How to make the most of awards

Startups Awards and sponsor printed.com take a look at how awards can create a buzz around your business

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Awards are a great way to grow your business and bring about exposure – as well as to kick back and reflect on the progress you have made with your business. In order to make the most of awards you can do a few things to make sure everyone knows how great your business is.

New content opportunities…


Use your nomination as a reason to reason to update your website – and of course, customers and press. As previous Startups Awards winner Joe Sopher of Joe & Seph's Gourmet Popcorn says: ‘It’s quite a nice thing to send, ‘By the way we’ve just won this award’ as opposed to ‘Can you please reply to the last five emails I’ve sent’.

Startups Awards finalists Jayne and Barbara Abel of Eyespace Eyewear add: “The Startups Awards made us newsworthy”. Promote your nomination on social media to include customers and attract new ones – plus don’t forget to distribute a press release to local and national press, industry publications and TV and radio.

In addition to your own content, you can piggyback off other people talking about the awards, giving you the chance to gain exposure with a wider audience reading about the topic.

Use the logos

An ‘awards finalist’ logo will add credibility to your brand; even more so if you subsequently become a winner! Startups Awards, like many awards schemes, gives logos for all finalists; placing these on your website, in your email signature and on marketing literature is a great way to make your business stand out from the crowd. These can of course be linked to your finalist profile to give extra proof of the validation for your business.

Plan to network

Have a look at the shortlist – including past winners and judges – and see if there are people to whom you might like to talk. Drop them an email or, if there is a physical ceremony, try to speak to them there. Awards are there to be enjoyed but there will be many people there who could help you boost your business.

Bring your business cards

It goes without saying that, if there is a physical event, then don’t forget to bring a few business cards. There could be a number of people at the awards who could present you with opportunities for investment, collaboration or publicity so it makes sense to talk to them and make sure they remember you the next day.

Involve the team

Awards are an opportunity to boost the morale of your team, who have likely been a huge part of your success. Luke Lang of Crowdcube, Startups Awards winner in 2013, says “It was really important to us to be able to inspire our team and for our team to see that we were winning awards. Certainly in the earlier days it creates a tremendous buzz and excitement, you feel that everyone is contributing to the growth of the business that’s led to winning awards.”

If you can bring all the team along to congratulate and thank the team for their hard work, employees will feel the value of their work and how their contributions have benefitted the business.

Take photos!

Photos are a great way to create extra buzz around your nomination or win, whether you display them on your homepage or on social media. Your team will probably also share! As Julien Callede of Made.com says: “It’s good for the team, because even though they know you’re growing and the team love the brand, you’re not always good at sharing how well things are going because you’re too busy.“

Find out more about branding your business at printed.com

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