When we suggest that our clients enter their businesses for awards (because they are great at what they do, and deserve the recognition!), it’s often met with a slight grimace. We get it – we Brits are modest about our successes and blowing our own trumpet isn’t our forte, but the benefits of entering awards far outweigh any of those initial cringey feelings you may have.
Being an award nominee or finalist will open the door to positive publicity, and if you go on to win, you have a truly meaningful endorsement under your belt which will boost awareness and credibility of your brand. Here are the five main benefits of throwing your business’s name into the hat:
1. Credibility
Winning, or even being a finalist, gives you an immediate unique selling point (USP) over your competitors. You are a market leader now, and customers trust your products and services.
2. Publicity
Simply by being a nominee, you are highly likely to benefit from positive publicity before, during and after the awards ceremony. This increases your visibility among potential clients who may not have previously heard of your business and will create a real buzz on your social channels whether that is through sharing press coverage, photos of the awards ceremony or thanking your followers for their support.
3. Growth
Winning an award can boost your bottom line. Best Business Rewards reported findings from the British Quality Foundation that award-winning companies experienced up to 63% increase in operating income and up to 39% increase in sales when compared to non-winners. About the awards | The Best Business Awards.
4. Benchmarking
Entering your business for an award can make you take a step back and look at your business from a different perspective. What makes you stand out from your competitors? Are you innovative? Do you go above and beyond to deliver outstanding customer service? How about your environmental efforts? You may identify areas requiring some attention which you wouldn’t have considered previously.
5. Motivating
Being nominated for an award can increase motivation and morale among your staff, knowing that they have played a part in the success of the business. Inviting team members to the ceremony itself is a great way to thank them publicly and recognise all their efforts and hard work. It also offers opportunities for team bonding, not to mention networking.
So, how do you go about applying for an award when you’ve got lots of other things to cross off your to-do list? This is where we can help.
- Our first step is always to identify the type of awards you could potentially go after and ensure that you meet the entry criteria. These could be local, national or industry specific awards, but a good starting point is to do your research into awards that your competitors have entered or won.
- Start planning your application in plenty of time and take notes of all the facts and figures that you want to include as they pop into your head. Which category best suits your business and the stage you’re at? What is your story, and what difference have you made? Always double check the information that is required in the application so you can ensure that you’ve answered each question fully and accurately. This can be time-consuming, but the Bold St Media team love writing stand-out stories, so we’ll happily do it for you! When you’re happy, you’ll submit the application – voila!
Once you’ve won (think positive), you can go on to enjoy all that positive PR we mentioned earlier. So, please don’t shy away from shouting your successes…or at least let us do it for you.