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Does Everyone Understand Your Call for Entry? If Not, Try a Webinar!

What is the most crucial aspect of your call for entry (CFE) aside from the planning and careful execution behind it all? Your entrants. But, are you giving your entrants everything that they need to be successful? Are you doing everything you can to encourage more, higher-quality submissions?

If you answered no to either, or possibly even both, of these questions, then there’s a simple way that you can boost your results while enjoying more submissions and fewer questions: a webinar.

So, Why a Webinar?

Imagine this: you just launched your awards program and you’re getting ready to launch your CFE. Your goal is to reduce questions while making the process both simple and accessible for all your entrants; so, what do you do? There are several courses of action you can take, but none will accomplish what a webinar can.

Once you’ve decided on a webinar, you might be wondering what makes a great webinar? The best have a few key qualities that you should take into consideration for your own, including:

• Graphically-Rich PresentationsWhile verbal instructions are helpful, nothing can be more helpful than guiding your potential entrants through a graphically-rich presentation. In fact, using graphics will help guarantee that no entrants get confused about where or how to enter, boosting your response rates. After all, people process images quicker and easier than text.
• Simplify Your Entry ProcessIn your webinar, you should explain everything from how to enter, the proper categories for entrants, as well as step-by-step processes that even show entrants how to save their partially-finished entries. By doing so, you can cover all necessary information without having to answer endless emails, allowing you and your staff to focus your attention on other vital roles.
• Expert Entry AdviceYour webinar doesn’t have to be purely for informative purposes. Instead, you can choose to have a judge conduct your webinar and provide tips on what makes a successful entry. Or, you can give a quick pointer about how entrants can boost their entries in simple, relatable ways. No matter which approach you choose, expert entry advice can and will make a difference.
• Include Answers to Foreseeable FAQsIf you feel like one aspect of your program might be confusing, you can prevent the problem before it begins by featuring these questions in your video. This helps reassure entrants that they aren’t alone and will lead to higher-quality submissions.
• Mention Your Awards Gala and LocationWhile your webinar is primarily intended as clarification for your CFE, this doesn’t mean you have to leave out other parts of your program! Ending your webinar with a nod toward your awards gala, its date, and its location can help encourage entrants to actually participate in both your program and the event to follow. Talk about creating excitement!

Cut the Time Spent On Your Program, Without Cutting Out Quality

One of the most crucial aspects of your program (aside from setting your budget, of course) is saving time without sacrificing quality. But, how is this possible? The secret lies in your call for entry and your webinar.

Think about this: if your webinar covers all of the essentials of your program through a high-quality CFE, you’ve got all of your bases covered. And, by also compiling this same information on your awards website, you can create a consistent wealth of information. This means putting some key information into your CFE, including:

• About the AwardsCreate excitement by describing the history of your program, its tenure, and your current events.
• CategoriesExplaining the categories helps people recognize whether or not their entry will be a good fit for your program.
• Judges, Judging, and Entry CriteriaProviding this critical information heightens the quality of your submissions while also showing entrants exactly what they need to complete and considered seriously in the eyes of your judges.
• Dates, Fees, and Contact InformationThese three aspects of your program form the foundation of information that most people want. This means that all of it should be easily accessible for anyone who wants and needs it as your program proceeds

Meanwhile, your staff can be focusing on other things while your website creates publicity, legitimacy, and removes common barriers to entry. The result? A smooth awards program that owes its simplicity to a stellar CFE, webinar, and website to back it up.

No awards program runs seamlessly, but yours can when you get started with a clear, concise CFE from the beginning. And, through a webinar and other tools, including your awards website, you can take your awards program to the next level.

We can all use more assistance when it comes to tailoring our CFE’s. Download our Call for Entry Toolkit for the information you need to take your program to the next level! And, when you’re ready to create your own webinar, be sure to check out this free resource to simplify your process even further!

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Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

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