How to…..write an award entry

(Posted on 23/02/22)

After a brief hiatus in marketing events of all kinds, thanks to COVID-19, awards ceremonies have returned, and already it’s as if they’ve never been away. Attending these events, whether local, regional or national, is always enjoyable; and, of course, nothing beats the feeling of actually scooping an award that recognises your hard work and success in your particular field.

As well as being very satisfying, winning an award undoubtedly impresses potential clients or investors, attracts prospective job applicants, helps boost camaraderie amongst your team and provides excellent PR opportunities.

However, just being brilliant at what you do does not necessarily mean you will win the accolades you deserve. You need to make sure you are not only entering the most appropriate awards for your brand, but that you are making your award entries the best they can possibly be to optimise your chances of success.

 

Prior preparation helps win awards

As with most business challenges, prior preparation is key. Do your research and identify which awards over the next 12 months you want to enter and which categories are most appropriate for you. Take a note of the deadlines for entry – these are often months in advance of the shortlist being announced.

 

The award entry itself

Most awards now have an online entry system which means you can start to draft your entry, save it and return to it later to complete. Not all of them are like this, however, so it’s well worth checking the format in plenty of time in order to save a last-minute scramble to complete the form.

Many awards have the option to include several photographs so make sure you put in as many as you can. Good quality, strong imagery is absolutely essential to showcase your brand properly and convey what you want. Increasingly, including short video clips is often another option. Again, make sure the quality and content does you justice. Finally, and most importantly, don’t neglect the task of the actual writing and devote plenty of time to this. There is usually a strict word limit on the entry forms so make every character count. There is a real art to conveying all that you need to say in a concise, succinct manner, that makes it clear to the reader exactly why you deserve to win this particular category in this particular set of awards.

Ensure that you have all the necessary approvals to use photographs, videos and quotes etc. Always allow yourself plenty of time to secure these to save yourself some stress as the deadline approaches. Finally, make sure you proof check everything carefully before you submit it and ask a colleague or friend to check it too.

 

Award writing is one of our specialist areas. Get in touch with the Zebra team today to find out how we can help you win awards in your sector.