A business awards strategy is essential for increasing your chances of winning. It can help you plan out what you’re going to apply for, how, and when so you can create a winning awards submission. A well-thought-out strategy can help you identify the most relevant awards, prepare compelling submissions, and maximise your chances of winning. This all sounds well and good, but where do you start? We’ll talk you through it.
The importance of business awards
Business awards are more than just trophies or certificates, they are a way to get ahead of the competition and impact your growth and reputation. Here are a few reasons why business awards are crucial for business:
- Winning an award, or even being shortlisted, can position you as a leader in your industry. This can enhance credibility and trust among employees, clients, investors, and partners.
- Business awards are great PR opportunities. You can use them as ways to increase your brand awareness and attract new customers or even employees.
- Recognition from awards can conjure up a sense of pride within the business, and can contribute to higher morale, motivation and positive work culture.
- Awards can give you a competitive advantage. Award wins or nominations can appeal to clients who value quality and achievement.
Research relevant awards
The first step in your business award strategy is to research and identify the awards that are most relevant to your business and the work you do. Not every award will be a good fit for you, so it’s important to align your efforts with awards that complement your industry. Here’s how you can find the best awards.
Define your goals
Are you wanting validation and recognition for your customer service? Maybe you’re looking to assert yourself within your niche. Think about what you want to gain from your award entries as this will help you choose the right awards.
Look at industry-specific awards
Many industries have niche awards that can carry significant weight within your sector. For example, this could include innovation, leadership, or sustainability.
Consider general business awards
Although industry-specific awards are important, prestigious awards like Entrepreneur of the Year can apply to any business and provide widespread recognition.
Use resources or tools
There are plenty of award databases and industry publications that list relevant awards to enter. You can even contact a business awards consultant to help you with your awards strategy.
Create an Award Calendar
Timing is everything when it comes to business awards as there are so many out there available to enter. Because of this, you can easily miss deadlines or become overwhelmed with the number of applications you’re managing at once.
An awards calendar can help you prioritise awards based on importance and deadlines. Start by organising awards based on their relevance to your business goals and how competitive they are. High-profile awards may require more time and effort. Then organise them by the deadline date and start working on the most important one that is coming up.
Set reminders for each deadline so you never miss an opportunity to apply and plan ahead for team involvement. Some awards may require input from various departments like HR, marketing, or finance, so make sure people are involved early to avoid last-minute rushes.
Creating a Winning Submission
Creating a winning awards submission requires you to create a compelling story that highlights your business’s unique strengths. When preparing to write your awards submission, it’s important you give yourself plenty of time as this can sometimes be a lengthy process.
- Identify the award you want to enter
- Read and understand the guidelines (it’s important these are right, so get someone else to read and understand these too)
- Gather resources like project data, proposals, and team input
- Begin with a concise summary highlighting your project’s significance
- Provide detailed information about the project including objectives, key contributors, challenges, and how they were overcome
- Present results with supporting data and client feedback
- Review submission against guidelines and submit
By following our in-depth guide on how to create an award-winning submission, you will be well on your way to gaining more recognition, more business, and establishing yourself as a leader in your industry.
If you need further help in creating an awards strategy, get in touch with August Awards. We have a proven track record of helping businesses of all sizes win prestigious awards through our expertise, creativity, and attention to detail.
