in performance marketing. Emphasise the elements of your campaign which embody this.
Don’t
Skim-read the criteria. Read it carefully and in full, and make sure your entry is specifically relevant to the award you want to win.
The small print
Please note that submissions should relate to activity within Europe and the eligibility period of January 1, 2015 – April 22, 2016.
You are welcome to enter multiple categories with the same campaign, but each submission must be tailored separately for each entry.
One piece – two pages maximum – of supporting evidence can be included. This must be relevant, adding value to the entry. This may include campaign snapshots, client testimonials, photos and videos.
Please be aware that failure to supply information that has been requested in the entry criteria, such as revenue figures and other elements, has been a deciding factor in past award decisions.
Entrants are invited to label any information regarded as sensitive data with ‘Judges’ Eyes Only’, which will ensure it does not get shared elsewhere.
We have a number of templates entrants can use as a guide. These are by no means mandatory, but serve as a guide to what you should be including in your entry.
Dates for the Calendar
22.04.16 Standard entry submissions close
29.04.16 Late entries close
06.06.16 Voting closes
08.06.16 Shortlist unveiled
04.07.16 The European Performance Marketing Awards Ceremony
For any queries regarding entry criteria for the European Performance Marketing Awards 2016, please email events@performancein.com, or phone on 0117 203 3010.
In the meantime, good luck and we look forward to seeing you at the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Amsterdam on July 4th!