What would it mean to your business to win an award?
Lots of great publicity?
A glitzy awards night?
… or just another trophy for the cabinet in reception?
There are so many benefits that winning an award can bring to your business. Everything from preparing the submission, right through to the media coverage following the event, can all help to raise your profile and provide you with the credibility that your business deserves.
We know that preparing and writing an awards submission can be time-consuming. And quite often having that ‘third eye’ from someone who isn’t in your organisation to write a compelling awards submission gives you the best chance of success. It involves a rigorous evaluation of your business successes and a rigorous evaluation of your products and services, as well as gathering client testimonials and photography to give your submission further credibility. This is where we come in!
We’ve had tremendous success in entering our clients for awards, and we have a keen eye in knowing what the judging panel is looking for, and how to clearly demonstrate your success.
A word of caution …
Before we look at some of the far-reaching benefits winning an award can have on your business, it’s worth adding a note of caution. Some awards (not all) are a ‘pay to play’ basis, meaning that if you don’t book a table of 10 for the awards night, you often don’t win! Harsh, but true. We’re familiar with these type awards and which you should avoid entering.
The important thing is not to shoehorn yourself into lots of different award categories, but to focus on the one to two that you have the best chance of winning. A big piece of work that we do involves researching which awards your business would be most suited for to maximise the chances of success.
The benefits of winning a business award
Now let’s look at some of the benefits that winning an award can bring to you and your business:
- Increased Credibility and Reputation
An award from a credible organisation acts as a third-party validation of your business’s quality, expertise, or innovation. This can give you a significant edge over competitors, especially when dealing with new clients or partners who may not be familiar with your brand.
- Enhanced Visibility and Brand Awareness
Winning an award puts your business in the spotlight, resulting in significant media and social media coverage.
As part of the award submission process, we put a promotion plan together so we can leverage as much media coverage as possible on your behalf.
There’s a double benefit in doing this: Firstly, your business is put into the spotlight within the local and industry press – and this coverage can be promoted across social media.
Secondly, press coverage can generate high quality links to your website. Whilst this may not excite you as much as us (!) it does result in an increased boost in your search engine ranking and website traffic.
Boosted Employee Morale
Awards are not just about a business, they’re also about the people who drive its success. A business award gives validation to your employees that their hard work and dedication are valued, leading to increased motivation and productivity.
If you think certain individuals within your business have gone the extra mile and deserve recognition, there are several employee or apprentice awards to enter that can help motivate your team.
Opportunity for Benchmarking and Improvement
The award application process can be a valuable exercise in itself, helping to identify areas where your business is excelling and where you can improve. We’ve had clients who have repurposed some of the copy we have written as part of the awards submission and used it for their website, and pitch / proposal documents.
The awards night itself
If you’re shortlisted for an award, the chances are you’ll want to don your best frock or black tie and enjoy a glitzy celebration night out with your team. This is a great networking opportunity, where you can make valuable introductions with industry peers and get your brand in front of potential new clients.
If you’ve never entered your business for an award, perhaps now is the perfect time to showcase your achievements.
Maybe you’ve entered your business for an award before, but not been successful. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again, but our expertise can provide you with a compelling award submission that will stand out amongst the competition.
Book in a call with us here to discuss how we can help you >>