Following on from sharing our tips on “How to write a winning award entry”, we’re sharing our insights as to why entering awards can be beneficial to your business.
While businesses might have differing views on awards, as highlighted previously, getting shortlisted for or winning awards can be a fantastic way to raise the profile of your business and, in turn, help you achieve your business objectives.
Gain credibility
You might be looking to gain credibility within your industry to attract new talent, or you might want to showcase your innovation or sustainability successes to help you win new business.
Entering awards within your industry that showcases growth, investment in your team or well-being initiatives are all a great way to increase role applications at a time when skill gaps or lack of suitable talent is hard to come by.
Similarly, you might be looking at ways to grow your sales pipeline and revenues. A way of doing that is through raising your profile within your target market, which you can achieve via entering awards that highlight innovations, such as products not available elsewhere, or through showcasing your sustainability or CSR initiatives – ticking the boxes of potential customers’ procurement requirements.
Boost your marketing activity
Being shortlisted for (and winning) awards allows you to benefit from creating content which can live on your website and be promoted through your social media, email and other marketing channels. Make sure to include any awards shortlist or win badges in your website footer, along with any other relevant marketing collateral.
Regularly updating content on your website also has SEO (search engine optimisation) benefits, meaning it’s easier for potential customers to find you through search engines.
You can also outreach press releases to relevant local and industry publications announcing your shortlisting, raising your profile and credibility further.
Get in the room with your target audience
Being shortlisted for awards often means an awards dinner, which allows you to get in front of potential customers and influencers. Research the awards shortlist beforehand and reach out to say congratulations, which makes starting a conversation on the evening of the awards a lot easier.
If you win
This is a great opportunity to create a further announcement on your website, within relevant publications, on your social media and other marketing channels. Most importantly, don’t forget to wear your digital winner’s badge with pride across all your marketing communications.
But equally, if you don’t win, the process of being shortlisted can pay dividends. For example, in 2015, Wild PR (then known as KC Communications) was shortlisted for an award.
While we didn’t win the award, we won a new customer from being sat next to at the awards dinner that evening, a perfect opportunity to promote our business and showcase what we could achieve for them.
This was our first client in the manufacturing industry, which continues to be with us to date, contributing significantly to our revenues and our ability to win other manufacturing businesses over the years.
Ready to start your awards journey?
Then don’t forget to read our tips on “How to write a winning award entry” or contact us to discover how we can help you raise your profile and grow your trophy cabinet.
Written by: Katrina Cliffe, Managing Director – Wild PR
Published date: 3rd April 2023