The benefits of entering industry awards

Award season is approaching, and businesses will no doubt be considering entering industry awards for their target categories. However, entering awards schemes can be expensive and time consuming for some businesses, which may be enough to put them off even considering them as a viable option.

However, entering and potentially winning an industry award can bring a ream of benefits for your business, and serious consideration should be given before they are swept under the rug.

Do your research

For any business considering entering industry awards, winning is always the aim. It is important, therefore, to carefully consider the awards you choose to enter. Do some research on the award program you’re considering and look at previous winner’s entries (these are usually made accessible on award websites post-ceremony).

By taking time to research the award you are thinking of targeting, you can gain a better understanding of what the judges are looking for in a winning entry, and whether you have the appropriate content for a shot of securing a spot on the shortlist.

If you know you do have the right case study, data, or testimonial for that category, then it will be worth entering and taking a chance. Whereas if it’s clear from the outset that you won’t have sufficient content for the entry, then it might be a better option to wait another year. That way you have another 12 months to secure award-winning results and content.

Writing a successful award entry

Putting together the award entry is the next step, and you can read our blog on how to write successful award entries for handy tips. The process of creating an award entry is also a great opportunity to look inward at your business. You need to make sure you stand out against the competition in your entry when it comes to innovation, diversity, growth, investment in people, and strategic thinking.

By doing so it can help to stimulate new ideas for your own business and identify areas that require improvement; this has the potential to be even more valuable than winning.

Magenta team with their PMA 2022 trophy.

What will winning do for you?

So, you’ve won the award – congratulations! But what now?

Winning awards will always bring you satisfaction, and rightly so! Being recognised by industry professionals for your business’ hard work and being rewarded as such is a great feeling. But winning industry awards isn’t just about feeling good.

Free marketing

Getting a win is a great opportunity for free marketing. Usually, large industry awards will be profiled in relevant publications and potentially national press too. This face time and recognition will put your business in front of the right people and can result in an increase in leads.

Credibility

Additionally, a win, or even a short-listing or nomination, will give your business a great boost in credibility. A win against your competitors allows your customers to differentiate between you, and it sends out more positive signals toward your company, as well as giving you a new angle in your sales pitches.

Employee motivation

When looking more internally, an award win can help boost employee motivation. Those that were part of the team that delivered the activity that won the award will ultimately feel great about their own work, but more widely employees tend to focus on what’s great about the company they work for and feel proud to be a part of. An award win can help to validate those feelings for your teams, and ultimately improve employee motivation and even retention.

New hires

Award wins help your teams internally and help you look good to potential clients. But what about new hires? Being able to add “award-winning” to your recruitment ads and pitching yourselves as the best helps to attract the best talent and push your business further forwards.

Increased brand awareness and website traffic

Even when you are shortlisted for an award, that announcement will help to bring more traffic and engagement to your website. Here at Magenta, whenever we have bee shortlisted for an industry award, we see a spike in visitors to our website, as people are clicking the link on the awards page to visit our website. The addition of winning the award its your businesses name and face out for all to see, increasing your brand awareness. We have even won new business as a result of an award win promoting us to the right people!

Overall, the potential for your business when it comes to entering industry awards and potentially winning them too are of a greater scale than many realise. The key takeaways to remember are: