Matthew Wood, founder of the a4uAwards, gave a presentation on crafting a winning awards entry. - see the video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-7p6QnnDHI

1. Writing Effective Award Entries
Avoiding the common pitfalls by
Matthew Wood, founder a4uAwards

3. New for 2011
 Best use of…. Social Media and Mobile
 Hot shot rising star award (under 30 years of age)
 International Award (for excellence)
 Best Managed Affiliate Programme
 Network Excellence Awards
What about the community choice awards?
 Scaled back except the ‘Community choice of Network’
 Blog award on hold but may return in the future

4. The right category
 Think carefully about selection
 Don’t forget the vertical awards (casino & gaming or travel historically
under-represented whilst Retail is very popular)
 Enter multiple categories to boost your chances, however ensure you
personalise each submission
 Check eligibility carefully especially when your activity has taken place
Second time lucky?
 You are unable to re-enter unless there have been notable
enhancements

5. Writing an effective entry
 Put yourself in the judges shoes (judges marking all categories spend on
average 3 full days + digesting hundreds of entries)
 Be short, snappy and specific
 Aim for 2 pages max, size 10 font minimum
 Include 1 or 2 pages of supporting evidence (only if relevant)
 Stand out from the crowd
 Demonstrate how you achieved your success

6. What to include
 Think about what makes you unique
 Equally, do demonstrate Innovation, excellence and best practice
 Demonstration of ROI is a must
 Include hard figures and not just % increases
 Testimonials from clients can add credibility
Remember
 All judges sign an NDA agreement, mark anything not for publication as
‘Judges eyes only’ else we may publish it in the winners guide or on the night
 Please convert to PDF
 With some awards we will telephone you for further quantitative
information

7. Need Inspiration?
Learn from last year’s winners
 The 2010 winners guide contains details
of each award, who won and why
 Search for blogs written by judges about
their experience
 Remember our core mission ‘to reward
excellence and innovation’

8. Judging criteria
Clear Campaign Objectives
Provide evidence of clear, well thought out objectives and overall strategy for the
campaign or product
Innovation and Uniqueness
Demonstrate to judges innovation and uniqueness used within the specified activity
Feasibility
Define the need, drivers, opportunity and commercial feasibility for the campaign
Smart Execution
Briefly describe how your strategy was executed and what made it stand out
Success and ROI
Clearly show ROI from the campaign (figures) and ultimately why it was a success

9. Common mistakes
 Lack of ROI demonstrated
 Lack of perceived effort (simple spelling, layout, design)
 Not adhering to the rules of submission
 Not leaving enough time for client sign-off / general preparation
Remember
 All activity must be related to the period 1st January 2010 to 31st
January 2011
 Submissions cannot re-submitted unless significant developments have
taken place

10. Timeframe
 31st January 2011 – Submission deadline
 7th February 2011 – Extension for late entries
 1st March 2011 – Shortlist announced
 17th May 2011 – The Awards
Is late entry possible?
 Yes, but it’s a ruddy pain and as per other industry awards attracts a
£50 late entry admin fee.

11. Questions?
Follow a4uAwards
 twitter @a4u
 blog @ a4uawards.com/blog
 Subscribe to the affiliates4u newsletter
 Call me on 01172 033 009