You won an award – congrats! You might be wondering to yourself, now what?
The good news is the hard part of compiling the application is over, but the most important, and often most overlooked, part of an awards strategy is amplifying the news after winning. You’ll see very little ROI if your key audiences and stakeholders aren’t aware of the accomplishment.
A well-executed awards strategy contributes to your marketing funnel in many ways if the wins are promoted properly. Here are three examples:
1. Increase Brand Affinity
Who doesn’t want to see their name in lights? Adding a few award wins to your trophy case ensures your brand is on the map. Including the award logo on your website and social media provides tangible proof people know about your business, you’re one of the best in the industry and a panel of qualified judges appreciated what your company is doing enough to grant you recognition for it.
Try these ideas when promoting your next award win:
- List your award wins on an easy-to-find landing page to ensure potential customers, job applicants and clients can easily see a list of your credentials
- Mention recent award wins in media interviews to add validity to your talking points
2. Contribute to Your Sales Pipeline
Award wins immediately add third-party credibility to your company and your product. When you can cite an award win in a conversation with a prospective client, it automatically tells them, “Don’t just take it from me, even these industry experts say we’re great.”
To better integrate PR campaigns with your sales strategy, try these ideas:
- Have your leadership and sales teams add the award win to their email signatures to ensure every stakeholder you interact with sees the news
- Include award logos in sales decks
- Share the news as a touch point when following up with leads
3. Aid in Employee Engagement, Retention and Recruitment
Winning any award should be a proud moment and cause for internal celebration! Take the time to make sure all current employees know about the win, so they feel appreciated and proud of their work. Awards are also great to leverage for recruitment. Keep an eye out for awards in the Best Places to Work category if hiring is a priority for your organization.
Here are three unique ways to accomplish this goal:
- Add to the company Glassdoor page so job candidates can easily see the good work you are doing
- Ensure your current employees’ networks are also seeing the award win by encouraging teams to engage on social channels. Employees are your brand’s best advocate – you just need to learn how to turn them into ambassadors
- Host an internal happy hour or celebration to toast to the good work
A strategic awards plan can feed your marketing funnel in many ways from boosted brand awareness to increased conversion attributed to third-party credibility. At the same time, you’ll see little impact if amplifying the award win is not prioritized, so make sure to have a strategic plan to shout your win from the rooftops!
For more on how to create a winning speaking and awards strategy, read here. Questions about award management or how you can build out a strategy of your own? Reach out to one of our experts.
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