B2B publisher events, organised and promoted better with Contribly
Farmers Weekly, the UK’s leading agricultural magazine and event organiser, was struggling with a scattered, manual process for collecting and managing user-generated content (UGC) for its flagship competition, Britain’s Fittest Farmer (BFF). With applications, videos, and sensitive personal stories arriving across multiple inboxes and platforms, the process was slow, messy, and at risk of losing valuable submissions. By adopting Contribly, Farmers Weekly streamlined its workflow, saving days of admin time and creating a smooth, centralised system for gathering, approving, and publishing content.
Topline results:
Streamlined registration process: From two full days of manual application processing to just 15 minutes a week with Contribly — while keeping all content secure, organised, and instantly ready to publish.
Over 707 highly engaging participant stories, instantly promoting the event, and highlighted in weekly articles and across social media
20% video stories shared by participants when registering
Approved participants automatically appear on FW website in a photo reel. People can see their competition and get excited about the event, igniting even more registrations.
Secure way to collect stories, filter them, and control what is made public, helping the team handle sensitive content, like mental health stories.
About Farmers Weekly
Farmers Weekly is a multi-platform brand with a long-standing reputation for connecting and informing the UK’s agricultural community. Alongside its weekly magazine and online content, the team delivers events that range from webinars to large-scale, in-person competitions.
One of those events is Britain’s Fittest Farmer, which was launched by Farmers Weekly in 2018 as a fun way of sparking a vital discussion about the physical and mental health of the nation’s farmers.
One of those annual events is Britain’s Fittest Farmer. Great sponsors, supporting an awesome cause, mental health in the farming community. Readers can apply to take part in fantastic fitness competitions in varying locations across the UK.
The challenge
For Britain’s Fittest Farmer — a national fitness and mental health competition for the agricultural community — the events team needed to collect applications, videos, images, and personal stories from hundreds of entrants. The challenge?
Submissions came in via emails, social media, and various file-sharing tools, creating a messy and inconsistent process.
Sensitive mental health stories had to be handled securely, with some content published publicly and some kept private.
Approving and filtering applications was time-consuming, growing from half a day per week to two full days as the event approached.
Content was trapped in inboxes, meaning colleagues couldn’t easily access or help with the approval process.
Without a better system, the team risked losing applications, delaying approvals, and missing opportunities to promote the competition.
How Contribly addressed the challenge
Instead of using usual tools, like Eventbrite, for registrations, they use Contribly. This has allows them to streamline their registration process, whilst also gathering and instantly publishing the amazing fitness and mental health stories of the participants. Giving the event a buzz from the day applications open up, building up all the way to the day of the live event. Contribly became the central hub for Britain’s Fittest Farmer applications.
Key ways it helped:
One simple copy & paste upload form embedded in the Farmers Weekly website became the single entry point for all applications, farmer stories, videos, and images.
The team could collect both public and private content in the same form — ensuring sensitive mental health stories were protected while still showcasing participant photos and videos.
Built-in approval tools let the events team quickly review submissions, check eligibility, and publish approved entries directly to the competition page using Contribly’s copy & paste gallery widgets.
Approved competitor profiles were automatically published in a live photo gallery on the site, creating instant buzz and encouraging others to enter.
The system allowed team-wide access, so colleagues could share the workload instead of everything landing in one inbox.
“It’s just the most simple way — click through, approve, and it’s all in one place. It means my colleagues can help too, instead of everything being in my inbox.
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Implementation was fast — the editorial team was already using Contribly for content gathering, so the events team was trained internally in minutes. Chelsea found the system self-explanatory, but appreciated knowing the Contribly team was available for advice:
“It’s really easy, but [Contribly] are there I need [them] — which is reassuring because technical things aren’t always easy when they should be.”
The results
Massive time savings — from up to two full days of manual processing during peak entry periods to just 15 minutes a week using Contribly.
Zero lost applications — every submission comes through one central, searchable system.
Faster promotion — competitor profiles and images are instantly visible on the site, helping generate excitement and drive more entries.
Improved security & compliance — private mental health stories are kept confidential, while public content is approved before publishing.
Greater team collaboration — the approval process is no longer dependent on one person’s inbox.
Greater event promotion: Over 707 highly engaging participant stories, instantly promoting the event, highlighted in weekly articles and across social media
Renewed energy for the event —
“Contribly gave me my love back for BFF. The old process was such a drag, but now I can focus on why we do it and organise it better because I have the time.”
Don’t just take our word for it, watch the case study video:
By bringing all content into one place, Contribly transformed Britain’s Fittest Farmer from an admin headache into a streamlined, audience-driven showcase that fuels both marketing and community engagement.
If your events, campaigns, or editorial projects are slowed down by scattered submissions and chaotic workflows, it’s time to change that.
From submission to story, instantly publishable — with Contribly.