Summit Awards: Get the Recognition You Deserve

IECRM’s 13th Annual Summit Awards “Call for Nominations” will opened on February 1st.  Deadline Approaching: Apply online by Monday, March 18.  These prestigious awards recognize IECRM member excellence in the Energy, Electrical, and Green Building fields.

Why enter the Summit Awards?  Why enter awards at all?

Awards…

• Demonstrate your amazing talents and skills to the rest of the electrical contracting and construction sectors

• Raise your company’s profile and provide the opportunity for you to gain positive PR

• Help you earn a place and a ranking in your business

• Differentiate your company
  

• Provide staff with the kind of morale boost that comes from beating the competition and basking in the spotlight of your industry.

The IECRM Summit Awards are presented at a premier industry event and represent an unparalleled opportunity to celebrate the work of your employees. You can enter more than one category as long as the work is relevant. Questions about nominating your company or a colleague for an award? Contact IECRM CEO Marilyn Akers Stansbury at [email protected] or 303.853.4886.

You’ve won a Summit Award.  Now what?

The exultation related to winning an award can also be extended in ways that could prove actual business results if you plan your communications and marketing efforts around a potential win. And that is, in all honesty, the true value of participation in any awards program.

New clients may actually come knocking when they hear the buzz about your company excellence – if you play your cards right.

So, when your company’s work is shortlisted, it’s an opportunity to tell the world.

With a focused effort and an overall objective to use your award entry to generate increased brand awareness among your peers you can use a shortlist nomination and an award to ultimately drive new sales leads to your company.

There are quite a few touch points that you can use to leverage your award application and make sure that it does not go unnoticed. First of all, it is a great starting point to let others know that you entered an awards program. 

This can be done with a subtle social media update and a bit of internal communication to spark the interest among colleagues and clients. Even if you do not win, it is a great opportunity to let your internal peers know that you take pride in what you do and are motivated to showcase it to let others be inspired by what you do.

1. Produce a press release and earn coverage in your market(s)

A nomination could very well be a most welcome story for your local community media if you manage to frame the story right.  So write and send out a press release with a unique story — you might be the only company in your region or country nominated. Or your entry itself might contain a great storyline that is worth mentioning. Be original when putting together the press release. A well-written press release could earn you more reach and enable positive brand awareness.

2. Use the official shortlist logo in your owned media

If the awards program you enter offers you an official nominee logo for being shortlisted, you should use it in your marketing. 

Place it on your company website, in email signatures, in updates, and on cover banners, on official social media business profiles, on your blog, in internal and external company newsletters, in company brochures, print ads, on exhibition stand material. This a great way to make sure that people notice this distinction. 

Plus, the a nomination badge or competition logo may help validate your work and tell the world that your work is solid.

3. Leverage the love of your peers

IECRM, your clients and business partners, colleagues and friends are all potential ambassadors for letting the world know that you are a badass. A well-written piece of copy that can be used for internal communication to spark excitement and can prove very effective in terms of spreading the word. 

Also, a preparation of a modest media kit with an enticing picture and a social media update framing the news of your shortlisting could go a long way. Team members and other colleagues may share this out of pure excitement.

You might be surprised to see how many of your peers are, in fact, willing to share the news on social media and in their own channels. Especially if they have been involved as a partner or subcontractor in the work or can deduce value from a mention of this shortlisting. Providing them with a streamlined piece of content that is easy to integrate and share in their own channels is a cool service and it shows that you are on top of your game.

4. Don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn

Flaunt your nomination on LinkedIn. There might just be potential clients discovering you this way, or publishers looking for know-how from experts. And your nomination proves that you belong in the pool of experts. 

Take advantage of this opportunity and leverage that your name is rubber-stamped and share your expertise with the world.

5. Be there for the winner announcement

 If you are amongst the winners, you want to be there to receive that award on stage and show the industry who you are. Photo opportunities abound that become another way to share your story.

And if you do win…

You won!! You did it!! And yes, you do need to celebrate your victory, but most importantly, you need to shout out this extraordinary accomplishment to the world. Share your excitement, flaunt your award and use your credentials in your marketing efforts.

Then, do it all over again…

As soon as you can, go through the above-mentioned to-do-list all over again – only now with an even bigger splash saying “Award-Winning”. Let the world know that you are a winner and make sure that potential clients become aware of your success.

One final note….

As you work to boost your company’s visibility using Paid, Earned, Shared or Owned (PESO) media, remember that when using earned media, or the press, the guideline is this: 

“News is not what you want to say. News is what your audience wants or needs to hear.”

But, do try to frame the messages you do want to convey with the audience receiving it, in mind.