Our recent win at the North West PRide Awards came as a surprise to us all! A well-deserved surprise all the same and testimony to all the hard work we put into our winning campaign. But while we were already proud of the campaign that won us the award, it can be a challenge to showcase the success of a campaign in an award submission, particularly when you have strict entry criteria to follow and a limited word count.
We’ve entered our fair share of awards over the years, and understand what it takes to make the judges’ shortlist for the top prize. No matter what sector you work in, take a look at our top tips to help ensure your entry stands out from the crowd:
- Make it a group effort: Chance are that the project you’re entering for an award was successful due to teamwork. That means that collectively you stand the best chance of identifying what makes this project award worthy. Share the award criteria with your team and make sure all bases are covered.
- Give yourself plenty of time: Entering an award can be a time consuming process as you need to provide evidence which showcases its success. It takes some time to collate these supporting metrics and data, and you may need to work with your customers to pull it all together so give yourself enough time to do this.
- Cut to the chase: Don’t forget that your award entry is likely to one of many. It’s important to make it engaging and easy to read – you don’t want to turn the judges off with an uninspiring submission. So, answer the question, keep to the point and make it snappy.
- Presentation, presentation, presentation: Don’t let the impressive content in your award entry cloud a few typos or a poor lay-out. Pass it around other members of the team to ensure that it’s accurate and well presented.
- Inject some passion!: When you’re following a criteria, it’s easy just to go into autopilot and respond to what the form is asking. Don’t lose sight of what makes your entry different, unique or deserving of a win. Showing the passion for what you do and the project that is the focus of the entry is what will set you apart from the crowd.
It’s not just how stiff the competition is that determines whether or not you stand a chance of winning. If you put some time and serious thought into your entry, there’s every chance your submission will be shortlisted and you may just be in line for a prize.
Alex Brown enjoys being one of the Skout blog’s most regular contributors.
