It’s hard to miss the glitz and glamour of the ongoing movie award season. Every broadcaster, radio station, magazine and social media platform is trying to ride the wave of the public’s unwavering interest in the rich and famous.
But despite these celebrities seemingly living a life we mere mortals can only dream of; it’s still surprising to see how much pride and joy they feel when receiving an award. More importantly, the viewer will register and remember who the winners are.
A movie or television show is much more appealing to the viewer if it has already been dubbed as ‘award-winning’. This forms an expectation that it is of a high quality. The same rules apply in the business world.
Winning awards adds credibility
As we live in such a connected and digitalised society, businesses can be subject to a thorough background search by practically any potential customer or client. Hence why it’s crucial for businesses to pursue opportunities to be awarded. Any type of special recognition will significantly help when differentiating themselves from competitors.
As such, awards must become a priority. Pursuing awards often falls under a company’s communication strategy, which will be implemented by their in-house marketing team or external PR agency.
Raising a company’s profile
PR agencies are brought in to raise a company’s profile, increase their brand awareness and secure as much media coverage as possible. As award submissions can require a lot of work, which has the potential to garner zero results, there is a risk of letting them fall off the agenda.
To prevent this from happening, the company and PR agency must be aligned in understanding the benefits of winning awards and where it fits within a communications strategy.
Below are three key tips to integrate award submissions into a long-term PR campaign;
Securing Earned media coverage
- Shortlisted companies in for each awards category will be featured multiple times in the media as part of the build up to the event
- Media coverage will continue for those that are announced overall winners
- Awards are a useful way of securing organically generated coverage
- Promotes companies within industry and wider business community
- Builds brand awareness and increases overall profile
- Increases visibility among competitors and industry leaders
- Can be used as a way to introduce the company to prospects and customers
Social media
- Promoting an award shortlisting or win on social media platforms to notify existing followers about the newly gained credentials will almost certainly attract attention and engagement
- Can be used to attract new followers, which could be converted to new customers
- Allows the company to add more personality to posts on social media i.e. celebratory gifs
- Enables a company to engage directly with followers, thanking them for the support
- Reshare media coverage of the shortlisting and win, adding in the awards # to engage with other nominees and attendees
Website/blog copy
- Feature copy of shortlisting and win in the news section of website is a good way of increasing visibility with new and existing customers or clients
- Repurpose copy for a blog post
- Enhances a company’s reputation within its specific industry and distinguishes them from the competition
- Validates services or products a company offers
- Use links to blog and news section in social media post to draw traffic to website
Having a positive impact from awards
Winning awards can not only impact new business, but it can also have a positive effect on employees, senior team members and the company as a whole. They must not be overlooked. A robust communications strategy must place emphasis on award submissions, and if they are done right, the long-term impact can be extremely beneficial.
For more information about how Open Communications works with businesses and brands of all sizes please call a member of the team.