How to Run an Essay Competition

Essay competitions are a simple way to get people thinking, writing, and engaging with your brand or cause.

They work well if you want to:

• Start a conversation around something specific
• Collect useful content or quotes from real people
• Support a campaign, classroom, or advocacy goal
• Reach students, educators, or communities in a meaningful way

They take more effort than a regular like and comment giveaway, but the entries are usually more thoughtful, and the value lasts longer.

Start by deciding what the competition is meant to do, like engage a specific audience, support a campaign, collect stories, grow your list, or increase reach.

Then design around that.

• If you want stories, keep the prompt open and personal.
• If it’s part of an advocacy campaign, tie the theme directly to the cause.
• If you’re after reach, make entries public and allow sharing or voting.

Also think about format:

• Short-form or full essay?
• One central prompt or a choice of topics?
• Will you reuse entries in marketing? (If so, get consent up front.)

The clearer your intent, the stronger your structure will be.

For example, the essay competition below wants to raise awareness for plastic pollution:

Make it easy to enter and easy to manage.

You’ll need:

• A form that collects contact info, essay text or upload, and consent
• A word or page limit to keep entries consistent
• A clear deadline (with timezone)
• Confirmation emails so people know their entry went through

That’s all you need to keep things simple, fair, and organised.

Judging criteria keep things consistent, and help people understand what you’re looking for.

Choose a few areas to focus on, based on your goal:

• Relevance to the prompt
• Originality
• Clarity and structure
• Emotional or persuasive impact
• Writing quality

Decide who’ll be judging, an internal panel, guest judges, or public voting. Just make sure the process is clear and fair.

The example below makes it clear the winner will be chosen by judges based on specific criteria:

Once it’s live, make it easy to find and easy to share.

Use:

• Social media, clear CTAs, shareable visuals
• Your email list or newsletter
• Partners like schools, blogs, or aligned communities
• A landing page with everything people need to enter

For example, announcing the deadline to create a sense of urgency on social media can get those last minute entries rolling in:

People won’t enter if the prize doesn’t feel worth it, no matter how well the competition is designed.

Choose a reward that fits your audience. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should feel meaningful. That could be publication, mentoring, cash, or something tied directly to your brand or cause.

The stronger the prize, the easier it is to promote, and the more likely people are to share it with others.

Once the competition ends, wrap it up properly:

• Publish the winning essay (with consent)
• Explain how and why it was chosen
• Email all entrants to thank them and share the outcome
• Highlight standout entries or a shortlist if relevant
• Share a quick summary: number of entries, key themes, quotes
• Post about the prize being delivered
• Update your landing page or blog with a final recap

A clear wrap-up shows the competition was legitimate, that someone won, and that the entries were taken seriously.

Publishing the winning essay and explaining the result builds trust, and thanking participants properly shows you respected their effort.

Then, sharing things like highlights or snippets of the essays gives you content you can reuse, while making the next campaign easier to promote.