Industry awards, such as the ICT Excellence Awards, can be a high profile method of establishing credibility with award wins firmly positioning a company as an expert in its field, as judged by its peers or an independent judging panel.

Here we look at why awards should be included in a marketing communications strategy and give some tips on how to write a winning award entry.

•    In today’s competitive business environment, customers want to do business with an award winning company. The reason is simple. A business award establishes a company’s credibility with prospective clients. For that matter, even the nomination for an award can promote your brand in the marketplace.

•    An award is an effective third party endorsement of your brand. It is a great way to gain publicity in the market. A simple method of gaining publicity is via sending out press releases about the award. If the media find your award win interesting and pick up your story, your company can enjoy publicity free of cost.   Even if the media don’t write about the award, SMEs can send the win details to their customers and post a news release on their websites.

•    A business award not only attracts potential customers, but also new candidates. Good employees want to work with good companies. In addition, your existing employees feel proud to be associated with an award winning company.

According to research conducted by Hendricks & Singhal of the University of Western Ontario and Georgia Institute of Technology, more than 600 businesses with an industry award witnessed a rise of 37% in their sales. Another survey conducted by Shape-the-future and Boost Marketing in October 2008 indicated that about 82% of senior business people are influenced by awards when entering into a relationship with their clients. Also, more than 75% of the respondents agreed that awards are important for generating business or improving the brand’s value.

Finding the right award
The technology industry offers many opportunities to win awards, so it is advisable to research and find an award that best fits your business. Awards exist for technology products and services, projects, customer service and business growth.  They also exist in technology related sectors such as retail, financial and construction.  Local and national business awards may also suit your company, and don’t forget the ICT Excellence Awards.

Tips on Writing Winning Award Entries
To help you once you have decided which award category to enter, we’ve put together some tips to assist you in writing an award winning entry:

•    Last minute award entries usually fail to deliver results. A professional who has in-depth knowledge about your company, has story telling ability and has time, should be entrusted with the responsibility of creating award winning entries. We recommend that content is gathered at least 2 – 4 weeks before putting together an entry.
•    Every award competition has specific guidelines. It is important to ensure that your entry meets and addresses all the award nomination criteria. Some awards like FST Awards (Financial Sector Technology Awards), RSA Conference and National Outsourcing Awards offer guidelines in the form of past winners’ submissions or case studies. Others will provide the list of winners.  With a little research, you may be able to find out why they won, especially by looking at their website.  
•    Most business award entries prefer a descriptive essay highlighting the purpose, process, benefits and achievements of a project or the innovation behind a product. Make sure all relevant arguments are clearly stated. If possible, use sub headings for each of them. Ensure any questions asked are answered and all relevant sections are completed.
•    A detailed entry provides more information for the judges to make their decision. Every statement should be backed up with proof, such as revenue projections exceeded, numbers of satisfied customers or targets exceeded.  These supporting facts and figures substantiate your project’s/product’s, service’s achievements.
•    A strong opening paragraph for each section on the award entry will help to create maximum impact.
•    Provide supporting information.  If the entry form doesn’t provide space for additional information, such as financials, case studies, product sheets, then provide this as separate supporting information.  If two entries are neck and neck, then the judges will often turn to this information to make a final decision.
•    Keep language simple. The language used for an award entry should be straightforward and unambiguous. The challenges, achievements and benefits that you highlight must be illustrated in clear and lucid manner. It is always advisable to avoid technical jargons.
•    Triple check the form and supporting information.

Article provided by Ranbir Sahota, of technology PR agency, Vitis PR.