Please note this transcript was generated by AI - apologies for any mistakes

Pippa Goulden (00:43)
Hello and welcome back to another episode of PR Made Simple. Now today we are deep diving into all things awards because I get asked so often about them, about whether they're an effective PR tool, about whether people should enter them and the answer I always give is potentially. So we're going to really deep dive in today about all things awards to help you clear up as to whether they are the right tool for you and your business.

and whether you should be adding them to your PR strategy. Now, let's just clear something up first. I want to be really clear that not all awards are created equally, and I think that's a really good place to start.

It's really important for any awards that you are thinking of entering that you do your due diligence around those awards. So some key things that I recommend doing is having a look at the judging panel because if the judging panel has got some key people on it, some influential people, you recognize some names on there, they're respected in their industry or within the entrepreneurial world or potentially locally.

it's likely that those awards are going to be reputable because they are putting their name to them as judges. Also have a look at previous winners. do a bit of Googling, have a look at what they've been able to do with that award win. Does it look like they've been supported by the award platform? How have they been able to use the award win on say their websites or in their socials, in their marketing, in their PR?

have a look at what has happened to them as a result of winning the award. Also, it could be an idea to actually get in touch with those people who have won the awards and ask them how they found it. What was the impact of the awards? Was it worth it from their perspective? It's a really good way to just see from the other side of the winner's fence if people actually feel like they were beneficial to them. So do some research, do some due diligence around the awards.

If you have, and I'm sorry to say this, but if you have received an email or a phone call saying that you've been anonymously nominated for an award then that is often a bit of a red flag and I'm sorry, I know it's really nice to hear that you've been nominated in inverted commas by somebody for an award but come on let's be honest who actually has the time to be nominating people left right and centre? It is a tactic

that some of the maybe less reputable awards schemes take. So they basically compile a long list of businesses, business owners, and they get in touch saying that you've been nominated by a, you know, anonymous person. And then the next step for you, if you want to take that nomination further, you have to pay to enter or you have to pay quite a lot of money to attend the award scheme. So if you do get an email,

It might be because you are absolutely brilliant and you have been nominated by somebody who is incredibly altruistic and doing it because they love what you do, but just do a little bit more research. Again, have a look into it. Don't let that ego get in the way because often they're not always what they seem. And I found with those award schemes where they kind of you've been nominated in inverted commas and they're just targeting you as a business owner and getting you to pay, there's

often not much substance behind those award schemes. So they don't have the judging panel, they don't have the QDOS, people don't really respect it as a kind of badge on your website, in your marketing and that kind of thing. So that's probably not going to do a huge amount for you in the same way that some of the really key awards would do. So let's just clear up what we're talking about when we come to actually looking at awards. There's so many different types of awards

out there. It's a massive and varied landscape. You've got industry specific awards, you've got regional business awards, innovation awards, entrepreneur awards, workplace culture awards, the list goes on and on. So I think the key thing for you is really identifying the right awards for you to enter and that as you may have heard me say before goes back to your PR strategy.

which goes back to your business objectives. What are you trying to achieve within your business? What are you trying to get known for? Looking back at that will help you to then figure out which are the right awards to put yourself forward for. For example, if you are a very local focused business, you've got a local clientele, then looking at local business awards are really going to do a job for you to get you in front of your local audience, for example.

If it's more establishing yourself as a leading expert in your industry within a specific industry, for example, then it might be looking at those kind of vertical industry awards. If, for example, eco-credentials are really important for your business, then looking at some of those types of awards that would give you that stamp of approval and help you to create that trust with your target audience could be really powerful for you. I know having done this for the last four and a half,

years with my DIY PR members that some of them have got some really strategic things to help them get those stamps of approvals. It might be the junior design awards, it might be specific beauty industry awards, it might be like I said some eco awards and it really helps to get the right people then taking notice of what you're doing. So going for the right awards for the right reasons is the first thing that I would be thinking about.

And let's look at the good news. Let's look at the positives that awards can bring for you. They can be a really powerful PR tool when you use them strategically. They give you that third party validation, that third party recognition. It's somebody else telling other people about your business. It's someone else saying, look at this business. What they're doing is absolutely brilliant. They're worth taking note of. It's not just you saying, look at me, look at me, look at me.

Please look at me. Awards are really good for giving you that stamp of approval and somebody else saying you're great. They can, note I say can, they can be good for generating press coverage for you. It depends a little bit on where you live, for example. Some local press might be interested in the kind of story of local entrepreneur wins huge award, for example.

