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I struggled to win any awards during my first decade as a marketer. Everything changed in 2021 when I hired a content expert, Alexandra Matthews, who excelled at crafting award submissions. Since then, she’s helped our company secure over 36 awards, recognizing our employees for our technology, campaigns and design work.
This surge in industry recognition significantly boosted our business’s credibility with customers. In this article, I’ll look at four essential takeaways I gleaned from Matthews’ approach to help anyone enhance their award submission strategy and increase their chances of success.
Select a category for which you have a right to win.
Picking the right category is key. It is essential to match your submission with a category that highlights its unique qualities and achievements. Like placing a puzzle piece in the right spot, choosing the correct category ensures your entry shines and resonates with judges looking for specific criteria.
It’s also important to consider the strategic value of each award and category about your business goals. If your business seeks to be better known for a particular topic, product or service, those are the awards and categories to prioritize. Winning in a category that resonates with your audience can enhance credibility and open doors to new opportunities.
To think more tactically, one of the first things to do after considering the strategic value of an award is to look at previous winners of those categories. Analyzing trends and commonalities among past recipients provides insights into what the judges may value and expect.
Combining this with a thorough review of the judging criteria helps identify whether the campaign or individual/team you plan to create an award for could be a successful match
