Editorial award submissions are the Stealth Bomber of public relations.
Publications invite you to tell them about the best parts about your business, a team within your business or individual professionals. Then, they name you the “best” or the “top” in your field and publish great things about you for their readers, i.e. your target clients.
Then, you share that award or honor on your website, online bios, newsletters and social media, basking in the glow of the credible, third-party recognition you received for doing great work. Clients – current and potential – view you as an industry leader, and put more trust in you. Lateral company recruits also see you as accomplished, innovative and well-regarded, and want to work with you.
It’s that, stealthy PR that keeps us submitting nominations to these publications, year-after-year.
But nominations for editorial award submissions can be time-consuming and cumbersome, and there are no guarantees you’ll be picked a winner. You may ask yourself if the ROI is worth it.
It is — so long as you follow editorial award submission best practices.
At TW2, we write A LOT of editorial award submissions, and have learned some tricks to make them winners.
Above all else, we know that interesting submissions are winning submissions.
Publications want to give their readers interesting articles about interesting people and businesses doing interesting work.
How do we do that?
We tell the story!
A submission must tell a story that truly presents a memorable, striking snapshot of who you are, the work you do and why you should be selected.
Anecdotes and details paint a vivid picture and help build the story. A winning submission includes:
- Impact: How a transaction, project or matter impacts your client, an industry or the community.
- Numbers: The value of the deal, the cost of the project, the amount of the verdict… money talks. But there are other ways to quantify your story. How many people were served by the new development? How many lives will be saved by the invention you helped bring to market? How many hours did your team dedicate to the project?
- Be Unique: Emphasize what is new and different about what you have done. Focus on the extras, like technical expertise not often found in your work, and explain how that added value. Name names and credentials.
- Many nominations require a high level of professional and community services. Give details of that involvement. Don’t just say you’re a member of an organization, explain the role you have, what you do and how your work impacts/helps the organization and/or who it serves.
- Brag about other recognitions. Publications don’t want to look like they misjudged a candidate. If others have given recognition, note it.
- There are often ways to include confidential information, if that’s a concern, without violating any agreements.
Award nomination submissions should be comprehensive, clear and absolutely 100 percent truthful.
You may still be wondering if you should participate. Don’t submit just to submit — examine the requirements carefully and weigh the benefits of each submission before deciding whether this is an opportunity for you to pursue.
TW2 is here to help you tell your winning story!
Denise Nix
Senior Consultant
TW2 Marketing