How To Make Your Award Entry Stand Out

Entering awards isn’t just about chasing trophies; it’s about showcasing your hard work, innovation, and impact. A well-crafted submission not only elevates your PR profile but also serves as a testament to your dedication and expertise.

To help you on your way to securing a coveted UK Digital PR Award, judge Dr Michelle Gledhill has pulled her top tips together to make the process that bit easier.

Tips to make your entry stand out to the judges:

• Craft compelling narratives that effectively communicate the campaign story, objectives, and results. Ensure that all sections of the brief are answered e.g., some entries ask for details of the campaign strategy and target audience, but entries often omit to provide clear details of the target audience that move beyond basic demographics.

• Judges are looking for entries that demonstrate genuine innovation, originality, and a unique approach to addressing challenges or achieving objectives. Entrants should strive to showcase their distinct voice and creative flair to stand out from the crowd. You can do this both in the entry by communicating your creativity and originality in your campaign idea and if relevant including campaign visuals. You can also use the supporting documents to showcase case studies, media coverage, additional testimonials, ideation sessions.

• Whether it’s driving engagement, fostering community, or driving business growth, entrants must provide concrete evidence of how their initiatives have made a difference. Ensure that the results relate back to the campaign objectives. Data-driven insights and success metrics e.g., Awards carry significant weight in the results section of the entry.

• The section on ‘why you should win’ is often a missed opportunity. Include client testimonials that expresses how your campaign transformed their business, the professionalism of your team. Above all, have conviction in your entry and express this.

• It is the important to review the submission criteria and adhere to the instructions such as not going over the word count. A well-presented submission reflects professionalism, attention to detail, leaving a positive impression on the judging panel.

• Start early and allow plenty of time for brainstorming, planning and refining your submission. Seek feedback from your team to gain insights and ensure that your entry is professionally written and meets all the entry requirements.

About the Author

Dr Michelle Gledhill is a marketing communications expert, specialising in advertising and branding. She researches video games and branding and more specifically how gamers process brands, with her research being presented at the European Marketing Academy and Academy of Marketing. She was the Programme Leader for MSc Creative Advertising Strategy for 13 years and is now the Employability Lead for Marketing, International Business and Tourism at Manchester Metropolitan University which involves developing relationships with industry to create opportunities and jobs for students.

Michelle works on live briefs with postgraduate students e.g., Manchester City, the Happy Linen Company, Castore. She has taught on corporate programmes for Tesco and Booths is currently leading Managing Digital Brands for the Digital Marketing Degree Apprenticeships and teaching students from BBC, Bentley and Pearson.

Michelle is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), CIM Senior Examiner and HE Examiner.