Whether showcasing talent, growth, or product and/or service quality, being shortlisted for and winning awards enables businesses to celebrate success and gain all important industry recognition.
However, with so many awards opportunities on offer and each with different entry requirements, it can be difficult to not only know where to start but also in how to craft a successful entry.
In this latest blog, the Make More Noise team provide full insight into how to compile an award-winning entry, while discussing the PR and brand building benefits of awards season.
Many award entries will come with a word limit per category, but that doesn’t always mean you should pad your writing to ensure you reach it.
One of the best things you can do to get judges’ attention is to get straight to the point. The meat of your entry should be the exact answer to the question they’ve posed. Judges will potentially read hundreds of answers to the same questions, so watery language and meandering paragraphs will quickly be spotted and dismissed.
For full effect, open your answer with a sharp summary of what you want to say, and then leave yourself space to expand on it where necessary. This will immediately grab your judges attention and ensure your message is both clear and direct.
Awards are your chance to show off, and many entry forms may have open questions that allow you to unpack your work freely. However, it is easy to quickly spiral into irrelevancy.
You may be tempted to stuff in bonus wins or extra points that show how well your business has been doing, but if they aren’t relevant – shoehorned information will be disregarded and may even damage your wider application.
Bringing your answers back to the core point you’re making is key to removing waffle and creating a concise answer so that the judges can easily extract information.
Your entry will largely hinge on being able to back up your claims with tangibles. Many businesses can navigate their way through an award entry with vague statements promising abstract results. However, making yours a point of difference using statistics is key to making a lasting impression on the judges.
Whether it’s through sales, turnover, customer retention, or growth, including relevant data that supports your entry will provide essential context.
Whilst we’ve warned against the perils of blind acclaim and vague wins, don’t be put off shouting about stuff that is genuinely relevant and impressive. This is your chance to tell the world about your business success!
If it applies to the question and will develop your application, then don’t be afraid to boast. It only provides the panel of judges with more information, and context, and paints a more detailed picture of how the business is doing.
Don’t forget, you’ll need to back up any claims with data, facts, and tangible results to hit your point home, otherwise, your chance to shout from the rooftops will be ignored!
Award entries live and die by the precision, validity, and strength of their arguments. To write an award entry that cuts through the noise you must have the confidence to show off, the data to back up your points and the ability to relate it back to the question at hand. This is the core recipe for creating impactful entries that resonate with judges and achieve results!
What’s more, award shortlists and wins is a fantastic way to generate positive buzz around your brand and validate the challenging work you’ve done to get the business to where it is today.
Interested in gaining industry recognition and building positive brand awareness? Drop us an email at hello@makemorenoise.co.uk and find out how we can support your award entries, press releases, and more!