It can be quite a dry story, it's not really worth pitching that to the national press for example, but there are some local press that really seem to embrace and celebrate their local entrepreneurs. I know from my DIYPR members for example, if you're based in Oxfordshire they really seem to celebrate you in the local press there, but I know in other places you'll send a press release to your local newspaper and they'll come back asking for money to cover it. So it does depend on where you live as to how much pick up you're going to get from that.

often when I'm working with my clients or I'm making recommendations to my members I'm helping them to look at other ways to use the awards within their PR so rather than it just being about sending out a press release saying look I've won an award it's how do you layer that into your story, how does it become part of the story that you're trying to tell so it's not necessarily the main story but it's almost a conduit for you to them being able to tell

your business story, which is probably a bit more interesting than just a straight award win. It's adding those layers, it's giving you the credentials and it's giving you the areas of expertise, but it's not necessarily you leading with that hook, if that makes sense. Award wins and nominations, because also remember, I talk about nominations here because they can be just as powerful for you as the award win itself, even if you don't win the category, to be nominated just gives you that

conversation point, that thing to talk about within your marketing. If you have a team they can be really great boost for you internally. It's a really good thing to show your clients and your customers that you mean business. It's good for internal morale, it's good for showing that you know what you're talking about, it's good for showing clients and customers that they are in the right place. So they can be really good for giving you a boost from that perspective.

There can be great from a networking perspective too, whether it's the ceremonies or even the build up to it. One of my DIY PR members, Priya from PriPri, she is so good at utilising her award wins and her nominations to really maximising them. So she has generated local press on them, she's been on the radio talking about them.

but she also does some really interesting things like collaborate with other nominees, for example, looking at ways that they can lift each other up, that they can dance on each other's dance floors. She's had lots of great marketing conversations, so it might be a flash sale to celebrate an award win or the fact that you've been nominated. So just reminding your audience why they're there in the first place and why you are really good at what you do. So remember, it's not just about an award, it's what you do with it.

And that's often when people drop the ball, they win the award, they post about it on their socials and then they've moved on to the next thing. You know, just really think about all the different ways that you can utilize that award win throughout your marketing and throughout your PR, throughout your conversations. I know it can feel a bit cringe to say, look at me, I've won an award. But remember, you need to step into that. You need to put on those big girl, those big boy pants. You need to own it. Nobody else is going to do that shouting for you.

So if you really want to be thinking about where you can strategically talk about it from that perspective. So yeah, have a look at all the different ways that you can be talking about any nominations and any award wins, reminding your audience about why they're there in the first place. So those are the benefits that I see from awards. They can be such an effective PR tool, but I do also think that it's really worth remembering that they're not always a PR goldmine that you think they are.

or that maybe the organizers have made them out to be. So there are a few red flags to think about. Some awards, not all of them, absolutely, but there are awards out there that are kind pay to play schemes. So the main requirement for you winning is whether you turn up to the award ceremony and pay, you you've paid for your ticket or a table, for example. The most awards, most awards out there, you know, the really genuine ones will often charge something.

be included in them. There are a few out there that don't but most you should be expecting to pay. So I think it needs to come out of your marketing budget, you need to be seeing them as a cost to your business whether you win or not, you need to be happy to take that as an outgoing and outlaying cost that you've spent and if you win that's amazing, if you don't you know you can just move on but have a look at the overall cost of what it's going to

going to be to enter. Normally you should really only be paying one entry fee and there might be a ticket on top of that but you don't want to be any hidden costs in there, you don't want to be suddenly faced with a big bill that you weren't expecting. Have a look at how many categories they have, how many nominees they've had in the past, sometimes that can be a bit of a red flag as well, it's just so many different categories, so many different people are nominated, it can make them feel a little bit worthless. Make sure

that their audience is right for you. Awards are a business at the end of the day, so there's going to be ways that they make something from them. It might be the award ceremony is the big thing, that's where they kind of make a lot of the money, it might be the nominations. But that's not to say that they aren't worth entering, but it's just good to understand how the awards win. The founders probably haven't started them because out of the goodness of their heart.

When it comes to audience, it's really important that they are going to do something for you with your own audience. If you're misaligned in terms of an audience, then it's really not worth your while because they can be really time consuming to enter, to fill in the forms, to give them all the information they need. So you want to make sure that the award is really going to do something for you in front of your target audience for giving you the credibility with the right people.

Like I mentioned earlier, not all awards are created equally, so do do your due diligence. We do this a lot in my DIY PR membership. You can ask me anything in there to do with awards and whether I think they're right for you. There's obviously Dr. Google that can help you ask your peers which awards they recommend.

Think about the timeline of an award. So obviously you'll kind of see the fanfare, you'll start seeing people maybe nominated or, going to award ceremonies, but they will have entered those months in advance. So it's worth starting to keep track of what awards happen and when, and when the deadlines are for those so that you make sure that you do have a good time to enter them. Have a look at the organization behind the award.

Is it a respected industry organization? Is it a legitimate media company? Or is it a business you've never heard of? Have a look at the track record. Like I say, have a look at what people have done before. Do that due diligence. What is their reputation like in the industry? What is the judging process? Is it transparent? Are they telling you what they're looking for?

