We write so many award entries, for Izzy PR and our clients, because it’s a great thing to have included in your PR plan. With the Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA) deadline coming up – 30th June – now seems a good time to remind you why entering awards can be great for your PR. If you’re not familiar with KEiBA, it is staged and produced by KM Media Group and Kent County Council to reward excellence in Kent and Medway. We encourage businesses to apply for these awards as winners attract a lot of attention. Businesses can enter up to 4 out of 13 categories for free.
So if entering KEiBA and other awards is not on your list of things to do, read on to find out why they should be.
There are so many throughout the year, falling under two categories:
Business Awards – local/regional/national/international
Industry Awards – specific to your sector
It can take time to put an entry together, but if you put the effort in, you are likely to get results. Once you’ve written one good one, you then have the basis for future ones, because many of the awards ask similar questions.
Make sure you read what’s required, write clearly, give all the information they ask for, stick to word counts and check your spelling and grammar too – judges will judge you on it!
Include what you’ve done, how it makes a difference, growth stats, ROI and testimonials too.
We’ve spent a lot of time already this year, writing awards entries from scratch and casting a second eye over others, proofreading and double-checking all questions have been answered.
It’s something we really enjoy doing for our clients!
Here’s why you should enter awards:
Raise your profile:
By entering awards, you will show your ambition and also showcase you and your business as the experts. You will have the opportunity to let people know you’ve been nominated, shortlisted and hopefully won!
You may reach people who haven’t seen you before, haven’t seen you for a while or needed reminding of you. This may lead to direct sales to them or referrals.
Social media content:
Awards will give you some social media content. You can post when you enter, you can post near to the event date and keep your audiences abreast of any news around the awards ceremonies. You can create some hype and share content from other entrants and awards organisers too.
Read our blog here about what to post and when.
Networking:
You can network even before you get to the awards ceremony, by sharing content from other entrants and the event organisers. You can increase your audience quite a bit by doing this and will show support not only for your ‘competitors’ but also for the event. By the time you get to the awards you will have some new contacts to meet, having met them online already.
And of course, when you get to the awards night, there will be a room full of like-minded business people to network with and start relationships with.
Success:
If you are a winner, this brings with it lots of avenues. You can use the awards logo on your website, social media and any other literature you produce throughout the year. Even being shortlisted adds credibility to your business – but obviously a win is what you’re aiming for!
PR:
You can get some good PR off the back of a shortlist or win in an awards scheme. A press release and social media content should be the backbone of your PR but you can of course promote the success within your marketing too.
Invest in awards and they will give you so many great opportunities!
If you’d like help with your KEiBA award, get in touch as soon as possible so we can help you create a great entry before the deadline on 30th June.
This is an updated post originally published in March 2020.
