Celebrating a milestone year is a golden opportunity to be capitalised on by businesses. Whether it’s an industry award for a product launch, praise for an innovative service, or an individual reward for an employee’s outstanding contribution, sharing positive news is good for business. It can impress your clients and customers in a target market and boost your brand's reputation.
Similarly, companies that create independent industry awards to celebrate local businesses or outstanding professionals across a range of sectors foster partnerships, strengthen business networks, benefit communities, and inspire individuals.
This article will explore how to make the most of your award-winning year, from promoting your brand's achievements and celebrating your team’s or individual’s success to growing your business in the long term.
Impress Your Target Audience
In any competitive setting, achieving recognition for your business’ hard work and excellence is a significant milestone. If your company or someone working for you has won an award, promote your positive success. Rather than the “no news is good news” cliché, highlight any industry recognition and share your award-winning credentials on your website and across all promotional literature.
Furthermore, with an award under your belt, share the news across all your marketing channels, encompassing social media, email campaigns, and press releases as well. Create a dedicated section on your website and share updates across your digital platforms to maximise visibility. Use the award as a way to differentiate yourself from competitors and demonstrate your thought leadership through blog posts, whitepapers, or speaking engagements.
Receiving an award is a marketing prize and a major reason to step up your PR efforts and make the most of your business’s recognition. From the start, identify which clients, customers, media outlets, online member forums and partners you want to publicise your award with. By identifying your target audiences, you can tailor ‘award winning’ promotional material, PR messaging, and ongoing marketing efforts as effectively as possible.
Showcasing your award-winning status quickly, after receiving an award, can enhance your credibility and make your business more appealing to your target audience with instant results. Your goal, ultimately, is to pique the attention of clients and customers, as well as grow your business reach to win sales, drive business growth, and convert curious viewers into paying customers.
Promote Your Brand and Achievements
With so many positives to be gained after you win a business award, entering a relevant category and having a business awards strategy in place can be an integral part of your marketing plan. The benefits to your business growth, your product/services success, and your sales, should be enough to motivate you to sign up and enter some prestigious, industry-worthy awards, whether they are local, nationwide, or international.
A marketing drive that follows an award is a winning opportunity for your brand. If you are an award-winner, your business goal will be to maximise your brand’s visibility as quickly as possible after your win is announced. This is the perfect opportunity to promote your business, its services, and its achievements.
Celebrate Your Team and Company Culture
Beyond promoting your business's expertise and accomplishments, an award-winning year is also a chance to shine a spotlight on the unsung heroes within your organisation. Therefore, business awards are a chance to congratulate your team, but also to let customers and collaborators know that your hard work and achievements have been independently recognised.
An award-winning year is not just a celebration of your business's achievements but also a testament to the hard work and dedication of your team and each individual member of staff. If someone in your company or sector has been personally commended in the King’s Birthday Honours list, you need to ensure that this incredible achievement is headline news.
Celebrating any important milestone is good for business and can improve your workplace culture. If you recognise and appreciate the efforts of your employees, you’ll foster a positive and motivated workplace culture. In turn, this boosts morale and reinforces a sense of belonging. Likewise, you could also highlight your company's community initiatives, while all the attention received from your award can be helpful to promote your commitment to sustainable business practices.
Explore New Avenues
Moreover, an award-winning year opens doors to drive growth. Look for any new markets, or potential avenues for your business, clients or potential investors that you might want to attract or retain loyalty with. You can use your newfound recognition to target sectors or regions you wish to expand into, strengthen ties with the local community through partnerships and sponsorships, and position your business better in a niche market.
Engage with local organisations, sponsor events, or participate in community initiatives to increase your brand visibility and goodwill. This not only demonstrates your commitment to the community but also creates networking opportunities and potential partnerships. Meanwhile, your increased visibility and credibility from your award-winning year may open doors to previously unexplored avenues for growth or collaboration.
In fact, awards for businesses are also good for the local communities they are in, attracting attention, and celebrating heroes who make their local community a better place to live. Awards also create new jobs and inject ambition into a region.
Capitalise on Success
Capitalising on your award-winning year is about cementing your business's long-term success and industry leadership. It's not only about short-term gains but about building on your company’s current achievement for sustained small business success. The strong reputation you have earned by being backed by industry recognition can give you a competitive edge.
With this in mind, keep the momentum of your award recognition going to attract and retain customers and top talent. By reinforcing your brand's reputation in the community, you can pave the way for sustained growth and industry dominance. Celebrating success breeds a positive mindset and encourages employees to strive for continued excellence. Meanwhile, as a business leader, share your insights and expertise with speaking engagements, together with interviews via print or online articles, or as a guest at industry events.
If you have gained industry recognition in any area of your business, there are strategic steps you can take to make the most of your award-winning year. If your company or an employer has received an award, you can share your news and raise your business profile through the Cambridge Network’s digital platforms and communication channels.
