5 tips for finding the right awards program for your campaign

As your company or client’s public relations or marketing expert, raising their profile is your job.

Among the usual deliverables of garnering earned media, drafting and placing bylined articles and managing social media, submitting and winning industry and trade awards remains one of the most visible ways to help your client to raise their profile as an emerging leader.

Here are some tips for finding the right awards program for your client:

1. Select awards strategically. Not every award is worth you or your client’s time, but never disregard smaller or pay-to-play awards. The smaller awards can be leveraged for achieving more prestigious awards in the future, especially if you’re submitting to new industry verticals. Similarly, pay-to-play awards may require a financial investment, but can pay off tremendously if used correctly.

Your marketing budget will ultimately determine which awards you can target, because the most prestigious awards are often the most expensive. The submission cost is a barrier to entry to limit submissions for only the most serious of award applicants.