Winning industry accolades is something almost every business seeks to achieve, but many are lost on where to start. There are a number of useful strategies to employ in the journey to becoming an award-winning business, but the most important factor to consider is the timing of your planning process. The best time to start thinking about the award-worthy elements of your campaign isn’t when you’re drafting your entry – it’s before you start work on your campaign.

Define Your Why

Start with a purpose, and make it central to your campaign. Will your campaign advance your industry in some way, make a difference for a philanthropic cause or support innovation in DEI? It’s important to think beyond the positive impact a campaign will have on your business and define how your work will contribute to the greater good. Awards programs don’t reward teams who “did their job”; they reward teams whose impact is bigger than themselves.

Campaigns that have created a tangible effect outside of their organization of origin are the ones that take the cake.

Write Everything Down

Keeping track of your work as you go is crucial. Don’t wait until you’re getting ready to submit an entry to map out the key components of your campaign; recording your process as it happens ensures the highest quality of detail and accuracy.

Most PR awards programs have a similar entry format which asks you to outline your starting point, strategy/tactics, execution and results. Your starting point should summarize what your campaign is seeking to change, improve or affect, and why. In the strategy/tactics section, you’ll be asked to provide an overview of your PR plan. Your execution outline should include the most notable steps you took to carry out your PR plan, and your results summary should lay out the measurable ways your campaign achieved success. Make it a point to track results data for your campaign – numbers speak louder than words!

Polish Your Presentation

At the conclusion of your campaign, you’ll most often need to consolidate all of your work into a concise summary along with compiling supporting materials. Choose a member of your team who is a strong writer with immaculate attention to detail to own this part of the process. How you present your results and what you choose to highlight are the most important factors to pay attention to at this step. Be sure to demonstrate how your campaign has not only impacted your business but other communities, groups or causes as well. Place data at the forefront of your presentation and make sure your summary encompasses all of the successes you want to highlight; often times supporting materials are only scanned.

Spread Your Submission

Enter as many awards contests as your time & resources allow! The more programs you submit your entry to, the more likely you are to get recognized for your hard work and contributions to your industry. Once you’ve perfected each of the steps outlined above, receiving the accolades your business deserves is just be a matter of placing your work in front of the right audience.

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Ready to win company awards and recognition? Learn how business awards can be a part of a larger PR plan by reaching out to us at [email protected].