Business awards offer unparalleled opportunities to maximise company credibility, connect with new audiences and make more sales. Read on for 7 reasons why you should apply for business awards.
One of the most common questions we’re asked as a creative communications and PR agency is ‘are business awards worth it?’ And we get it. If you’re applying for the award yourself, it requires time and energy. If you’re putting your trust in a professional, then it calls for a financial investment. So, why are awards important (and why should you really want your business to win)?
Business awards are important because they provide enhanced exposure and networking opportunities, a boost in credibility, free marketing and improved employee morale. They’re also a great way to attract new talent and benchmark your business in the industry.
Our team works on a huge amount of successful award entries every year – on average, with a 75% conversion rate – and we get to witness these amazing benefits firsthand. Let’s dig deeper into the reasons why you should want to be an award-winning business.
7 reasons why awards are important for a company.
- Free marketing and maximised PR opportunities.
Business awards are often overlooked in a communications and marketing strategy. We believe that they should form the core of it.
Even just being listed on the shortlist for an award will provide you with free marketing – most awards will also mention nominees across their social media platforms, immediately putting your brand in the spotlight for countless new audiences.
You can take this a step further yourself by utilising your nomination (and, if you get it, your win) in your PR plans. Whether this is distributing press releases (from regional, to national to industry specific), adding the award logo to your marketing materials and selling interview opportunities to podcasts, print and digital press.
- Exposure and networking.
If your business is successful and makes it through to the shortlist, you’ll find yourself physically put in front of incredible organisations. You’ll be in a room with some of the best players in the industry (and beyond): this offers an unbeatable chance for high-level networking which, in turn, could lead to some of the most valuable connections you ever make.
These connections could become investors, partners, clients – the list goes on. Open up that little black book and take advantage of the wealth of talent and influence that resides inside that ceremony.
- Credibility.
You cannot underestimate the power of something as simple as adding ‘award-winning business’ to your email signature. Now – imagine the impact of having that badge of honour plastered in as many places as you can get it.
One of the incredible things about a business award win (or even a shortlist / nomination announcement) is that it acts as an endorsement for your company. It shows not only do you, your employees, your customers and clients think you’re fantastic at what you do, but so too does a totally impartial awarding body. It’s a promise of quality and can therefore form a crucial part of your sales pitch.
This leads to higher commercial value, as well as strengthening your relationships and potential with suppliers and stakeholders.
- Attract new talent.
Attracting the very best talent is becoming a trickier and trickier game. Competition is high, and as business owners we need to put ourselves in as strong a position as possible to show that we are a lucrative place to work. Marketing yourself as an award-winning business is a fantastic way to do this.
Winning an award solidifies your status as an exciting and growth-driven organisation to be a part of. You can weave it into your recruitment communications in order to capture sterling new employees which, in turn, can push your business forward.
- Improved employee morale.
Similarly, a business award win recognises the hard work, dedication and commitment that your team shows on an ongoing basis. After all – that award is not one person’s win; it’s the company as a collective. Even if you don’t win, the sheer achievement of being shortlisted in the first place is enormous. Out of hundreds and hundreds of entries for any one award category, making it through to the final three is seriously impressive.
So, win or not, you’ll therefore likely experience a boost in employee morale and a perfect opportunity for celebration. Pop the bubbly, get everyone together and pay homage to everything you have all accomplished to make that award win a reality.
- Benchmarking.
Business award applications can be a lengthy process with questions that force us to look at our business through a different lens. You need to compare yourself to your competitors, and drill down the reasons that your business is more successful, diverse, growth-centred, strategic, innovative and influential than them. That’s a lot, isn’t it?
It’s this knowledge and awareness (and the way in which you potentially act on it moving forward) that can often be more valuable than the award itself. Consequently, you can outline ways to make your operations even better. You can stretch your aspirations. Explore methods of marketing yourself on a bigger stage.
Part of the process could even include looking at past winners and benchmarking yourself against them: how do you compare? What have they got that you lack? What do you have that they’re missing out on?
- Enhanced brand equity.
Brand equity is the commercial value and sway potential that a brand name has in the eye of its consumers: it’s the value, reputation and gravitas that it holds. The higher a company’s brand equity, the more it can charge for its services or products. Just think about Apple, arguably one of the most impressive examples of brand equity on the market. When they release a new product – even when it is priced far higher than similar products from great brands – people will queue around the block to purchase it. It’s no exaggeration to say that brand equity is worth its weight in gold.
Brand awareness correlates with brand equity. Therefore, if your award win works to raise your brand awareness, you’ll experience the ripple effect of a steady spike in your brand equity.
Can ‘And So The Story Goes’ help me with business award applications?
Absolutely – here at And So The Story Goes, we know exactly what it takes to write a successful award entry. Get in touch to chat through next steps with your award entry.
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