Winning an award is an excellent indication that you and your business are doing something right. Public recognition goes a long way when it comes to boosting the reputation of your startup. In this article, we will discuss how you can make the best use of your small business awards to drive more customers to your business.
While it may seem trivial, winning awards is important and can benefit your business in many ways, including:
- Building authority and credibility
- Boosting your brand exposure
- Allowing you to attract the right talent
- Exciting and motivating your employees
- Creating word-of-mouth marketing
In fact, research shows that receiving an award can be great for your company’s bottom line, boosting sales by nearly 40%.
How to leverage your small business awards to get more customers
Issue a press release
Whenever you or your business win an award, shout it from the rooftops! Create a press release about the award in order to share your company’s accomplishments.
Well-written press releases are incredibly beneficial to startups as they:
- Are affordable
- Create immediate exposure
- Allow you to control your narrative and share your story
- Help to establish your expertise as the company founder and as a thought leader in your industry
Writing your press release is just the first step, though. You then need to issue the press release. Check out Neil Patel’s tips for beginners here.
Feature your awards on your website
By linking award announcements to your newsroom page on your company website, you add incredible SEO value. Linking awards and features is great for SEO because linking out to websites with high authority can actually boost the rankings of your own website in Google search results.
If you don’t have this in place already, consider creating a newsroom section of your website where you can add these external links. You can also publish your press releases here, too. If you’re not sure exactly how to execute a page like this, check out this helpful article on how to show off your awards on your website.
Share your awards on social media
You may feel like you’re boasting, but sharing your personal and company achievements across social media is essential! By celebrating your achievements on social media, you boost your brand exposure and credibility. Additionally, you boost your company’s appeal to potential customers, employees and clients.
Let’s say, for example, your business was just named one of the top remote tech companies to work for this year. Sharing this news socially will help you stand out to an incredible pool of candidates who are currently looking for work.
Related: Boost Your Brand Through Social Media Engagement
Tell your customers via email
If you have an email newsletter list, send the exciting news to your subscribers! Your newsletter database includes current or interested clients and customers, so they’re the perfect audience to share your news with. In doing so, you build credibility and may convince a potential customer to make a purchase from you.
Celebrate with discounts and promotions for your customers
You didn’t get to where you are without the help of a number of people, and that includes your customers. Let your customers share in the joy of your award by providing special discount codes or promos for your products or services.
If you don’t already, consider offering free shipping for a set period of time. Offering free shipping has proven to increase average order volume by 97%, according to Nosto, while reducing cart abandonment by 18%.
Related: 5 Small Business Promotion Tips for Tough Times
Celebrate with your team
Winning a prestigious award is not only good for your personal and professional brand, but it’s a great morale booster for your team. Celebrating victories helps keep your team engaged and reminds your employees of your overall company goals.
Use this victory to set more short- and long-term goals, and watch your business soar: A Harvard Business study found that the 3% of graduates who wrote down goals ended up earning 10 times as much as the other 97% of graduates combined just 10 years after graduation.
Feature your award in display ads
While the numbers are not exact, the average individual sees anywhere between 6,000 to 10,000 ads daily, and mobile display ad spend reached $61 billion in 2020, a 22% increase from the year prior.
So, if your startup includes display ads in its digital marketing strategy and wants to stand out, why not curate your display ads to feature your company award? This is just another instance of building authority and credibility while boosting your brand exposure.
Feature your award in your pay-per-click campaign
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model in which the advertiser pays a publisher each time their online ad is clicked. When it comes to creating PPC ads, there are a number of copywriting best practices that you should keep in mind. One such best practice is emphasizing what makes your company stand out.
What’s a better way to set yourself apart from your competitors than by highlighting your award? PPC was ranked as one of the top three best channels for high-volume leads by Formstack, so this is an excellent method for attracting new customers.
Feature your award in your local business listing
Another great way to set yourself apart from the competition is to include your award in the copy about your business on your Google My Business listing. Your profile includes a section for “updates,” where you can post brief updates to your business, including any recently won awards. In addition to text, you can publish videos and photos in this section, so if you have any imagery of your award or a highlight reel, consider including those, too.
Develop an SEO strategy around your award
Mobile searches for “best place to buy” have grown over 70% in the last two years, according to Chatmeter. To capitalize on this, develop an SEO strategy around your award with long-tail keywords that use terms like “best,” “award-winning” and “top.”
In the context of SEO, long-tail keywords are those that are longer and more specific to a user’s search intent. They’re also often utilized when a consumer is using voice search.
For example, if your company was recently named the top digital marketing agency in Detroit, add localized search terms to your SEO strategy like “best local digital marketing agency,” “award-winning digital marketing agency near me” or “top digital marketing agency in Detroit.”
Related: SEO for beginners
Key takeaways
You might feel uncomfortable bragging about your award and your business, but you owe it to your loyal customers who believe in you and to all of the potential customers out there who could stand to benefit from your products or services.
