The second half of 2017 appears to be as exciting as the first half for industry awards!
So now is a great time to get the nomination dates on your calendars. For a list of 2017 industry awards, please download Boscobel’s newly updated, free Public Sector Awards Calendar.
I love awards because they are valuable assets to your company’s brand image. Awards are a wonderful way to nominate and acknowledge projects, programs, employees, executives, teaming partners and even customers! There are awards that focus on just about everything from a single innovative project to multiple-year company growth.
Here are my five favorite benefits of awards: 
- Elevate Thought Leadership: Awards serve as a third-party endorsement, which is instrumental to a thought leadership program. They connote quality and success and are widely accepted as “newsworthy” to reporters and editors.
- Provide Awareness and Credibility: A prestigious award can serve as a seal of approval and even increase the value of your company’s brand. Awards can be differentiators in a crowded or mature industry.
- Demonstrate Valuable ROI: If you evaluate the time and cost to submit an application and then assess the value of the recognition when you receive the award, you’ll see a huge return on your investment. Many awards cost $200 to $300 per nomination. The only other expense you have is the labor to fill out the form. Many entry forms can be completed using existing customer case studies and project past performance content from proposals. You can usually download “winning entries” from previous years as a guide.Once you win an award, it has a long shelf life. Awards can be promoted for at least a full year after the announcement. Add the award logo to your email signatures, company website and corporate slide decks for inexpensive promotion.This makes award nominations a tremendous marketing tool for a minimal investment. In fact, most marketing executives think the biggest time-consuming aspect of an award strategy is tracking the deadlines. That’s what inspired us to provide this free Awards Calendar.
- Promote Hard-to-Reach Customers: In many industries, especially federal government, it can be challenging to obtain a customer endorsement for a case study or press release. However, many government executives are pleased to support award nominations for their projects. In fact, they are likely to provide valuable success data or metrics you need.
- Retain Employees and Attract the Best: Whether you win an award or are a finalist, people take notice. Internally, this is a huge morale-booster for employees and teams. People are happy to work for a company that has been acknowledged in the market, and they’ll be more likely to recommend friends and associates to join you. Both passive and active job seekers want to be a part of an exciting and thriving company, so awards are an essential way to demonstrate company success and culture.
There are still many more awards open for nominations this year, so I encourage you to check out our calendar and please let me know if you need any support.
As always, we’re here to help.