5 Common Awards Entry Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

1. Submitting an Entry That’s Too Short

This is probably the most common issue.

Remember: your nomination form is the only thing the judges have to go on. They aren’t in the room with you. They haven’t seen your campaign in action. They don’t know the context unless you explain it.

Short answers like:

“This campaign delivered excellent results and demonstrated creativity across multiple channels.”

…don’t give judges much to work with.

Instead, use the space to clearly explain:

• The context or challenge
• The strategy you developed
• The actions you took
• The results you achieved

The stronger the story you tell, the easier it is for judges to understand the impact of your work.

2. Copy-Pasting Entries From Other Awards

Judges can spot this instantly (trust me, we can all tell!).

Sometimes entries clearly haven’t been written for the questions being asked, which usually means they’ve been copied and pasted from another awards submission.

The result? Answers that feel slightly off-topic, generic, or disconnected from the category.

Every awards programme asks questions for a reason. They’re designed to help judges evaluate entries fairly and consistently. And our judges are giving marking criteria that directly relate to each given question – if you’re not touching on the specificities we’re asking for, you won’t score highly.

Take the time to tailor your responses directly to each question. It shows care, professionalism, and respect for the judging process.

3. Staying at Surface Level

Statements like:

“They’re a brilliant leader.”
“It was a highly successful campaign.”
“The team showed exceptional creativity.”

All sound great – but they need explaining.

If you remember your English lessons at school (throwback, am I right?!), you might remember the P.E.E.L. structure:

Point → Evidence → Explanation → Link

It works just as well for award entries as it does for essays.

For example:

Point:
This campaign demonstrated exceptional creativity in reaching a new audience.

Evidence:
The team launched a TikTok-first content strategy, generating 1.2 million views within the first month.

Explanation:
This approach allowed the brand to connect with a younger demographic that traditional channels had struggled to reach.

Link (it back to the question):
As a result, the campaign successfully repositioned the brand and delivered measurable audience growth.

Judges aren’t just looking for claims – they’re looking for clear reasoning and insight.

4. Not Providing Evidence

If you’re describing success, judges need to see proof.

For campaign categories, especially, numbers help bring your story to life. For example:

• Revenue growth

• Conversion rates

• Engagement metrics

• Audience growth

• Leads generated

• Cost efficiencies

Without evidence, judges are left trying to guess how impactful the work really was.

Even simple metrics can make a big difference. Instead of saying:

“The campaign performed really well.”

Try something like:

“The campaign generated 3,200 new leads, increased website traffic by 48%, and delivered a 6.4x return on ad spend.”

Now judges can clearly understand the scale of success.

5. Leaving Questions Blank

Many nomination forms include optional sections (in fact, all of ours do!) – often for supporting evidence such as links, assets, or additional context.

These might not be mandatory, but they still matter.

For example, if a section is worth four potential judging points, leaving it blank means those points are automatically out of reach.

Supporting evidence also makes the judges’ job much easier. A short list of links, screenshots, or examples can bring your entry to life and help them understand your work more quickly.

Put simply: if the space is there, use it.

(And before anyone says it – yes, we could make these sections mandatory instead of optional. But we prefer to give entrants the choice… even if leaving it blank does mean leaving points behind. We appreciate that marketing doesn’t always come with evidence, and your other answers might do enough.)

Help the Judges Help You

Judges want to reward brilliant marketing. But they can only score what’s in front of them.

The strongest entries tend to have three things in common:

• Clear storytelling

• Specific evidence

• Answers that directly address the questions

If you can do those things, you’ll already be giving your entry a strong chance.

And if you’re planning to submit work to the East Anglian Marketing Awards this year – we can’t wait to read it. Explore our categories today.