Yesterday, I attended the Exmouth Chamber Business Awards networking breakfast and was asked (at short notice!) to give a quick presentation. Given that most of the audience had been shortlisted for an award my topic was, “How to make the most out of being shortlisted for an award”, which I thought would be useful to share on our blog.
We’ve written before on the value of entering business awards so if you’ve taken the time to enter and been shortlisted, then you need to maximise the benefit to your business. Shout it from the rooftops!
How to make the most out of being shortlisted for an award
Blog on your website
Share your good news on your website, either in the form of a blog (as we did) or news alert.
Spread the news
Let your customers and contacts know that you’ve been shortlisted. If you do a regular newsletter, include it in that.
Tell the media
Issue a press release to the appropriate regional, national and trade press to annouce your achievement.
Say thank you
If any of your customers helped with your submission, perhaps in the form of a testimonial, make sure you drop them a line to say thank you.
Logo up
If you’ve been given a shortlisted logo, include it in your email footer and add it to your website.
Go social
Share the news on social media and engage with other shortlisted businesses. Always use the awards hashtag and tag other finalists and the event organiser. Keep the conversation going in the lead up to the final awards event.
Network
Attend any events that are put on especially for the award finalists as this is a great chance to meet and network other businesses,
Exploit the shared success
Use being shortlisted as an excuse to make contact with other shortlisted businesses to say hello and introduce your business.
Don’t stop there!
Enter other business awards. Here’s a list of Devon business awards. If you want to go national, here’s a comprehensive round-up of national business awards.
And, if you win, repeat all of the above! We’ll let you know how we get on in the Exmouth Business Awards after the awards evening on 18 May.
