It doesn’t matter what you’re giving away; it’s scientifically proven that people love free things.
A contest is a superb way to play on that psychological desire. It gives people the chance to win something—be that a course, product, book, or anything—in return for their contact information.
Brands use them to increase their reach and collect email addresses of potential customers they can retarget in the future.
Ready to make your own? Here’s what you need to know about creating a contest landing page, with six examples and templates to draw inspiration from.
What is a contest landing page?
A contest landing page is the page someone will visit to learn more about a competition you've got running. It contains a brief description of the giveaway, the entry requirements (if any), and a form for people to join the contest.
The idea is that the winner will be contacted by email, but also opt into your mailing list during their signup process. You’ll be able to retarget people who don’t win and convince them to purchase other products or services you sell.
Critical aspects of a winning contest landing page
Now that we know what a contest landing page is, here’s what you’ll need on yours:
- Attention-grabbing headline. Why should people enter the competition? People form their first impressions within 0.05 seconds of visiting a new website. Explain the benefits of entering the contest and what the winning prize is above the fold.
- Easy entry form. Have a simple form for people to enter the contest. Include the basic information such as their first name and email address. Play around with extra information you could use for retargeting—like their birthday—but remember that increasing the number of form fields could reduce the number of people who submit it.
- Social share buttons. Get more entrants to your contest by having people share it with their family and friends. You could even make this an entry requirement: people have to share a link to the contest landing page to be in with the chance of winning.
- Clear rules of the competition. Speaking of entry requirements, what do people need to do to enter the contest? Have any terms and conditions been explained clearly on the landing page?
- Clear opt-in box. GDPR rules mean you need explicit permission to email people who fill in your opt-in forms. Clearly explain that by submitting the form, they’re opting into your mailing list.
- Enticing prize. You can have the greatest landing page in the world, but people will only enter if the prize is something they want. Quiz your audience and figure out what type of prize they’re most interested in, whether that’s a free course, discount code, or a free ticket to an event you’re speaking at.
If you’re wondering what a real contest landing page looks like, here are six examples to show how each element can be included on a single page.
1. Healthy Rich writing contest landing page
Running a contest is a brilliant way to build communities—especially if people need to work on a shared hobby to enter the contest. This one from Healthy Rich, for example, targets writers:
The entry requirement for the competition is to submit an essay.
But, what's good about the contest landing page itself is that it sets clear expectations about a person’s submission. They set their audience up for success by sharing exactly what they’re judging the competition on.
2. AS Roma quiz contest landing page
Quizzes are a type of interactive content that gets double the engagement of static content. This example from soccer team AS Roma shows how to use them as the foundation for your contest landing page:
It gets people engaged and knowledgeable about the brand (or, in this case, the soccer team). Fans want to prove to themselves that they know everything about the club they support.
The prize also perfectly fits in with the audience’s interest. Winners of the contest receive a prize from the Jose Mourinho (the Roma coach) collection—something Roma's die-hard fans would love to win.
SEE MORE: 6 Engaging Lead Generation Quiz Examples You Can Use to Drive Sales
3. Marketing Agency Growth Giveaway landing page
The Marketing Agency Growth Giveaway is an excellent example of how to showcase social media sharing buttons:
The page leads with the nudge to share the giveaway on social media above the fold. It’s one of the first things a visitor sees when they visit the page and gives the brand the chance to expand its reach through social media.
4. Bloom & Wild partnership contest landing page
Earlier, we mentioned that a good contest landing page should grab your attention immediately. Bloom & Wild’s competition landing page, for example, does this by focusing on a prize that the audience is likely to be highly interested in: a summer getaway:
It’s also a great example to show that you can partner with other brands.
Bloom & Wild partners with Classic British Hotels for its contest. Each brand gets to reach the others’ audience and build their email lists individually.
5. Ruff and Tumble dog contest landing page
Here’s another excellent example of a contest landing page where the prize fits the audience’s interest.
We all know dog owners are obsessed with their dog. So, Ruff and Tumble's offer of your dog winning a place in their Christmas calendar is always going to go down well:
Plus, the company's product is weaved into the prize. Not only will you win the calendar place, but you'll get a limited edition drying coat, too.
It's all a great incentive for the target audience to want to enter the competition.
6. Pots and Co detailed info contest landing page
We’ve already touched on the fact that running a contest can help you build an email list of potential customers to nurture once the competition ends.
Pots and Co uses its contest landing page as a way to collect extra information about potential customers:
It asks where they do their grocery shopping, how often they buy the products, and their birthday. All enabling Pots and Co to use this information in future marketing and retention practices.
As you can see, there are various things you can create a contest landing page for—from a free product to a limited edition version. Remember to include precise entry requirements, the prize on offer, and an entry form to join the contest.
Don’t want the headache of making one from scratch? We have a range of professionally designed competition landing page templates for you to choose from.
Just change the colors, prize, and fonts to match your brand style. Then, integrate your ConvertFlow account with your email marketing platform to build a list of entrants you can re-market to.
Here's a few templates to get you started:
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