How to Submit a Winning OX Award Entry

Last updated: January 12, 2026

Staring at a blank award entry form is a uniquely humbling experience.

You know the work was strong. The results were real. Your team worked hard. And yet, somehow, you’re now trying to distill months of strategy, execution, and iteration into a few short responses that won’t make a judge’s eyes glaze over.

Good news: you don’t need hype. You need clarity.

Having been on both sides of the submission process—as an applicant and a judge—we’ve seen exactly what separates winning OX Award entries from the ones that almost made it. Here’s how to set yours up for success.

1. Put Results in Context (Or They Don’t Mean Much)

Big numbers sound impressive. Until they don’t.

Saying “We re-engaged 1 million subscribers” or “The campaign drove 50,000 clicks” raises an immediate, unspoken question from judges:

Is that good?

Help them answer it.

Instead of dropping standalone metrics, anchor your results in context:

“We re-engaged 1 million subscribers in one week—compared to 500,000 subscribers over the entire year prior.”
“Our two-week campaign generated 50,000 clicks, averaging more than one per day.”
“This marketing automation flow saved our team 100+ hours compared to the manual work we did last quarter.”
“This welcome series generated 500x more clicks compared to the previous version we ran in 2024.”

Vague praise like “positive customer feedback” or “strong engagement” tells us nothing. Show the impact with specific, meaningful outcomes—quantitative, qualitative, or both.

If you’re stuck, ask yourself:

How does this compare to last year?
How quickly did these results happen?
How does this performance stack up against industry norms or competitors? (This is where our email engagement report benchmarks come in handy!)
Why does this matter right now, especially given market or economic pressures?
What did your team do differently that others aren’t doing?

We care far more about improvement and impact than vanity metrics or sheer volume. The data should tell a story, not just prove activity.

2. Understand the Criteria Before You Write a Single Word

Every award has its own rules of the game. The OX Awards are no different.

One of the most common mistakes we see is submissions that feel recycled—great case studies, but not written for this award. Judges move quickly from entry to entry, and they expect a familiar structure. When that structure is missing, even strong work can fall flat.

Start by setting the scene clearly:
The Challenge → The Why/Opportunity → The Strategy/Action Taken

From there, break your story into clear, scannable sections. Avoid cramming everything into one dense paragraph. Logical flow matters. Bullets are your friend. This is especially true when judges are reviewing many entries in a short time.

And don’t forget your supporting assets.

3. Write Like a Human, Not a Press Release

You don’t need to sound “award-y” to win an award.

In fact, the opposite is usually true.

Write the way you’d explain the campaign to a smart colleague:

Clear
Concise
Straightforward

Skip jargon, buzzwords, and overly clever phrasing. Not every judge will come from your specific corner of the industry, so clarity beats cleverness every time.

Most importantly: let your enthusiasm show. If you’re bored writing it, the judge will be bored reading it.

4. Make the Entry Easy on the Eyes

Text alone rarely wins awards.

Strong visuals help judges quickly understand what you built, how it worked, and why it mattered. Screenshots, diagrams, workflows, dashboards, or short videos can do more in seconds than paragraphs ever could.

We’ve seen too many strong submissions undermined by weak visuals—blurry screenshots, placeholder text, watermarks, or assets that look like they were pulled together at the last minute.

Before you submit: