Tips on Submitting Names

Sharing some tips that might improve your chance of getting high ratings or winning a contest. These are based on some collective patterns we have seen from past contests. Would be great if others can chime in to share their experiences as well. Of course since this is a competitive platform, it is alright if you want to keep some of your secret sauce private :smile:

  1. Make use of comment box when submitting the entry. Whenever someone explains the meaning behind their name, or some story about why the name makes sense, it is usually appreciated by CH. Many names that win have some sort of comment which explains the background.

  2. Always use TitleCase to make a multi word name more easily readable. Submitting MyAwesomeName is much more likely to get CH attention than myawesomename.

  3. Do some research, and provide that information in the contest. For example if you mention that fact that you have already checked Trademark availability and the name is free of any Trademarks, it can show that you are actually taking the time to research good ideas, and not just submitting random names. You can also comment about the “SEO Friendly” aspect of the name if you truly believe that the name will help their business rank higher in relevant search keywords. If the CH has only asked for a name (not a URL), you can still check to see if the URL is available. If it is available, it is good to include the information in the comment.

  4. Consider Including something extra: You don’t have to do this, but we notice that some creatives include something extra like a possible Tagline in the comment that can go along with the name.

  5. Seek clarification by asking questions in public comments: If you ask thoughtful questions about the business or the brief, you are signaling to the CH that you are actually taking the time to understand their business before submitting names. When its time to select the winner, the contest holders remember those creatives who were most thoughtful or took the time to research the names. Many times, even if the CH does not like any names from the contest, they tend to pick a winner who asked the most thoughtful questions, or did the most research in helping them find a name.

  6. Think out of the box: Many times the contest holders do not exactly know the kind of name they want. They might have included certain aspects in the brief to make it too restrictive. You might want to consider submitting couple of ideas that take a different angle. You can explain your reasoning in the comment why you picked something that wasn’t directly asked for in the brief, and how in your opinion that name might still make sense for the business.

  7. Don’t use random name generators: Do not rush to submit 25 names in a contest by using various combinations of keywords. The CH can easily see which contestants are taking the time to come up with targeted name ideas, vs those who are simply submitting a long list of names that came straight from a name generator.

  8. Be respectful in all your comments: It goes without saying, but if your comment comes across as an attack, the CH will likely be less motivated to pick you as a winner.

Would love to hear any feedback or thoughts from others based on their own personal experience.

12 Likes

Uh oh @Dan… Prepare yourself for the outrage from the successful creatives who will not be thrilled about their secrets being outed this way… :flushed:

2 Likes

I get frustrated with some of the contest briefs and then who gets picked as a winner. The CH will say they only want 2 words and then end up picking a winner with 3 words. They’ll say they want something different and out of the box and then they pick something very straight forward. etc. It’s frustrating when you follow the brief and then get poo-poo’d.

8 Likes

@dan I like the heads up. Respectively speaking I don’t get the thing where a ch picks a name that was suggested in the brief .In my opinion it takes away the creative aspect. I fill rather cheated of the hard work and time spent on offering what I think they are looking for. I have no grudges, just confusion.

4 Likes

Some Good tips Dan, The title cases I do, the others not as much, I Hope that people do not abuse the comment button instead of Pm’ing now, Tip with so many contests try focusing on the ones you have a grasp for, rather then spending time on the briefs you go “HUH”,
@Velocity, Don’t completely Ignore the brief but think if this was my company what would I name it, sub that name even if it happens to be a syllable longer or 3 words instead of 2…,

3 Likes

I love these tips, Dan, in a perfect naming world. When I see truly impressive winners, they seem to have followed most of these ideas.

3 Likes

Thanks for your valuable advice on submitting names to SquadHelp…Appreciate it

My experience tells me this is dangerous. What about being blocked? I was blocked after submitting a name ( actually the CH chose it as a shortlist ) that was absolutely according to the brief. Imagine if I had thought “out of the box” :smirk:

2 Likes

Only therefore I ask to exclude blocks from the percentile calculation algorithm. Only estimates should be considered. If the creative is not pleasing to the customer, this does not mean that the creative is untalented.

6 Likes

This thread is three years old, so while some of the info is good, I think the post shows its age. For example, offering taglines with entries doesn’t seem right, when some CHs are paying extra for tagline contests. Imo it wouldn’t be right to give out taglines in a naming contest.

6 Likes