At Prominent PR, we don’t just write our own award-winning entries – we secure big wins for our clients too.
We love seeing our clients praised in the press and having their name ranked among the giants of their industries. And that’s exactly what they can expect from an award win.
We’ve had numerous big wins over the years – including a recent national tech industry triumph – and our team has built a name for itself as one of the best in the region for award writing.
Here, PR Account Executive Oliver Sullivan reveals some of his top tips on writing an effective award entry.
This one sounds too simple, but it is such an important piece of advice to stress.
Every category will have its own criteria and specific set of questions. While your business will undoubtedly have lots to shout about, you have to keep things relevant.
Make sure you have all the information you need before you start writing. Read the questions and consider which person in the team might have those vital pieces of information you need. Reach out to them as early as possible to save any last-minute panics over not having enough details.
Quality over quantity very much comes into play – wordcounts are their for a reason, so think carefully about what points are the perfect fit for the brief and push the other ones aside – as hard as that might feel.
Most awards will have multiple deadlines for entries – usually tiered between early bird, standard and final dates with the appropriate discounts applied.
But regardless of when it is the award company sets a deadline, you should set your own before that date too.
Give yourself a couple of days to review your entry. It is almost guaranteed you will find a mistake or something you don’t like. Share that responsibility with other members of the team too, as multiple pairs of eyes are always better than one.
Have a date in mind for when you should finish your first draft and when a final version should be ready for submission.
Stick with me on this one. While it might read as somewhat of a crude joke, it’s probably the best tip I could share.
Believe it or not, this is something they teach you in school on writing essays. And it’s perfectly applicable to writing award entries too.
So what does it mean?
PEE stands for Point, Evidence, Explain. Every paragraph in your entry should follow this pattern – and it’s an incredibly easy one to follow.
Start off with your point – what is the important thing you want to stress that’s going to catch the judges’ attention? Then you need to back it up with proof – figures and comparisons are always a great thing to mention. Lastly, explain why it’s something significant and award worthy.
Here’s an example:
Prominent PR is a multi-award-winning PR agency with a proven track record for delivering results for its clients. Recent examples of its work include national TV coverage for a construction client and a feature in the Daily Mirror for a social enterprise. Such work has seen Prominent excel on objectives set by its clients and achieve high levels of traffic to their websites, leading to increased sales and an XXX% return on their investment.
Now, that could absolutely be stronger – but I’m not going to reveal all my tools.
We can’t shy away from it – writing a successful award entry takes a lot of work. And we understand businesses are simply too busy to tackle them alone.
That’s why our award writing service is among the most popular we provide.
The service can be included as part of a monthly PR retainer, or as part of a one-off project.
You will gain access to our team of experienced copywriters and strategists who know exactly what it takes to produce a winning entry.
We’ll help you identify the awards and categories that are right for your business, ensuring they help you meet your own objectives and drive your business forward.
For a stress-free awards process, look no further than us.
Get in touch today via 01473 276126 or drop us a line here.
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