Winning an award and how it works

You’ve probably seen pictured in the media a local company or a competitor in your sector gaining a prestigious award and thought how beneficial it would be for your business. It may come as a surprise to you, but that local company or competitor wasn’t chosen out of the blue; they will have made an award submission, met prescribed criteria in their relevant category and been judged as the winner.  There is definitely an art in preparing a winning award submission. And it’s not just about winning, even being shortlisted can give your business great exposure.

Examples of awards you may want to enter

The Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Award

The Excellence in Business Awards is an annual calendar highlight for Yorkshire and has seen some of the biggest names in commerce named as winners over the years. There are various different categories to enter depending on your turnover amount and ranging from Outstanding Employer, Community Award to Business Leader of the Year.

Investors in People Awards

This year there are 19 categories to enter such as Best Newcomer, The Diversity and Inclusion Award, The Leadership and Management Award and The Social Responsibility Award. This is particularly of interest if your business has a skills shortage as it’s a catalyst for attracting the top talent to your business; it signals you’re a great employer.

The Growing Business Awards

Now in its 23rd year, the Growing Business Awards have been bringing together and honouring some of the UK’s most outstanding entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses. They have made a name for themselves as a leading judge of past, current and future entrepreneurial success.

The Benefits in a nutshell of being shortlisted and winning an award

More sales, more customers: winning or being nominated for awards serves as a strong indicator of trust-worthiness among prospective customers.

Recognition of your expertise: positions you very favourably within your peer group.

Stronger positioning against your competitors: if you’re the award-winning business in your sector, whom would you choose?

Rewarding for your staff: it gives a morale boost to your company’s employees and gives them a focus for their purpose at work.

Greater awareness: you’ll receive highly valuable publicity before the event, through print, email and social media, as well as on the night of the awards ceremony and beyond if you’re the selected winner.

Publicity opportunities: you can use the awards branding on your website and in your marketing materials, all of which help build trust.

Enhances customer retention and loyalty: winning business awards demonstrates to your customers that your business is at the top of its game, reinforcing their reasons for using you in the first place.

Levels the playing field: it allows you to go head-to-head against major blue chip companies and, in many cases, succeed in areas from customer service, innovation and impact.

What should I expect to budget?

Preparing a successful award submission is time-consuming and needs knowhow and experience. This is where we can help. All successful submissions involve addressing specific criteria laid down by the awarding organisation. Being a great business is no guarantee you’ll win, you need to write a standout submission to demonstrate to the judges exactly why you should win and provide relevant company documentation in support of your written submission.

At The Yorkshire Marketing Agency, we like to be upfront about our costs. We value transparency and wholeheartedly believe that this enables our clients to budget and forward plan realistically as well as nurturing a trusted relationship between client and agency. At The Yorkshire Marketing Agency, we set a price of £2,000 for the research, compilation and editing of an award submission.