Graphic design: the make or break of your online competition

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Creating a competition for your company is an excellent way to reach the maximum number of web users via a targeted marketing campaign, but given the interactivity and moving parts of running a contest – even a simple one – it can be easy to underestimate how much extra impact good graphic design can have on how effective it is. Good graphic design in an online contest is like a beautifully wrapped present. Do you want to open the gift that’s been wrapped in tinfoil in a hurry, or the one with the wrapping paper and ribbon, with a complimentary colour scheme, or even imagery that speaks and appeals to you as the recipient?

Odds are the better wrapped gift will be the more thoughtful, and ultimately better present. It might go against the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but with your online contest, you’re not trying to crack the Times best seller’s list, or trying to be the voice of your generation, you’re trying to generate leads, promote products, grow your online audience, and so on and so forth. The online contest, whether you’re launching a new fashion line with it, or trying to grow your list of email subscribers, is a campaign on an hourglass. It’s a finite experience you’re delivering to your audience, so pick nice wrapping paper, give it the nice ribbon, tie the bow – give it the best chance of getting clicks and generating engagements.

The importance of good design and visuals for your competitions

Graphic design is an essential element of any advertising or marketing campaign, any piece of content you want to gain traction with its intended audience, and of course, of any type of competition. The visual elements you choose, from how you present your logo to the main colours used, will determine whether your community will pay attention, and could well have an impact on whether users will finish the experience with a positive or negative opinion of your company.

Let’s not forget that the creation of competitions can be an effective tool for boosting e-commerce performance, driving conversion rates and fostering loyalty, pushing traffic to the strategic pages of your website, and is now an established form of content for online marketing campaigns. A well designed visual can help your business reach more people because it gives your online competition better visibility. It can also increase the engagement of your community, and even grow your community on the platforms where your contest is being most heavily promoted.

If, for example, your online competition is specifically targeting students on Instagram, ensure your graphic design approach has been set up to appeal to students and to integrate into that medium. Do you have promotional video or animated material that will work on reels, are your still images optimised for carousels? The game of marginal returns applies as much to the business world as it does to sports: every little detail counts towards delivering business objectives.

Good graphic design complements your copy and key takeaways

You should make sure that your graphics integrate, emphasise, or convey the key elements of your competitions, such as the theme, prizes, and deadline in a clear and concise way. It should be attractive enough to entice participants to enter, yet informative enough to give them all the relevant information they need.

Don’t forget to include a set of rules with details of the form to be filled in to participate, whether the game is a paid contest or free to enter, the duration of the game, and the prizes for the winners. Any business running an online competition is obliged to supervise the participation of internet users and to protect the data of the participants. Every contest is proprietary to the brand running the contest, the nature of the prizes on offer, the rules of participation, and the government of prizes, so all rules should be bespoke.

Tips for creating an effective visual

Creating an effective visual for your competition does not have to be complicated. Here are some tips and best practices that can help to guide your approach to creating graphics for your contests:

• Focus on clarity: Make sure there is no confusion about what your competition is about or what participants have to do to enter. Let your graphic design complement and support the important takeaways in the copy.
• Use clear headlines and simple language: Let everyone understand what you are trying to communicate.
• Add a CTA (call-to-action): CTAs can be used to prompt the user to perform a specific action such as “Play now” or “Opt-in.” By being clearer about what interaction is wanted from the user, you increase the chances of boosting your engagement rates.
• Keep it simple: Avoid complicating things by using too many colours or fonts in your visual. Stick to a maximum of two main colours and one font family to keep things consistent and professional. Obviously, depending on the type of competition you’re running, or you’re company’s existing branding and colours, it may be necessary to break the two colour rule. For example, your brand might be based on a tricolore flag, or be intentionally jarring and disruptive to appeal to a counter culture demographic.
• Use high quality images and visuals: Choose images that are relevant to your brand, but also look great when viewed at different sizes or resolutions in any medium (e.g. on mobile devices). This will ensure that your visuals look good wherever they appear online.
• Stay consistent with your brand image: When considering the creation of competitions for social networks, such as Instagram, Facebook, etc., or via an online blog, it is very important to stay true to your brand’s graphic charter and values in order to build a solid brand image and ensure a personalised but successful game. Make sure your logo is used prominently to brand the experience . Think about when you’ve really enjoyed a great video advert at the cinema or watching TV, but then can’t put your finger on the name of the perfume business or car brand that made it – you want people to remember the name of your business, to leave with your branding etched into their memory.
• Think outside the box: Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when creating visuals for your competitions. Try using creative illustrations or animations instead of traditional photos or graphics – it could make all the difference between someone entering your contest and someone not. The name of the game here is to generate attention, create excitement, and encourage engagement – for different audiences, this will mean different things. Boring to one demographic is classy to another, while a headache to one demographic could be bold and thought proving to the next. Knowing your brand and knowing your audience is key.

Drimify: the platform to easily create online contests and competitions

Creating your own online contests and competitions are a chance to deliver marketing content that creates excitement, delivers an experience, and gets the best out of your target audience when it comes to engaging with your brand. Whether it’s flash prizes like promotional codes, big material prizes like your latest top of the line product, or even some sort of experience, the possibility to win baits the hook, then the process of play and participation delivers excitement while allowing you to get across your targeted messaging to a more engaged audience. Not sure where to start? No problem…

The Drimify gamification platform is the place to go to easily create sophisticated and nuanced online competitions. Easily customise a range of game engines to deliver compelling contests to your audience, and tailor them to numerous objectives. Use your graphics, your copy, and your rules to create the experience that serves your needs, and play with the game settings to manage your prize allocations, and the parameters of play.

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