Tutorial: How to create a Photo Contest

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Gabriel Cruz
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If you want to set up a photo contest to let users submit their pictures and display them in a public gallery, follow the steps outlined below:

 

 

STEP 1. Create the promotion

1. Access the Easypromos Control Panel via this link: http://admin.easypromosapp.com. Log in with your Facebook profile and enter your control panel to manage and create your promotions.

 

2. Create a new promotion via the ‘Create a new promotion’ button. 

 

3. You will be presented with the products available. Choose ‘Photo contest’ to create a promotion that consists of a registration form where the user can upload an image to participate.

4.  Go on to step 2 and choose the platform version to use (Basic, Premium or White Label).

5. Your promotion is already created! In the background, you can see the promotion management page. A pop-up window will ask you some extra information in order to help you with pre-settings. If you are not interested, you can skip this step.

 

Attention! If you choose the Premium or White Label version, we will also ask you for the promotion destination country, in order to limit participation to the entrants connecting with an IP belonging to the country or countries selected. Find more information about country filters.

 

6. Now you find yourself in the promotion management page, where you have all the options for configuring the promotion. Below we outline all the most relevant sections

1. Header. You will find the title of the promotion, the version and other relevant information such as the ID number of the promotion, which unequivocally identifies each promotion. Present this number to the Easypromos technical team if you have any issues with, or doubts about, the promotion. This will make it easier for them to review your settings.

2. Link to the promotion. This is the URL that you should use in all the promotion sharing actions that you wish to carry out. More information here.

3. Copy link button. Here you'll be able to automatically copy the link to disseminate the promotion.

4. Side menu. Here you will find all the configuration options of the promotion.

5. Statistics menu. Here you'll find all the general statistics of your contest. It indicates the total users, total votes, emails sent to participants, total page views, general view of visits received, total share button clicks and number of followers gained.

6. Management of dates. Modify the promotion dates from this module.

7. Promotion status. It indicates the status of the promotion: Draft, Active or expired, as well as it is ready to start.

8. Visibility module. Here you'll find the main options to give your promotion more visibility: Publish the promotion as a Facebook tab, appear in the public list of Easypromos promotions and click button to share the promotion.

9. Localization. Select the promotion language by default. You'll also be able to link the promotion to a dictionary you have created with your own texts and translations. In addition, you'll be able to limit participation to one or several particular countries from here. By default the promotion will be visible in all countries. If you want to restrict it only to certain countries, click on ‘Edit’ and enter the names of the countries you wish to include (available in Premium and White Label).

 

STEP 2. Customize the texts and images of each screen

The platform comes configured with many features that are pre-set based on the application that you have chosen.

From this moment on, you should focus on the customization of promotion texts and images, as well as on colors and font settings.

 

1. Enter the promotion 'Editor'.

 

2. Configure the texts and images of each screen of the promotion:

 

A) Landing page

- Change the provisional title for one that allows identify the strong points of your promotion. It’s a good idea to make this descriptive text as attractive as possible to users.

- Configure the texts for the page and upload an 810px wide x 450px high image to give it more dynamism.

- In the description, change the provisional text to personalize and explain your own contest mechanism so that participants are clear about what steps they should follow to take part in the contest. You can also customize the ‘Enter’ and ‘View entries’ buttons.

 

B) Entry form page. Add the fields that you wish your participants to complete. You can also customize the text and screen header image. In the Premium and White Label versions you can fill in the form with all the additional fields, dropdown menus and check boxes that you need. Find all the information about how to set up the entry form.

Note: The customization of the registration form with additional text fields is not included by default in promotions created with the Basic version. It can be included as an extension for $15USD.

 

C) Thank you page. Customize it with a final image and a thank you text. You can also create an extra button with an external link.

  • Text to encourage users to share. On the left side of the first share button there is a text that you can customize. Use this to encourage your participants to share the contest.
  • Thank you message. You can also use it to thank participants and tell them when the winner will be announced.
  • Use the final image to give a more personalized aspect to the sweepstake, reminding participants what the prize is and encouraging them to share the sweepstake.

 

Note: download the Easypromos Design Guide and you will have measurements for all the images you need to complete the promotion.

In Premium and White Label versions you will be able to set up advanced options like:

You can let users participate with a photo or a video.

Allow that uploading a photo or video is optional.

 

Another option is to enable the "Comments field", which lets you enter a text which invites the user to write something in reference to the photo. This field is displayed in the users’ registry form and they’ll be able to write up to 65,000 characters.

