Business awards: why bother?
Entering a business award competition takes time and effort, and sometimes it’s not clear whether it really is worth it. After all, fun though the awards dinner and celebrations may be, they are probably not a sufficient reason for entering. Let’s take a look at some of the possible benefits of winning, as well as other ways to leverage your involvement that don’t entail nominating yourself and spending hours or days on collating information and filling in forms.
First of all, before applying for an award, it’s a good idea to give serious thought to what potential benefit winning would have for your business. Remember that pretty much every one of the positives comes with a caveat that should also be taken into account.
WHY ENTER FOR AN AWARD?
Kudos
This is one of the first things that comes to mind when you mention awards, and it’s the desire to be recognised as an “award-winner” that makes all those “you’re a winner” spam emails so persuasive. Bear in mind, though, that not every badge of approval has credibility, and that even genuine honours are of little value if you don’t leverage the acclaim.
Visibility
If you put some effort into the PR side of things, winning an award can definitely bring increased visibility. But, like social media “follows” and “likes”, this visibility probably won’t equate automatically to either increased sales or higher profits.
New clients and increased sales
If a prospective client sees the results of your award-centred PR, or notices that your website or email signature sports a badge for a credible award, they may well feel that your business is to be trusted and that they should consider working with you. But other kinds of social proof, including testimonials and case studies, could be equally effective in inspiring confidence in your stakeholders.
Leverage for growth or investment
One less frequently cited reason for applying for an award is that it can raise your company profile among potential associates, employees or investors. Again, whether this will work or not is largely down to the effort and success of the associated PR activity. It may also depend heavily on which award you put in for, who the organisers are, and just how credible it all is.
Staff relationships
Perhaps you want to recognise your team’s recent efforts and so you decide to nominate them for an award. They will no doubt be proud that you have noticed what they are doing, but there is no guarantee that they will win their category. Paying for everyone in the team to attend the awards dinner is a nice gesture, but not everyone wants to don a cummerbund or posh frock and some of the staff might well prefer to be thanked in other ways.
Showcase a specific project
If you have a new product or service, or have completed a project that you’re particularly proud of, submitting it for an award can be a good way to get it noticed. Again, though, there’s no guarantee of winning and the really useful visibility will only happen if you are prepared to put the effort into PR.
OTHER OPTIONS
The key to making your award application bear fruit whatever the actual outcome seems to be PR. With this in mind, depending on what your motivation is, there may be other effective ways to get involved without actually being an award nominee.
Make a night of it
You don’t usually need to be a finalist to attend an awards evening: unsuccessful entrants, shortlisted entrants, and those who have no connection with the event at all can all buy tickets to the celebrations. So you could just go along as an individual, or with colleagues to join in the fun, or perhaps you could invite a few clients or other contacts to join you. You probably don’t need to host a full table: after all, if you and your guests end up sharing a table with another business, that’s a great opportunity to make new connections.
However many guests you decide to host, you should think strategically about who you invite. It should be a fun night out, but it can also be an excellent opportunity to introduce clients and other stakeholders who wouldn’t normally ever meet. Don’t expect them to have very meaningful conversations at the event – it’s usually too noisy and there’s too much going on – but it’s a good opportunity to start connections, so do try to find a mix of personalities and shared interests that may form the basis of an on-going conversation.
Remember, too, that if you have invited a group of guests, you will have certain responsibilities as host to see that everyone is engaged and gets something positive from the evening: you don’t need to fuss, but do be prepared to ask people to move seats between courses, for example, to maintain a comfortable dynamic. Diplomatic handling of the group dynamic can speak volumes for your professionalism and enhance your reputation.
Why not be a sponsor?
While inviting guests or hosting a table without entering the awards will offer you some opportunities to enter the conversation, it doesn’t provide a huge amount of engagement and involvement. Another role to consider is that of sponsor. Most awards offer headline sponsorship, as well as other, smaller packages, that come with different levels of perks.
While it avoids the effort involved in entering the awards, being a sponsor still requires taking a strategic approach. It’s important to choose an award that corresponds to your business interests and that will raise your profile in the space in which you want to be seen, whether by clients, investors or other stakeholders. And as a potential sponsor, you need to carry out the same due diligence regarding the credibility of the awards as those who enter. Similarly, you also need to consider when, where and how you leverage your association with the award on social media and in the press, and do the same strategic planning regarding hosting guests at the awards ceremony.
But sponsorship can be a highly effective marketing activity. With the awards process often lasting several months, committing early on ensures that you are part of the conversation from the very beginning and can be actively involved and visible for a substantial period. You should also get invited to any pre- or post-awards events, you may get to mingle with the businesses that are under consideration, and your name can be every bit as visible as the actual winners.
Business awards are about far more than just taking home a trophy. There are lots of ways to get involved, so do have a think about what is best suited to your business.
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.