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Who doesn’t like getting recognized for the good work they do? Business awards, like every other form of positive recognition, can help boost the companies that win them. They can lift teams psychologically, and make them realize that they’re really making an impact in the space in which they operate.

But there’s something else that businesses can gain from winning awards: publicity. It’s a benefit that seems obvious to most of us, but many trophy-claiming businesses have failed to translate their victories into meaningful traction or milk their awards to grow sales.

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This article shows you how to ride the waves of an award to generate publicity for your business. But first, we’ll explain what an award can do for your business, and tell you how to find one that you can enter for.

What an Award Can Do for Your Business

1. An award presents your business as the best (or one of the best) in its niche or industry.

2. If it’s from an independent and widely trusted source, the award will serve as a guarantee that your business meets high industry standards.

3. It could attract new customers who are looking for quality products and services.

4. Your business could get more media attention.

5. It may open up opportunities for valuable partnerships from brands that have not heard of you prior to your winning the award.

How Can You Find an Award You Can Enter for?

You now know some of the benefits you stand to gain from winning an award. But where do you find one that you can enter for and win?

Here are a few places to look for them.

1. Scour the web for local awards in your industry or more general awards that include a segment for your kind of business.

2. Ask your contacts (business partners, vendors, etc.) if they know any awards that are currently accepting entries or will begin doing so soon.

3. Find out from the associations in your industry.

4. Look through your competitors’ sites for awards they have won.

5. Consult PR agencies.

NOTE: If you would like the chance to win an award right now, you can enter for Connect Nigeria’s Top 100 Emerging SMEs award. Find out more about it HERE.

Find our comprehensive listings of businesses in Nigeria here

How to Generate Publicity with Awards

Let’s say you’ve clinched an award, and you’re wondering how to maximize brand exposure with it. Here are six ways to go about this.

1. Announce it On Social Media

Get the word out about your win on your social media platforms (Linkedin, for instance). You could share a little announcement, accompanied by relevant pictures from the award ceremony. It might also be a good idea to share quotes from the organizers of the awards in which they explain why your business won.

If there’s a post on your company blog that talks about the award, you can share a link to it as well.

2. Add a Badge to Your Website

Include a badge that refers to the award on your website. It’ll be something that a prospective customer will see when they’re going through your company’s profile.

Earlier in this article, we mentioned that awards may be testaments to the quality of the service you offer. Visitors to your site may see the award badge as a sign that your company meets high industry standards. As a result, they will be more willing to do business with you.

3. Do a Press Release

You can write a press release about the award and share it with print and online media houses. If they publish it on their platform, their readers will get to know about your business and the awards that it has won. If the media outfit caters to the sort of demographic that your business targets, you could get some traffic coming to your business from it.

4. Email Your Contacts About It

Share the good news with your existing customers and others on your email list. Let them know that you’re getting recognized for the services you offer. This is one way of establishing top-of-mind awareness for your brand among your target audience.

5. Ask Employees to Share the News

Encourage members of your team to share the news of your company’s award with their own contacts. While you’re doing this, make it clear to them that it’s the team– including them –who have won the award. When they get the sense that they’re a part of a winning team, they’ll be more eager to broadcast the accolade to the people they know.

6. Reach Out to Bloggers

There are a lot of news bloggers who will be happy to have news of your business’s award as content on their site. Reach out to them, and send an article (or proper press release) about the award that they can publish (once they’ve agreed to do so).

Final Words

Business awards can be more than just recognition for doing great work. Through them, you can get the brand exposure you need to thrust your enterprise up the growth ladder.

Featured image source: Inc

Did you find this article useful? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com

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This article was first published on 10th February 2020

ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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