Who doesn’t love awards? They make us feel like we’re accomplishing great things and they validate our hard work. They can also be a great marketing opportunity and add value in the form of prestige and messaging for small businesses. Are you missing marketing opportunities because you’re not applying for awards and competitions? Most industries have groups and associations that offer competitions, awards, and accolades for outstanding members of the industry, but in order to be eligible to win one such award, you have to apply, and some applications require minimal effort.

Whether they are local, national, industry specific or belonging to a broader category, if award applications don’t currently fall into your marketing strategy, maybe it’s time to rethink your opportunities.

We’ve developed some tips for finding and applying to industry awards to help boost your overall marketing and PR strategy.

Research your opportunities.

Understand the eligibility requirements of the competition.

Choose an opportunity with an attainable deadline.

Enlist help if you need it.

Exercise your bragging rights.

If you do win an industry award or competition, congratulations, that’s a big deal, so you should be sharing your good news with your existing clients and prospective clients. Any kind of placing or honorable mention is worth sharing. Send out the news in your company email blast. Write a press release announcing the good news. Share it across all of your social channels and take the opportunity to include the social media accounts of awarding bodies and/or other winners.

Overall, if you take some time to do a little research and a little work on the application side, and are willing to cough up a few bucks for the entry fee, the return on what is sometimes a minimal investment can be huge for gaining momentum for your small business. Winning awards and competitions can help you establish credibility and put you on the path to influencer status.

Written by Heather Wied, Pubsoft