Your award submissions

The feeling is especially positive if you can share it with your team at the presentation event. Before you can arrive at that place, however, you’ll need to devote considerable time, energy and resources to crafting your award submission.

Your objectives

Even before you begin to write your submission, you need to be clear about your objectives for entering an awards program.

Different businesses will have different objectives.

Some may have the goal of winning the most well-known, prestigious awards. In this way, they can promote their brand to the widest audience possible.

Others may be more specific and targeted. They may choose to enter only those awards and categories that align most closely with their precise expertise, culture and audiences. For example, a tech start-up with a strong sense of environmental responsibility might enter a ‘sustainability in technology’ awards program. As a young business, the same company may also not expect to win, and is likely to be satisfied with being named as a finalist. 

Choosing the right awards program and category

As a general rule, it’s best to submit high-quality applications to a small number of awards rather than mediocre applications to a large number.

You can, of course, decide to submit high-quality applications to every awards program you see. However, you may then run the risk of spending every available hour on this, to the detriment of your other business activities.

Before you begin to write, spend a little time on research to find out which awards are the best fit for your business, in line with the objectives you have already articulated. 

Criteria for choosing the right awards program for your business may include the following:

• Does my business qualify to enter this award? (There’s no point applying if you don’t meet the entry guidelines.) 
• Does the awards program have sufficient prestige in my industry or profession? (Will my customers recognise it?)
• Is the awards program hosted by a legitimate organisation or institution associated with my industry or profession? (And does the organisation or institution share the same values as my business?)
• Which businesses were the finalists and winners of these awards in the past? (Are they companies with which I’d like to associate my brand?)
• What are the chances of my business being named as a finalist?
• What are the chances of my business winning?
• Is the cost of entry reasonable?
• Does the entry come with strings attached? (e.g. before entering, do I have to commit to paying for an expensive table at the presentation event?)
• What is the cost of attending the presentation event?
• Do the awards categories we’re considering align with the vision and culture of my business?
• If my business is an award finalist or winner, will the hosting organisation or institution assist in promoting this achievement?
• How much time will it take to prepare the application?
• How many people in my business will be required to prepare the application?

Writing your submissions

The first thing to do before you write an award submission is to carefully read the application form or application criteria. Each question in the form, or each criterion, must be addressed in specific detail.

You should also be positive in the language you use in response to questions or criteria. This isn’t the time or place to be negative or reticent. The judges want to know how wonderful your business is. You need to describe its achievements in the most blatant way. As the saying goes, ‘if you don’t blow your own horn, there’s no music’.

Where possible, support these achievements with irrefutable facts and statistics. It’s one thing to claim a particular success, it’s another to show proof. This may require considerable research to find and articulate the evidence that supports your arguments. However, your substantiation could easily make the difference between winning or not.

Ensure the quality of the writing in your submission is high. Every sentence and paragraph has to be clear, concise, comprehensive and relevant. Use simple words, subheads and bullet points where appropriate. When you have completed your first draft, edit carefully to ensure there are no glaring spelling, grammatical or syntactical errors.

In almost every case, you’ll find that the quality of your submission will parallel the quality of the ultimate result.