My Company Won an Award – Now What?

Tips For Promoting an Award

A common question we hear from clients is, “Our company just won this award. How can we turn it into news?”

Our response? It may be disappointing to hear, but most media outlets will not find the award terribly newsworthy. Except for major, well-known awards (think EY Entrepreneur of the Year or Inc. 5000), most awards given to companies probably won’t generate as much news as the recipient wishes it would. (And keep in mind that an award given by a media property often won’t be covered by other media outlets that consider the awarding outlet a competitor.)

So, does that mean applying for and winning awards is a waste of time?

Not at all. Awards are a terrific way to draw recognition to an organization and can be a point of pride for employees. Just because they won’t land a front-page story for your company doesn’t mean awards aren’t worthwhile. You just need to consider other effective ways to promote them.

Here are 10 tips to make the most of an award:

1. Write a press release for your own newsroom. Share the news proudly via your owned content.
2. Consider putting the release on a newswire – but do it for the right reasons. Even if it doesn’t lead to earned media coverage, it will yield a search engine result and offer you an opportunity to integrate key words into the release.
3. Share the news with clients and prospects by email. Winning an award is a wonderful reason to reach out to clients, prospects and friends of the company.
4. Promote the award in your next company newsletter. This is another example of putting your owned media to work for you.
5. Share the news on social media. Social media channels are perfect for this type of news. Incorporate graphics for maximum impact.
6. Write a blog post about the award. Tell readers why you were selected and what the award means to your company.
7. Coordinate with the awarding organization. Perhaps they will issue their own press release (and give you a backlink) or recognize you via social media. Any attention your award generates reflects well on them, too, so it’s in your best interest to be as collaborative as possible.
8. Change your signature line to reflect your status as an award winner. How many emails do you send a day? Think about how many recipients you could share your award news with, simply by adding a line and / or logo to your signature line.
9. Create a temporary new logo that incorporates the win into it. Take it one step further and add a design element to your logo that trumpets your award.
10. Consider a paid ad. While our first goal is always earned media, this may be an instance where purchasing an ad can make good business sense.

While winning an award may not generate a great deal of (or even any) earned media, there are plenty of other ways to promote your win.

What other approaches would you recommend for sharing award news?