‘Award winning’ helps take a brand to the next level, adding credibility and getting attention across channels. Managing Director and award ninja, Siobhan Stirling, shares her tips for taking the title and maximising the opportunity for marketing and PR.

Is applying for an award worth it?

You may turn your nose up at them, but awards bring benefits, adding value on many levels:

• Moral booster for the team
• Multi-channel marketing and PR opportunities
• Boost recruitment
• Help open doors to new markets, new clients and new investment
• Great opportunity to take stock and reflect on all that your team has achieved – this may seem the least important, but it’s something that we’re all too often poor at doing. Awards can provide a great lens to appreciate what your brand has achieved in the last year.

If we post award success on Sharp Minds’ LinkedIn, we get around ten times the engagement as other content. When we meet business associates they always comment ‘I see you won another award.’ Amongst the hum drum of mainstream business content, a team togged up in black tie stands out and gets noticed.

Choosing which awards to apply for

Award success can help fuel business success, but simply being in it isn’t enough to win it – you also need to demonstrate to the judges why your brand, team, campaign, project or initiative deserves the crown.

When I first judged awards, I was shocked at how poor the average application was. You don’t need to invest much effort to be ahead of the pack.

Before you start an application, there are a couple of fairly axiomatic checks to make – but from judging awards, not everyone does them: make sure to check that you can match the criteria for the title you want to go for, and consider if the award is relevant and can add value to your business:

• Can you demonstrate the qualities/outcomes the judges are looking for?
• Can you back this up with supporting evidence?
• Will you be able to go to the award ceremony (a requirement for some awards)?
• Is it a title that will provide additional credibility for the markets, partners and investors you’re trying to reach? Some paid awards have devalued the currency slightly, but there are still plenty of awards that have genuine clout.

If the answer to all of these is ‘yes’, go for it. But realise that you need to invest time to ensure you tick every box (scrutinise the criteria closely to make sure you demonstrate each one).

How to write a winning award application

Researching previous winners and analysing how and why they might have won, will give you a helpful benchmark for your own application. Make sure you:

• Demonstrate your points of difference: how do you outpace the competition? What do you do that is different or innovative? How can you evidence this?
• Tell a story, rather than just stating facts, to make your application as memorable as possible
• avoid cliches (being ‘passionate’ about what you do doesn’t evidence how you are ahead of your field or add value for your clients)
• Use evidence: how can you demonstrate growth (turnover, profit, staff numbers, new services, bigger offices); how you deliver for your clients (measurable Return on Investment, client loyalty, percentage of word-of-mouth referrals); expertise (qualifications, keynote speaking opportunities, leadership roles within your industry)?
• Make the most of the word count: if the limit for an answer is 300 words and you only submit 75, you’re probably missing an opportunity to shine – or you’re entering the wrong award.

And don’t leave it to the last minute; it takes time to gather supporting evidence, such as client testimonials.

Maximising award benefits – whether you win or not

Whether you win or are a finalist, the key benefits of an award lie in the marketing and PR opportunities, so have your strategies in place to leverage these before you find out if you have made the shortlist.

Awards offer opportunities for multi-channel promotion, so utilise all of these if you make the shortlist, on the day of the award-ceremony, and then if you win:

• PR: to trade and local media – note that if the award is run by a media titles, competing titles will not cover them
• Marketing: Brand channels, including social, website, newsletters, digital signatures

And, of course, make sure you splash your winner’s logo on future communications, including business development collateral. It’s an objective endorsement as to why you are better than your competitors – so make sure your prospects know about it.

If you are looking for support with an award application, please get in touch.

Based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Sharp Minds Communications offers brand development, digital marketing, offline marketing, and public relations to businesses across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Greater London.