And I think a key thing is knowing why you are doing those awards. Like I've said, don't let your ego lead with that one. Make sure it's aligned with your business objectives and your PR strategy because that's when the awards are gonna work really hard for you.

there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be entering awards for your brilliant business, it's one of those things we often put off isn't it thinking no no one's going to want to give me an award why would anybody want to hear about my business but the key to it is putting those big girl big boy pants on and going for it because no one else is going to do that for you.

So the key is being intentional. Don't just enter awards because they exist. Enter them because they're going to serve a specific purpose within your broader business strategy. And when you're clear on your why, it becomes much easier to evaluate which awards are worth your time, which ones are worth skipping. When it comes to actually writing the awards, I thought I would give you a bit of specific advice because I have actually judged some awards

entries and I have also won some industry awards too in previous lives. One of the key things that really helped the entries that I was judging to stand out and the ones that I put forward to win were stats and specific outcomes within the entries. So rather than just being very generic saying this is my business it's great because we do XYZ showing where you can whether it's a

percentage increase in something that you've done with your business or the people that you've helped or the outcomes that people have had from working with you or specific sales numbers. Obviously it's got to link back to the award entry and the judging criteria. But when I was judging the awards, there would be these really great statements, but they would all kind of blend into each other. It was those stats and that insight that really helped those.

entries to stand out and they would be the ones that would go on and win. So really have a think about your points of difference, think about some key things within the business that are going to help you to stand out. This is one of those times when you do really need to step up and back yourself because if you're not backing yourself that is going to come across in your award entry and it's going to be given to somebody else, it's just a total waste of your time.

So you need to get in the right mindset when you're filling in that awards team. You really need to think about why you deserve to win that award. Not just because you want to win it, but because you believe that you deserve to win it. So in summary, yes, awards can be a really effective PR tool for you. I've seen my DIPR members win them.

the businesses that I work with really benefit from award wins and then using them as a really great PR and marketing tool throughout their business ongoing. I also think it's really worth flagging, a really great example was a client that I worked with, when she first started building her profile and getting known for what she did, she entered this very high profile award, we helped her to enter,

And it was a bit punchy because she hadn't really launched her business yet but you know it was about getting her on the radar of the right people and being seen by the right people in the right places and the first year she entered it she absolutely did not win it she didn't get nominated or anything the second year she entered it once she'd launched her business she only went and bloody won it it was a really high-profile prestigious award and she won it okay

because she didn't give up because she didn't win it the first time round. It just made her even more determined to get it. So please don't be too despondent if things don't go your way because things change, things evolve, you will evolve. It doesn't mean that it's a total write-off for you from an awards perspective and you should never enter awards ever again. You can really make a difference to your business with the right awards. A great person to have a look at is one of my DIY PR members, Dani from Ecoable.

She's Dani Sita on LinkedIn and Ecoable on Instagram. In fact I'll put her in the show notes, she's absolutely brilliant. Like I mentioned Priya from PriPri's done some great things with her awards. Sari from Ambustam, they make beautiful candles and I know when she first started out she had some really strategic beauty award wins which really helped her to position herself.

when she was talking for trade accounts and that kind of thing to show her positioning and to really show that she hit the ground running when she launched her business. So think about why you want to enter those awards, do that due diligence, have a look at the judges, have a look at the categories that are right for you, make sure it's aligned, make sure you can afford to enter them too.

And like everything in the PR set, go in with a strategic approach to your award and they can be really valuable tools for you. But they're not magic bullets. They're not going to change things overnight, but they are going to give you those really great PR layers to your business. Don't see it as a standalone tactic. See it as part of your overall PR strategy.

Be selective, be strategic. It's better to get one really meaningful award than lots and lots that don't really mean anything for your business. And remember, often the real PR value of them doesn't just come from the win or filling in the forms, but how you leverage that win and how you leverage the nominations and make sure that is really well executed for you.

So yeah, they can be really great powerful tools for you when you approach them strategically. They might not be right for every business. Do your own individual research around them. The key is doing your homework, being selective and having a plan.

So hopefully that has given you some insight into awards and whether they are the right PR tool for you and your business. If you are inspired to take action and you want to join my DIY PR membership, then use the code POD50, which will get you 50 % off your first month. And I actually have a six month subscription available at the moment, only until the 5th of July. So it's just £247 to basically get PR support for the rest of 2025. It's...

incredible value. That's going to take you through some of key award nomination times that we see. Generally they happen towards the end of Q3, beginning of Q4 and then there's often another tranche around February, March but it really depends on the awards, it depends on your industry. But come into my DIYPR membership and get that support.

I also have my one-to-one accelerator where we work together to really nail your PR and I have my done for you service Impact which is where I take it off your hands and do it all for you including writing those award entries for you. You can find me on Instagram at Pippa the PR set or on LinkedIn Pippa Goulden come and connect with me on there and say hello and I will see you again very soon for another episode of PR Made Simple.