How to ensure your award entries attract attention and gain accolades

There are many advantages to entering awards, regardless of whether you’re a winner or not. This includes showcasing and benchmarking your successes, sharing best practice, and networking opportunities at the event. Information that’s collected for award entries can be put to good use elsewhere, such as for website content, testimonials, and within corporate brochures and case studies.

We’ve helped many organisations to submit entries for numerous industry awards over the years, including the European Cleaning & Hygiene Awards, the National Recycling Awards, The Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management and the PFM Awards, to name a few. We take pride in seeing a significant number of our customers being shortlisted as the best in their respective fields, being highly commended for their achievements, and ultimately, winning top honours.

Drawing on our experience, we’ve compiled ten top tips to help with your award submissions, ensure you best showcase your achievements, and increase your team’s chances of getting the accolades you deserve:

1. Choose wisely

Think about your strengths and the achievements you are most proud of. Match this with the award schemes and categories that best fit.

2. Start early

Writing a good entry takes time and effort – so plan ahead early enough to gather all the data and evidence you need.

3. Put yourself in the judge’s shoes

Judges review multiple submissions – so make sure your campaign stands out. Concisely summarise your achievements at the start of your entry to capture their attention.

4. Clarify objectives

Be clear on the goals of your campaign and refer back to them regularly in your entry. How did your campaign meet the needs of those you aim to help?

5. Innovation and creativity

Does your award entry convey a fresh approach? How creative were the various parts of the campaign in relaying the message and engaging target audiences? The aim is to make the judges feel something – so they’re left thinking what a great idea, and have an emotional connection – wow, what a difference this campaign has made!

6. Expertly planned and implemented

Show how the campaign was planned and implemented effectively, meeting the outlined objectives within time and budget parameters. Demonstrate how your campaign went above and beyond to deliver outstanding results.

7. Prove it

Judges can’t just take your word for it that you are brilliant! You need to give hard evidence that backs up the detail of your entry, including quantifiable results and benefits. Make your supporting material count too – and ensure you reference it in your entry if you want the judges to read it. Facts, statistics, and testimonials are key!

8. Follow the criteria

The same rules apply to everyone, so keep to the word count and page limit for supporting evidence. Focus on what the criteria actually asks for, for every category you enter, and ensure you supply the relevant information – don’t waste words or make obvious statements. Find really good practical examples of where your entry excelled.

9. Get a fresh take

Before you submit your entry, why not ask someone not directly involved with your project to cast their eye over your entry to help avoid any assumptions that might have crept in, or typos, and to ensure you’ve met the criteria.

10. If at first you don’t succeed…

Use your experience of entering the awards to make your submission even more outstanding next time! Think about where else you might use the information you’ve gathered to make the most of your accomplishments, time, and effort.

We hope these tips help with your upcoming award entries. If you’d like our support to showcase your successes, please get in touch.