Our clients often ask us if entering business awards is worth the time and effort. The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ but choose your awards carefully as not all are created equal!
While it might be fun for your team to win the ‘best office table tennis team’ award, the actual amount of time spent filling out the nomination form could possibly be time better spent.
When you start thinking of entering awards do your research. Check the social media channels of your competitors to gauge the sort of awards they have entered and perhaps won in the past. Then ask yourself if it would benefit your business to have those trophies in your cabinet.
Also, consider the organisation behind the awards. There is an entire industry out there producing awards and the accompanying dinners so before you make an investment in time and money make sure being part of the event will bring value to your business and the dinner is not just a way for the organisers to make a profit.
Check before you commit
Awards take time, so delve further into the entry requirements and make sure you can tick all the required boxes. Some awards are based on consumer surveys or client testimonials – do you have this information available? Others require substantial amounts of original written copy or even videos – do you have the capacity to create this content?
If you are still unsure, then ask yourself the following questions:
- Have you, or anyone in your team ever heard of the awards?
- How long have the awards been in existence?
- Who are the main sponsors of the process? Is there any conflict of interest with you or any of your clients?
- Who have been winners in the past? Watch out for the same names popping up year after year!
- Do the awards have their own website and do their social media pages attract substantial followers?
- Do the awards organisers advertise in any respected industry publications?
- How are the awards judged? Is there an independent judging panel in place or do you have suspicions that the winners are chosen for reasons other than merit?
- And most importantly, would you be proud to embellish your email footer with the logo of these awards, if not, then perhaps it’s not the award for you!
The Drum Recommends Awards
Here at Essential, we have just enjoyed a taste of success in the Marketing industry equivalent of the Oscars, The Drum Recommends Digital Awards.
The word ‘recommends’ in the title gives away why these awards stand out from others. Unlike many awards that require entrants to complete long entry forms and submissions, The Drum Recommends awards are judged purely on nominations from the most credible of sources, the entrant’s own clients.
Each year The Drum downloads the ratings from the recommendedagencies.com database to identify which agencies are the highest rated by clients.
This year we have been shortlisted in the Content/Strategy Creation category with the final winners due to be announced at the virtual awards ceremony on October 15th! Wish us luck!
