If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Yes…we think. What if your company wins an award and no one knows about it, is the award real? Yes…but if no one knows about it, who cares?
Whether your company, your product or your team has been recognized with nominations or awards it’s in your brand’s best interest to shout this from as many rooftops as it can find. Outside recognition builds your brand value and helps customers decide why they should choose you over your competition.
If your company has won an award or has been nominated for an award, leverage this to boost your brand value to employees and customers. Here are three ways to leverage your nominations and awards.
Put your nomination or award proudly on every single platform you own. Your website should include your award or nomination for as long as possible (usually one year), your social media feed should share this news out multiple times and your sales communication should now include this. In a time when outside validation and reviews are so important and when competition is so strong, leveraging something that instantly puts you ahead of others is a must.
Use your award or nominations to build relationships with the other companies and people that have been recognized by the same outside organization that nominated you. The commonality you and the other organizations now have is an instant connection point. Perhaps there’re opportunities for strategic partnerships in the future, or maybe you can bring someone new into your circle to discuss business ideas with. Either way, you’ll only know what opportunities lie ahead if you begin to build a connection. Take the time to congratulate the other companies for their nomination and awards both personally and in the community. This can be as easy as a personalized email to the other nominees and as simple as calling the other nominees or award recipients out via social media.
Use your award or nomination to attract and retain great talent. Everyone likes to be on a winning team, so make sure to use this to remind your employees that you are a winning team worth working hard for. Use the award or nomination as a way to congratulate everyone in the company for their hard work, dedication and commitment to making the company a winner. This isn’t just the senior staff or the immediate team that was a part of making the award happen. The entire company feels a sense of pride for these awards so make sure to let everyone know that the award or nomination took place and that everyone had some part in making it happen. Also, make sure to leverage nominations or awards with all new recruits. Winners want to work with other winners, so make sure to let anyone and everyone who is a potential new hire know the accolades your company and people have received. This will not only get them seeing your company as a winning team, it lets them know your company likes to win, so if they do as well, they might be a good fit.
Don’t be modest when it comes to your wins, share them out. If you have a great product or service that gets recognized by others, you owe it to your industry and the people shopping within it to let as many people as possible know about what you offer. Make customers feel confident that your company is the right choice for them.
If you’ve recently been nominated for or won an award, congratulations. If you want help sharing your victory out loud and proud, send us an email at Ainsley@engineeryourbrand.com or fill out the form below and one of our Brand Engineers will be in contact with you.
