Framing for art competitions and open art exhibitions is essentially about two things:
  1. avoiding your artwork being eliminated from selection because of the frame
  2. making your art look good within the context of the competition so your artwork is selected for exhibition

Context
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How to avoid elimination - due to framing
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The factors that affect which are the right sort of frames for an open exhibition or art competition are listed below.
  1. Different competitions attract different type of art - and this in turn affects how artwork is framed (and indeed if it is framed)
  2. Location is important - open exhibitions are very often held in metropolitan centres. If you're only used to a rural setting you need to look at photographs of framed artwork in exhibitions in these locations
  3. There's no accounting for taste. Hopefully the Judges won't have a strong preference for framing - but you never know.

KEY ACTION: Visit the exhibition the year before and study the frames of work which get selected and win prizes
In open exhibitions and art competitions pictures are stacked - one against the other. That means anything on the back of your picture is going to potentially make a scratch or a big dent on the one behind it.

​Especially as the stacks get bigger and bigger and the weight and pressure of leaning artworks begins to build.

That's why organisers frequently ask for no fixings at the rear of artwork and will discard any work which offends in this respect.. They also ban clip frames and it's far too easy for these to get damaged.

KEY ACTION: Read instructions carefully and make a careful note of what it says about fixings at the rear and then act accordingly
In the run up to major shows – notably the Royal Academy Summer Show – many framers are overloaded with work. If you leave it to the last minute you can risk paying over the odds or having to frame your own work. 
Are competitions worth it? by Clare Davidson (Royal College of Art
Picture
Prints and drawings in the Sackler Galleries at the RA Summer Exhibition 2018

How can a frame help get your work selected
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Issues for the international artist
A frame which works hard for you is one which:
  • complements the artwork
  • makes people look at the painting not the frame
  • adds value without looking cheap or flash
  • ​is completed by mats in neutral tones for works on paper
  • does not look like it might adversely affect paintings hung close to it

AVOID the following:
  • loud frames / a strong colour (this swamps adjacent work)
  • clip frames - almost always banned 
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KEY ACTION: Find a frame which enhances the look of the painting and does not detract from work hanging close by
It's entirely normal for the taste for frames to vary from place to place eg 
  • heavy vs lightweight
  • neutral vs black vs coloured 
  • natural wood vs gilt
This makes it very difficult for an international artists submitting work overseas eg. It's very noticeable that American taste in frames varies quite significantly from UK and European taste. Very often cultural preferences are influenced by factors such as the typical size of  rooms in houses and the nature of the decor. (eg larger rooms can take louder more emphatic frames which would scream "get me out of here" in a smaller room!).

KEY ACTION: Decide whether you want to "fit in" or "stand out from the crowd"

MORE TIPS about framing for art competitions and open exhibitions
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The following are blog posts which cover this topic and have some useful things to say
Note: The image at the top of the page is a panoramic photograph of the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. This is an excellent exhibition to visit to see the various ways people frame small works.  It's also notable for having tight constraints on the size of the work that can be exhibited.