How to encourage awards entries

There’s no one better to share the power of entering the awards than previous winners. Gather testimonials to include in your entry campaign. It can be good to contact previous winners to understand where they are in their journey and how the awards have impacted them since.

Consider running short webinars or sharing video testimonials, as they can be more engaging than written quotes. Previous entrants can also offer valuable insights into the benefits of the awards so don’t just focus on quotes from winners.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of encouraging everyone to go straight to the entry form. However, with this method, you will have people who start the form, see the requirements and then give up. Make sure to have clear instructions on the entry process and what’s required before people start the process. Step-by-step instructions and video walkthroughs are helpful.

It can also be helpful to share an entrance pack or judges’ tips to guide people through the process and encourage them to provide high-quality answers.

The entry process can be rewarding in itself; it encourages people to consider their business processes, strengths, and identify areas they can improve. Highlight all the benefits of the awards process, not just ‘imagine yourself as the winner’.

Taking part and attending awards provides people with a brilliant opportunity to network within their industry. By attending, you can learn valuable insights and the experiences of your peers. You can come away with new ideas and contacts for your organisation.

Branding is also a brilliant reason for people to enter awards. Entrants can increase their profile in the industry and be seen as leaders. Increasing awareness supports growth.

You don’t want any entrants to abandon the process because they find the entry process too taxing! There are various tools available today that make awards management simpler, and members can submit their entries online. Consider automating communications, such as a thank you email when an entry is submitted or reminders for people to complete their entries.

It’s also crucial to ensure the tool you choose is consistent with your brand. Ideally, you should be able to update the logo, fonts, and copy to align with your website and messaging.

A strong panel of is essential for any awards programme, but most teams don’t utilise their judges enough when encouraging entries. By highlighting your judges, people can see their experience and status in the industry. It helps make your awards seem more credible and reflects the calibre of people your organisation works with.

It’s likely the judges will have a strong network to promote to. As part of the agreement as a judge, they should be willing to encourage entries to their network and promote the awards scheme itself.

An awards programme needs to be a well-structured, multi-channel campaign. Look at previous years and consider which channels helped to drive the most entries. If you are unsure on how to do this, consider tracking links and web traffic to the awards entry site.

Channels to consider include email, social media posts, and paid ads (meta and google). You could also run a telemarketing campaign and SMS campaign to previous entrants or people who need to finish their entry.

Launch the campaign with enough time – knowing people will leave it until the last minute to enter! Take a stance on deadline extensions, they are commonplace when running awards. However, they can create a false sense of security about how many entries you can expect after the initial deadline.