In the past year, I’ve been fortunate enough to run a number of web-based contests for a few of our clients, and in doing so, learned a thing or two.  Here are a few simple lessons that I thought were worth sharing with the rest of the world:

Understand your client's goals for the contest and define success up front.
I know, I know, it’s like Agency Tactics 101, but sometimes we just need a friendly reminder. If you don’t set expectations up front, then everyone will walk away from the project with a different sentiment. For example, does your client view success as Facebook fans gained, while you’re looking at number of entries to the contest?  Getting on the same page is crucial.

Define the backend details while keeping it simple on the frontend.
Details, details, details.  A client once told me that she was surprised at how many details went into the contest, and it’s so true.  If person A wins one prize, can they win another?  Can users enter more than once?  Is the winner selected at random, judging or via votes, (this makes a huge difference with legal, just ask our friends at ePrize), and if the winner is chosen by votes, does everyone have an equal shot? You can see where I’m going with this, and when you involve the latest technology, it can get even more complicated.

Despite the level of complication going on behind the scenes, you want to keep it as simple as possible for the user — otherwise, no one will enter. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the details, so be sure to take a step back, look at the big picture, and make sure you’re not overwhelming the user with unnecessary steps.

Talk demand gen.
Demand generation efforts often fall by the wayside, but they are essential to the success of your contest.  If no one knows about it, they probably aren’t going to be entering any time soon (unless of course they’re one of those crazy contest site stalkers, in which case they probably aren’t your target).  Bottom line: make sure your client has a plan (and the dollars) to promote the contest, or better yet, present them with recommendations on how to do so.

Have a moderation plan for entries.
We ran a contest for our friends at Sweet Leaf Tea involving the words “Sweet Spot” — enough said.

Determine what needs to be tracked and how you will obtain the information.
This has proven to be very important particularly when the desired metrics require the database to be built a particular way.  If you want to report entries for a given time period, for example, make sure your database is structured with the ability to do so.

Set aside a budget for maintenance and plan the updates up front.
Maintenance can kill your budget, and it’s not easy to go back to a client and say “Hey, remember the idea we pitched? Well, we’re going to need extra $$$ to keep it going post launch.”  This involves announcing winners, making tweaks due to user feedback and simply removing/updating information or callouts that are no longer applicable.