How to write a winning award entry

By Irina Meier

Winning a desired industry award can be great for business as it brings much-deserved recognition, gives the team a good reason to celebrate its achievements and can also contribute to lead generation.

Entering awards is something we often recommend to our clients as a part of their overall PR efforts. However, we also know how much time and resources it can take to craft a successful entry.

We’ve written many entries over the past years, helping our clients get their names on prestigious shortlists and securing trophies, including for our client Kocho which, in the last three months alone, has bagged a Computing Cloud Excellence Award and made the shortlist for another three awards. Here are our tips on crafting a successful awards entry.

Be selective

Decide if the award and its categories are a good fit, and if you have a realistic chance of bringing home a trophy. Also remember that not every award is prestigious. Select a few that are key for your industry and you’re golden.

Do your prep

Organisers often issue guides or run webinars to help you “craft an award-winning entry.” Follow these guidelines – they’ll tell you exactly what the judges are looking for (as well as what they don’t want to see).

Be authentic

Judges will be inundated with entries containing recycled marketing materials riddled with jargon, buzzwords and acronyms. While these terms can be relevant, they’re not much fun to read. If you want to stand out, sound authentic.

Prove it

Award nominations allow you to be self-promotional but don’t go overboard. If you claim to be the best, you need to back it up with proof. Case studies, testimonials, ROI figures and other business metrics make all the difference.

Make it snappy

Try describing a complete employee engagement programme or a ground-breaking innovation in 400 words. That’s the kind of wordcount you have to play with, so only include information that showcases your winning potential.

Winning awards is a great feeling, not just for our clients but for us too. You can see how these fit into our service portfolio here.