by Lindsay Nash | May 27, 2021 | Articles
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Video has become the most powerful medium in the world. In our lives of constant distractions and dizzying content, video has the power to capture attention and leave lasting impressions about the messages and ideas you want to share.
Take these telling statistics:
Video is a highly effective medium for any industry—and that includes awards programs and contests.
Using video in your awards program is a fantastic way to add a creative element to your submission process, collect compelling user-generated content for your program marketing, and grow your submitted entries by diversifying your entry process.
Video is more accessible than ever before and people have become familiar with how to create, edit and share videos throughout their networks and communities.
Here are some benefits of using video in your awards program or contest:
We’ll start with video on the program management side––using it as a medium to effectively communicate with your entire awards community. (Skip down to How to use video in your awards program marketing + communications.)
Video is a wonderful way to let the world know about your awards program. Whether your community is learning about your program on their desktop or mobile device, video is the perfect medium to share information about your program—whether you’re marketing your program, providing entry instructions, or featuring your expert judges. The possibilities are endless.
When you require video as part of your awards program submission, you’ll then have a growing library of content to share with your community, across social media, and on your website—all to highlight your amazing entries and align your brand with the quality submissions you receive.
Some entrants are stronger with written entries, while others shine with video and creative submissions. By requiring video as part of the submission, you’ll diversify your entry pool and reach applicants you might not have otherwise. You’ll level the playing field to shine a spotlight on those entrants who might look weaker on paper.
Let’s face it—videos are fun to watch! (Just take those earlier statistics!) Your judges are likely to enjoy video entries more than reading pages of text. By diversifying the submissions and what’s included in them, you’ll keep it more interesting (and fun!) for your judges.
Providing video communications adds a human element to your awards program and can better connect you with your community of entrants, judges and participants. There are lots of great ways to incorporate video into your awards marketing and communications. Here are some suggestions to get you started!
Sizzle reels are short promotional videos that can beautifully showcase your awards program or contest. And, these days, it’s easier than ever to produce and edit a compelling promotional video. With editing and video software out there for every budget and skill level, you can easily put your program in the spotlight with music and imagery to appeal to your community. Share it on your awards website, in your entry registration and across social media!
Give your entrants a warm welcome with a video. Say hello, give the basics about your program, and give your participants a delightful experience from the very start.
Instead of providing a wall of copy to instruct your entrants, give detailed instructions on your awards entry process in a helpful how-to video. Contextual information and tips on how to submit a quality entry will keep your entrants informed and cut down on support calls and emails.
Want to highlight your judges? Feature them with a video spotlight. You could interview them, or have them give tips to entrants, or talk about their breadth of experience. It’s a wonderful opportunity to thank them for their time and expertise.
If your awards program or contest has sponsors, a video is a great place to thank them, feature them, or even ask them to submit their own video advertisement as part of their sponsorship package. You could feature the video on your awards website, in the awards entry and judging platform, or share it with your community in email communications and across social media. #supereasyinAwardForce
Spotlight your finalists and/or winners in a video then share it with your community. It’s a compelling way to feature the best submitted entries. These videos can make for great social media shares for the entrants, putting their work and your program in front of more and more people.
Award Force has sophisticated built-in video handling, hosting and delivery capabilities, providing a solid solution for video-centric awards, contests, festivals and gala events.
Embedding videos is easy in Award Force. If you want to share video with your entrants and awards community, you can embed a Vimeo or YouTube video right in the platform in a content block. These content blocks are available throughout the platform and allow you to provide a welcome video, spotlight your judges or awards program, provide how-to instructions or share any other video content!
If you require video as part of your submission process, you have several options in the Award Force platform.
You can:
Videos uploaded to Award Force are automatically transcoded for easy playback, which means your judges won’t have to download the video to assess the content directly in the Award Force application.
And, uploaded videos are also encoded into several resolutions/bitrates suitable for streaming playback directly in the browser. Entrants don’t have to worry if they have a slow internet connection.
There are no limits on size—it’s up to you to set the parameters for your submissions. There are no performance restrictions when uploading and storing large file sizes. Award Force manages the load without stress. It’s perfect for anything from a quick entrant introduction to a HD feature-length film!
You’ll also have the ability to download the original video file, should you need it.
Now that you know how simple it can be to include video submissions as part of your awards entry process with Award Force awards management software, it’s also important to make sure you’re getting good quality video submissions. Here are some tips on ensuring quality.
Using video in your awards program or contest can better connect you with your community, provide more engaging communication and marketing, and be a great way to diversify your entry process with video submissions. Award Force has been designed with sophisticated tools to make incorporating video into your awards program a simple and rewarding experience for you and your program participants.
Want to learn more about using video in Award Force? Take a tour or book a live demo with one of our friendly team members.
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