Business awards: boost your chances of a win

Whether you’re nominating yourself or someone else, applying for a business award takes time and effort, so it’s important to take it seriously and make sure you are in with a chance. Read on for tips and advice to help you make sure your entry is as good as it can be.

BE STRATEGIC

Submitting award applications takes time. Some larger companies incorporate the process into their formal marketing plan and have full-time staff dedicated to the task. But for most organisations awards are a “nice to have” rather than an essential, and the time needs to be squeezed from other duties. Whatever your situation is, it’s clear that a strategic approach is needed.

Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, you should look closely at the organisation behind the awards, which business sector the awards are aimed at, what geographical limits there are on entrants etc. And finally, of course, you need to consider which category is most appropriate. Often there may be a dozen possible categories but you may only be able to enter one or two, so you need to choose carefully.

Beware of scams. Check the organisation behind the awards to see if it’s credible. Also see if you can find information about past winners. While there are a few genuine awards that charge an entrance fee, in general, you probably won’t want to enter awards that require payment. And while it’s lovely to have the opportunity to attend a celebratory event, if attendance is obligatory if you want to win, that’s a bit of a red flag.

Some people are surprised to realise that you can self-nominate for business awards. At first sight, it might seem to cheapen the achievement. But, while it would be lovely to think that someone else is going to put your name forward, this isn’t usually the case. Anyway, you know your business better than anyone else, so who is better informed than you to know which award you should win and to present your case effectively? It’s also wise to try and find out who the judges will be, as this will give you a better idea of what they are likely to be looking for and whether your organisation will make the grade.

While you’re checking things out, it’s very important to beware of awards that are judged by social media votes. If winning comes down to how many people click a like button, there will always be companies that have the resources to game the system.

However appropriate an award is for your business, remember that there is a deadline to be met. If you don’t have time to do the application well, it’s probably not worth entering this year. Most awards are annual events, so make sure you get on the reminder list and put the date in the diary to do a full-on submission next year.

YOUR APPLICATION

There are plenty of businesses out there who will complete your application for you – at a price. Think hard before signing up with one of them: you and your staff know more about your business than anyone else, and if the judging process includes an interview, you’re the one who’s going to have to face the judges.

Once you’ve completed one award application, you will have a skeleton mapped out for others. But each set of judges will be looking for something different, so it isn’t just a question of cut and paste. This is especially true if you are applying for two categories in the same awards, as the same judges may read all the entries and they are unlikely to be impressed by a cookie-cutter approach.

If you aren’t sure what to include in your application, it could be useful to talk to the people who work with your business: suppliers, clients, collaborators and, of course, staff may all have useful insights into what makes your organisation unique.

Remember that every award is different, so you need to READ THE RULES. Then:

1. Prepare your answers offline. Don’t put anything into the system until you are sure of your answers.
2. Do a “brain dump” and then organise and streamline the information to avoid repetition and wasted words.
3. Make sure your application answers all the questions and covers all the points, but avoid information overload.
4. Keep strictly to the word count.
5. Be authentic.
6. Make it personal. If possible, tell a story.
7. Make it relevant and current.
8. Compare your business with competitors and with your own previous years’ performance – show that you aren’t just good, you’re better than you were and better than others in your sector.
9. Be clear and concise. Use bullet points or a timeline where appropriate.
10. Not all applications will allow attachments or external links to supporting materials, but, where possible, use the right format for the information – visuals, charts, video…
11. Give examples that demonstrate what makes you different and the impact you’ve had.
12. Include facts and evidence to back up your claims.
13. Include social impact, CSR and ESG where possible.
14. Say WHY what you have done matters.
15. Don’t assume the judges know anything about your business. Your application must stand for itself.
16. Let the application rest before you send it off.
17. Ask someone else to check it.
18. Don’t rush.
19. Don’t leave it till the last minute: the system may crash.
20. Keep a copy.

Tantamount is proud to work with many award-winning clients and we have sponsored the Innovation Awards since 2022. We’d be delighted to have a chat and see how we can help you and your business communicate your values, your vision and your award-winning status through clear and effective brand messaging.