20 Top Tips on Writing Successful Awards Entries

By: Irene Byvalkevych
Date: Aug 28, 2019
Comment: 0
Category: Awards Management, Project Awards

It can be difficult and stressful to make an award entry perfect, but knowing the best way to write a successful entry will likely help make it to the shortlist. Let’s learn how to write an award entry to make it a success.

What are awards entries?

Writing a winning award entry is about making a compelling case to the judges and convincing them that you have the academic abilities to win. That takes time, evidence, style, and a winning angle, so let’s start there!

Writing problems and pitfalls

To help you with writing a smashing award entry that wins, we’ve collected together some common pitfalls, problems, and setbacks that are important to keep in mind when writing a winning award entry.

In order to draft an award-winning entry, you must begin months in advance—no less, no more.
Do not violate the deadlines.
Remember that awards writing deadlines have a habit of creeping up on those people who are entering.
Do not forget to create a credible awards scheme.
Develop rigorous entry criteria.
If you complete your entry process with care, there will not be any vital mistakes, which are so easy to make.

Create a winning plan for your awards entries to stick to and minimise the risks of failure.

Creating your winning award entry plan

When you plan your winning award entry, you should have a great PR plan as its basis. An award entry will then be much easier to write as you can simply borrow items from there.
Below you will find the five ways to improve your award entry efforts and start winning.

As usual, conduct thorough research.
Use SMART objectives.
Evaluate your award entry objectives.
Use support materials to highlight main points.
Include your budget.

Keep in mind that writing a good award entry always takes longer than you think it will!

How to write a winning awards entry

If you’re going to get the success you deserve, you should come up with a flawless award application. For this, you will need a few reasonable tips to help you get started:

Carefully read the awards criteria and questions.
Start with a straight-to-the-point, short summary.
Use award entry examples.
Avoid copy and pasting.
Don’t be afraid to revise what went wrong.
Eliminate the PR jargon, even if you use some items from your PR plan.
Avoid “show off” speeches.
Include some visual supporting evidence.
Don’t be sparse with the details.
Keep it brief.
Don’t ignore the word count.

After your winning awards entry is ready, take your time checking it for spelling and other typical mistakes while adjusting the format based on your awards plan. Follow the tips for writing successful awards entries to double check.

Tips on writing successful awards entries

Do you want to know how to write awards entries to impress and win? Here are a couple of working principles that will help you do just that.

#1 Give yourself enough time.

Take your time to approach the research and writing of an awards entry, taking into account your objectives and initial plan.

#2 Stay on topic.

It is sometimes hard to stay on topic and not blur your statements. Make sure you use short and clear expressions.

#3 Write offline.

You can easily write your material offline on iOS and Android apps, and your drafts will be saved locally to your device.

#4 Tell the truth.

There’s no need to be cunning and hide the truth from the jury. Be honest, and do not attempt to fool anyone.

#5 Quantify the results.

When you quantify something, you’re putting it in numbers. Quantifying is counting or expressing something in numbers. Your entry should have some well-calculated and real numbers if you want it to be taken seriously.

#6 Get your staff and co-workers involved.

One of the most important criteria for many companies is the ability to work as a team player. Writing an entry is a good opportunity to demonstrate this quality.

#7 Include the icing.

Don’t be too dry or formal; add a little spice or humour if you can.

#8 Read your submission aloud.

Re-read and double check the way your submission sounds to the public. Make it perfect.

#9 Do your research.

You cannot skip a thorough period of research on the subject of your entry. Decide what intention you have for your research, such as telling a good story, engaging the jury, etc.

#10 Use SMART objectives.

Help ensure that your awards objectives are more than just empty wishes by making sure they are SMART.

#11 Evaluate your objectives.

Make your results measurable, and identify indicators that will help you stay on track to achieving your awards goals. Don’t skip the evaluation stage after closing the project, as it helps to identify new areas of improvement and new revenue streams.

#12 Use support material to highlight.

Select what kind of material you plan to use: video, audio, quotes, testimonials, or interviews. It is very important to use numbers and diagrams to show the differences and changes you made. Apply templates and examples if you need additional visual support.

#13 Include your budget.

It would be best to draft a monthly budget to keep you on track. Budgeting for awards entry submissions will keep you motivated.

#14 Tell a great story.

Tell the story. A story has natural momentum to it. Use a good hook as your awards entry effective opener. Judges are human beings who inherently love stories, so they want to be a part of something great and valuable. Help them enter your story and help you keep telling it.

#15 Answer every question.

Even if you have thousands of questions asked on your entry agenda, be sure to answer them in the awards entry because that may impact your awards success.

#16 Stick to the word limit.

Consider 50 words as the lower boundary, with the word limit as the upper boundary. Basically, try to get to somewhere between 450–500 words for a 500-word-limit story.

#17 Focus on your message.

Here’s how to make sure your message is memorable. Make it clear and focused at the start of your entry.

#18 Use evidence to back up your claims.

Make sure your evidence does, in fact, support your argument or claims. It is important that you support your entry in order to sound more convincing and win.

#19 Read, proofread, and repeat.

Test your story out, and see how the story will sound in front of an audience. Your main goal is for it to be short, simple, and understandable. Use professional, in-depth proofreading services if you’re not sure you can handle this process by yourself.

#20 Add some appropriate jokes.

A smile on a judge’s face is always helpful. Try to be different and memorable, but be careful. Your sense of humour should be appropriate, and you don’t want to spend too much time “breaking the ice”.

How to write an award entry: The most successful tips & examples

A quick fix – the perfect video

Another really great thing that you can do for an effective award entry is create a video.

The explanatory entry the jury can relate to

Taking the jury by the hand is an excellent awards entry approach. Writing a detailed mission statement for them will increase your chances for success.

Try unique formats too

Even though you have to fill out all those boxes on the award platform with well-written words, no one says that you can’t present your campaigns in a less black-and-white-only-text way, for example, by creating a simple PDF doc.

You can always ask for help with your awards entry writing from awards management and marketing experts at Judgify.

Conclusion

Use the awards entry writing tips and tools at your disposal to the fullest. It is possible to use entry examples in various combinations for a better understanding of the subject. Don’t forget to apply a variety of ideas. Create a good awards plan using awards planning software. We hope our advice will help you approach this process in the best way possible and succeed.

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