In Premium and White Label versions you will find an advanced option, "Maximum characters allowed", with wich you can limit the number of characters of this field.

 

Note: The customization of the registration form with additional text fields is not included by default in promotions created with the Basic version. It can be included as an extension for $15USD.

 

C) Thank you page. Customize it with a final image and a thank you text. You can also create an extra button with an external link.

  • Use the final image to give a more personalized aspect to the contest, reminding participants what the prize is and encouraging them to share the promotion.
  • Thank you message. You can also use it to thank participants and tell them when the winner will be announced. 
  • Facebook page linked to the promotion. Write your Facebook page ID if you want to show the module on the bottom of this page:

In Premium and White Label versions you will be able to set up advanced options like:

  • Text to encourage users to share. On the left side of the first share button there is a text that you can customize. Use this to encourage your participants to share the contest.
  • Link and label of the final button. You can complete these fields to enable a second button which leads to an external website / URL.

 

C) Entries list page. Set up how the public gallery with all the participants' photos will be displayed.

  • Entries header image. Upload a photo if you want to customize your entry gallery. It is optional.

 

As you can see, photos are displayed in a vertical gallery in Basic contests, one below the other. In Premium and White Label contest, you can customize this and other options: 

  • Tiled gallery options. By default, tiled gallery is active in Premium and White Label contests, which displays the different photos in rows, fitting them into the available space as if they were bricks in a wall. 

- Uncheck "Use tiled gallery layout" option if you prefer the vertical layout you have seen on Basic version.

- Fit and resize the gallery at your own. Here we explain the options.

Note: download the Easypromos Design Guide to check the size of all the images needed to create the promotion.

 

STEP 3. Customize the design (available in Premium and White Label)

Modify the colors of the buttons and sections of the promotion so that they reflect the look and feel of your brand or product, or of the specific campaign. You can also among from various fonts, upload a background image and introduce the customized CSS styles (in White Label).

 

If you need help on how these sections work:

 Note: The customization of colors and fonts is not included by default in promotions created with the Basic version. It can be included as an extension for $10USD.

 

STEP 4. Introduce the terms and conditions

Introduce the legal bases, explaining all the aspects that concern the contest. These legal bases will be shown via a button on the main page of the promotion and from a link available via any of the promotion’s pages.

 

STEP 5. Configure the My Networks modules and the promotion footer

The 'My networks' module enables you to totally customize the screen that is presented to the user before they finalize the registration. This means you can give them the option to click ‘Like’ on your Facebook Page. You can suggest as many Facebook and Twitter accounts as you wish to users. Learn how to do this here.

You can also customize the text at the foot of the promotion, or deactivate this if it doesn’t interest you. This is a banner, presented at the foot of each screen of the promotion, that when clicked on will present you with the ‘My networks’ module. You will find the information here.

 

STEP 6. Customize viral content

This section is very important to obtain a high level of virality for the contest. The viral content is the message that will be shown when a participant shares the promotion with friends to invite them to the promotion.

In Basic promotions, the viral image is the only option you can customize about viral content. Upload an optimal image to share the promotion through social networks. Set up the next section:

 

You can customize the share message based on the channel through which participants wish to disseminate and share it. For a photo contest, these are the recommended viral messages to customize:

 

Note: in Basic version, on this section you will only see the option of uploading a viral image that is an appropriate size for each of the social networks.

 

You should complete the following sections:

A) Settings

  • What do you want participants to share? By default, on the final page that will be shown to users after registration, viral entry content is shared if entries are published. It’s not necessary to modify this field.
  • Viral image. This is the image that will accompany the text to be shared. To make it optimal for the social networks, we suggest a measurement of 1200px wide by 630px high. This same image will be shared via Facebook, Pinterest and Google+. If you don’t upload a specific image for this section, the main promotion image will be disseminated when a participant shares the promotion.

B) Generic content. This is the content that is proposed by default when sharing on the social networks via the landing page. Learn how to configure it.

C) Participation. This viral message will be diseeminate by default when the participant share the promnotion via the share buttons of the thank you page. 

 

 

STEP 7. Check the advanced settings

To create a contest, check the configuration of the 'Sign-in’, 'Entries' and 'Votes' sections:

In Basic version, you can decide to close the promotion when a number of participants is reached with "Max. users" option. By default, there is no limit of participants.

In Premium and White Label versions, there are more options. Each option has a help icon with more information. We underline the featured options:

- Maximum entries per user. Enter the maximum number of entries a user can make in the promotion. By default it is set to 1, which means that users can only enter once.

