With the Academy Awards last night, I’m reminded of how persuasive awards can be to prospective clients. Winners on Oscar night will forever be referred to as an “Academy award-winning” actor and companies can also capitalize on noteworthy awards.
From a marketing perspective, awards can be very powerful statements of strength. Awards serve as strong measures of validation for your company and its services. An award is a signal to prospects that what you are selling is deemed as best in its class.
So how do you get an “award-winning” product? It’s often easier than you might first expect. There are many organizations and events that give out awards. Much like the actor and movie guilds offer many opportunities to win awards in showbiz, most industries have multiple forums or channels that give out industry specific awards.
To get started, first you’ll want to research industry associations, magazines, websites, and tradeshows to see what awards exist. Then identify award categories that your customers and prospects will respect and focus on winning those. Apply to all the awards you think can help your company or service gain respect. For newer products, there are often newcomer awards that can give you a higher likelihood of winning, but still carry a lot of weight. The best part is that you only need to win one award to have an “award-winning” company or product.
Once you win an award, spread the word!
An award offers you the opportunity to share your success through multiple platforms and formats. Pepper the award into your marketing collateral and all your marketing channels. Share your press release with influential blogs, local business chronicles, and news outlets. Put your achievement on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and in your newsletter. Interview company executives about the award and create a podcast and or video to share internally and externally. An award is noteworthy and should be shared to your heart’s content. Be creative and spread the word!
How have you used awards in your marketing efforts?