The Contest ready-made template is designed to increase brand awareness by leveraging word-of-mouth marketing strategy and growing your email list at the same time. Contest and giveaways show fantastic results when it comes to going viral on social media. They create a buzz around your brand, inspire interest, and generate leads.

In this guide, we'll cover:

This time, we’ll focus on the most popular type of contests — sweepstakes. They’re the easiest not only to build and launch but also to enter. When a person lands on your landing page, they are offered to enter the contest by sharing your contest page on social media or submitting their email address. Upon email submission, the visitor is brought to the entry confirmation screen. We'll talk about this in details later in this guide.

Unlike other pre-made template the Landing Pages add-on offers, the Contest template is not linked to a product. Its main goal is not to sell an item but to get people talking about your brand on social media and collect email addresses.

The Contest template consists of two screens that are stored in one URL:

Your landing page has only one address. There are no redirects to another page. Thanks to the fact that the page address does not change, your visitor won’t have to wait when a new page loads. In other words, your landing page will provide a smoother user experience.

You can see how the demo landing page works using this link: https://landing-page-demo.aliexpress-na-russkom.ru/contest/

By default, the contest screen is divided into two columns:

The entry confirmation screen shows a full-width background image, instructions on what to expect next, and a link to your Homepage so your visitors can explore your store range.

Now that you know what to expect, it's time to get started!

Go to your WP admin area → Landing Page → Create New. Select the Contest template. Please refer to this guide to learn how to create a new landing page.

Featured image customization

The featured image is fixed when you scroll the page. To put it differently, the image stays in the same place and is always visible while the right-hand content scrolls down.

In the Featured Image tab you’ll find customization options for your left-hand picture. Use the recommended size guidance when choosing visuals for desktop and mobile versions of the contest screen.

We recommend uploading a square 1000px x 1000px image. If your image doesn't fit the recommended sizes, take advantage of the following options.

By default, small / vertical / horizontal images are displayed at their original dimensions and proportions like this:

To handle the white space aspect in a more aesthetic way, you might want to blur the image background.

With the Fit the column option enabled, your featured image will be resized to fit its container. Its proportions will stay the same but the extra parts that don't fit the column will be cut.

You can hide the image part of the page by the Show featured image toggle switch in your front-end builder. This way, the content part will become wider and will be centered on the page.

Right-hand content column

At the top of the screen, you’ll find the demo logo. Replace it with your own using the mechanism icon.

Below the logo, there’s a section dedicated to contest description. Don’t hesitate to use another background color for this section. Adjust the default wording and add new elements from the CONTENT tab if necessary.

Hover over the countdown timer element and click the mechanism icon to customize the default values. The 'time expires in' option accepts values in minutes. It calculates in how many minutes your contest will be over.

The next section tells more about contest rules.

Attention! This is for informational purposes only. No entry will be counted by the landing pages add-on. Store owners should keep track of entry count themselves.

The Contest template offers 5 options you can benefit from to capture leads:

Hover over the sign-up form to set it up. Click the mechanism icon. Add your Mailchimp API key and Audience ID. Please refer to this step-by-step guide to learn how to connect Mailchimp to your landing page.

Feel free to edit your form title and the default placeholder text using the corresponding fields.

By default, on clicking the Enter now (= submit) button visitors are brought to the entry confirmation page. If this redirect doesn’t meet your needs, disable the Redirect to entry confirmation screen on button click toggle switch and add your own link.

Use the compact section below to inspire fear of missing out (FOMO). The text you see on the screenshot is for demonstration purposes only. Go ahead and edit it or replace it with another element. Use the inline editor to adjust styles.

Next, you’ll see the social proof section. Hover over a comment to replace a customer pic, copy the comment, or delete it. You can edit pretty much anything in the review element – customer name, date, review body, and like count.

To add a new element, drag FB comment and drop it into the social proof area.

You can add more information in the block below.

The footer area consists of the links to your utility pages and a copyright.

The pages listed on your landing page open in a pop-up window. You can replace the default like with your own using the inline editor, but please keep in mind that these links will open in a new tab.

To edit the entry confirmation screen, go to the corresponding tab and click the Edit button.

In the builder dashboard, you’ll see background customization options.

Feel free to upload a new background image instead of the demo one. It’s a good idea to keep in mind the recommended image sizes for desktop and mobile versions.

If you’re not in the mood for visuals, use the color picker to find a background color that matches your brand style.

The text shown above the image can be edited right on the page. Adjust the demo content to your needs or add new elements from the Content tab.

Go ahead and change the default button text and replace the link with your own if necessary.

Once you’re done customizing, click the Close button to go back to the contest screen.

When you've done editing, click the Save button. Close the front-end builder dashboard at the top of the screen to proceed to your WordPress settings area.

To learn more about your WP settings, please check out this guide.