Seven Reasons Why Entering Awards is Good for Business

Submitting business awards can be both a daunting and a time-consuming task, and often awards fall to the bottom of any business owner’s agenda, owing to the stretched and limited resources within companies.

While it can be challenging to decide which awards to enter, it’s important to weigh up the potential benefits and the return on investment for your business which will be determined by your commitment to dedicate (in the grand scheme of things) a small amount of time and effort to writing an entry.

There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your business win awards and get the recognition it deserves. However, it’s worthwhile remembering that it’s not just the winning that counts! There are several reasons why entering awards is good for your business:

Good PR

Business awards are often overlooked marketing tools which can put your company into the spotlight for positive reasons; just being shortlisted for an award can improve brand awareness and promote your business to new and existing customers. Awards also give you the opportunity to highlight your recent accomplishments and generate local and national media attention as well as on social media. Winning and being shortlisted for awards can also be used as part of your long-term promotion; awards look attractive in sales pitches and can open doors and opportunities to new contracts.

Creates a Unique Selling Point (USP)

Above all, entering awards is a great way to help differentiate your company from competitors and will send out positive signals to customers and potential clients. By entering the right categories, you can highlight the strengths inherent in your business.

Long-term promotion

Award nominations and wins celebrate the hard work and success of your business, and it’s important that you maximise the PR exposure where possible by updating your marketing materials with the award logo including business cards, your website, marketing literature, email and sales material.

The period both before and after the awards ceremony can generate an increased source of traffic to your website and social media pages as people will become familiar with your business name after seeing you’re up for an award.

Boosts staff morale

Awards recognise the achievements of your whole company and can act as a big motivator as they present an opportunity for you to acknowledge your staff for contributing towards the company’s overall success.

Being shortlisted for awards often means your business will be invited to attend a prestigious ceremony to celebrate your company’s achievements. Recognising and rewarding staff for their efforts by inviting them to the glamorous event can boost morale and motivate them to continue to strive for success.

Attracts new employees

Business awards help to validate your company’s reputation and values among new recruits, which in turn can help you to attract the brightest talent. Businesses are facing increasing pressure to remain competitive and reputable employers. When looking for jobs, more and more employees want to be associated with award-winning firms. Increasing employee morale not only helps to attract new recruits, it also helps to increase motivation and retention amongst existing staff.

Increased credibility, customer retention and loyalty

Entering awards and winning titles instils trust and credibility with both existing and new customers and helps to place your company at the forefront of people’s minds.

A business award win or shortlist can give a seal of approval to your activities and is a sign of quality for potential customers, which can also help your relationships with suppliers.

Benchmarking and networking

The process of entering awards often forces you to look at your business from a fresh perspective and helps you to identify areas for improvement and ways in which you might be able to do things better. This process can often be more valuable and beneficial than the award win itself as it can help you to identify ways to improve your business.

Entering awards also allow you to network and forge relationships with like-minded individuals. Business awards are often judged by successful business owners and being shortlisted can give you the opportunity to discuss your business with other leaders in similar industries.

If you’re still toying with the idea of entering your business into awards, but don’t know where to start, check out our previous blog which details some of our top tips for writing award-winning entries.

At Shooting Star, we provide an award-writing service and have an impressive track record when it comes to writing quality, five-star submissions. If you’re in need of a helping hand with your own business awards, whether it be identifying which awards to enter, writing the application or proof-reading an entry, we’d be happy to help!

NK