Benefits of Entering Awards

February 16, 2010

There are many awards out there you can enter. Awards for enterprising businesses owners, awards specific to your industry, green awards, local involvement awards… with a bit of research you can find a host of awards that your company can enter. Some are free and some involve a small cost.

But why should you take the time (and possible cost) to enter your company into awards? Well there are numerous benefits.

The prize

This could be money, which is always a good thing, along with promotion of your business in press and through the organiser. Depending on the size of the organiser this could be worth more than the prize money. A national award sponsored by national newspapers could mean your name being promoted in editorial pieces throughout the year – an invaluable bit of free advertising that you would not normally be able to receive.

Promotion

As stated above, if the award is sponsored by someone with a bit of clout, you could benefit greatly from winning. However, what happens if you don’t win? Well it doesn’t mean it was a completely wasted exercise. You can create your own press releases announcing your entry into the awards, then if you make the shortlist you can create another press release announcing this. Press releases are a fantastic way to promote your business. If you add the press release to your website, that counts as fresh new content, which Google loves. If you upload it to online newswires, you’ll also get a huge number of new links pointing to your site – again a huge factor in your website’s position in the search engines. And if you send it out to relevant journalists you may also get it printed – which is free advertising! And if you do win.. well, that’s another press release you can create!

Other Benefits

Entering awards also gives you something to work towards. If there’s a particular award you’d like to win, you can set specific annual goals which can help to achieve this.

If you do win your award, it’s a great way of increasing that level of trust between you and your customers and prospects. It also acts as an endorsement, and if the award if from a well known organisation it can have a huge impact on your reputation.

If you make the shortlist you may choose to attend the award ceremony. This is a fantastic way of meeting new industry members and is a great networking opportunity.

And finally, if you win, you’ll have a shiny new trophy to put in your reception/cabinet/desk – and who doesn’t like that!

If you need some assistance drafting the copy for your award entry or would like a press release written announcing your award entry please get in touch with us today!

Filed under: Public Relations, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Tags: awards, PR, press releases, promotion, reputation management