- Notification of new participant. Use it if you want to receive an email when a new entrant registers in this promotion. 

- Anonymus entries. Check if you want to hide user's name and profile pictures in public entries.

- Allow comments on entries. Enable comments in the entries, if you want to allow anyone – friend or acquaintance – to comment on the individual entry of the users who have entered the promotion. 

- Confirm each entry before publication. Select this field if you wish to review and confirm each entry befor it is published. 

- Anti-fraud options. With the aim of helping administrators organize top-quality contests, the platform contains a series of techniques and tools to help minimize the impact of participants bad practices. Consult the adjustable options.

 

  • Votes. Set up this section to define how do you want to configure the voting system of your contest, or access here to uncheck this option.

On Basic version, only 1 vote for user is permitted, so only one option is allowed: enable or disable the "Make entries votable" check-box. In Premium and White Label versions, this section offers more options.

Consult how does the voting system work and all its settings.

 

 

STEP 8. Enable the participation via Twitter and Instagram (Optional. Available with Premium and White Label)

Normally, users participate accessing to the promotion and filling in the registration form. If you want that Twitter and Instagram users could be able to participate form these social networks, enable Twitter and Instagram integration in the contest. This way, this type of user will participate via hashtag. This option is available in Premium and White Label promotions.

 

STEP 9. Communicate with participants via the Emails Platform (Available with Premium and White Label)

If you need to communicate with participants during and after the promotion, you can use this section to create, customize and send emails.

This tool can be very useful in the sweepstake because it permits you to configure automatic emails to contact participants with one of these objectives:

    1. To thank participants for registering and inform them when the contest will be held and when the result will be made known.
    2. Remember the number of votes that a participant must reach to be a finalist.
    3. Send an email to the contest winners.
    4. Send an email to all participants confirming that the promotion has ended and thanking them for their participation.

Learn how to create an email with the Platform to communicate with participants from the beginning and thus achieve greater virality.

 

Important! The platform has the ‘smart tags’ feature at its disposal. This enables you to configure customized emails. Use the ‘smart tag’ {{user_voteme_url}} which, upon sending the email, will be substituted by the participation URL of each participant.

 

Note: The Emails Platform is not included by default in Promotions created with the Basic version. It can be included as an extension for $50USD.

 

STEP 10. Other photo contest options

 

STEP 11. Preview the promotion

At any time, you can see from this section how the promotion will be displayed. Please bear in mind that the preview is not functional; this means that it will let you turn the page even though you haven’t filled in the fields. The best method for testing the functionality of the contest is to activate the promotion but protect it and carry out tests in a closed group. Here we explain how.  

 

STEP 12. Activate the promotion

Once you have configured all aspects of the promotion, you can activate it from the management page. This is where you will be asked to pay for it. You can find more information here.

 

STEP 13. Publish the promotion

Although your promotion is now active, you still need to take the last step: publishing it. On creating the contest, a URL is generated which will be the main promotion link. By default, this main link leads to a microsite where the promotion is presented. Also, and not exclusively, you can publish the sweepstake or promotion on the Facebook Page or embed it in your blog or website. Control where you wish to publish it via ‘Publish’. You’ll find all the information about this step here.

 

STEP 14. Disseminate the promotion

It will also be important to disseminate the promotion via various channels. Always use the main promotion link, as it’s the only one compatible with all types of devices.

You can share the promotion via the following methods:

    • With the direct link to the promotion.
    • With the ‘share’ button on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
    • Creating an outstanding campaign. This option implies placing your campaign in the section of Easypromos highlighted promotions. The highlighted have an additional cost to the price of activating the campaign, and this price is per day of the campaign. If you’d like to create a highlighted campaign, consult this tutorial.

We also recommend this article with 14 basic steps for disseminating and highlighting your campaign on your Facebook Page.

 

STEP 15. Manage the promotion while it is still active

While the promotion is active you can monitor and manage the participations from the management page by clicking on the ‘View entries’ section.

 

From there you will be able to:

Note: Information about participants will be available even when the promotion has finished.

 

STEP 16. Check the promotion statistics

Access the ‘Statistics’ section to find out about the evolution of participants and their interaction with the application. This information will be available as soon as the first participation is made until after the promotion has finished. Learn more about the information that you have access to in this section.

 

STEP 17. Final sweepstake to give away the prize and publish the winners

Once the registration period has finished, the ‘Winners’ tool will be enabled; with this you can carry out a random sweepstake to finalize the promotion and select one or more winners or finalists. This is an optional tool, without any added cost, and you can set it up after the registration period.

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