While agencies and professionals don’t do what they do for the awards, it’s always nice to be recognized. In a lot of cases, however, an award is industry-specific. When you mention it in a group of industry professionals, the awe is easy to see. However, a company needs to be careful in boasting about an award to the average non-specialist.
How does a company show off its awards and merits without coming off as smug or self-important? These 14 members of Forbes Agency Council look at the best ways a company can publicize their high-profile awards in such a way so they don’t seem to be bragging for the sake of belittling the competition.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Lead With ‘Planet-First’ Context
Because we work with climate-tech startups that are improving the world, we know the best strategy is to lead with the most inclusive impact of this win. In other words, play the story forward. The rest of the conversation — the funding close, the first customer deployment, the metrics, achievements and new discoveries — will translate not as self-serving, but world-serving. – Caroline Venza, Mission Control Communications
2. Express Gratitude
Acknowledge that you are humbled to be announcing this and be intentional about your phrasing. Giving thanks to everyone who helped get you there is incredibly important, and so is acknowledging the person/people who gave the award, or highlighting the investor more than yourself. A little gratitude goes a long way. – Corbett Drummey, Popular Pays
3. Be Humble About It
The accomplishments should be told and talked about. You just need to be humble about it rather than being proud. A great tip would be to hire a good PR agency and follow their guidelines. – Vishal Jain, Sunshy Group Of Companies
4. Determine The Value
Determine the value of the potential news to your core audience before moving forward. The addition of a big-name investor, for example, is clearly newsworthy, demonstrating company growth and stability. On the other hand, an awards announcement may be nice to know, but not necessarily needle-moving information. In that event, a simple social media post or blog may be a better medium to communicate. – Valerie Chan, Plat4orm PR
5. Take The Focus Off Yourself
Yes, publicizing an incredible accomplishment is all about bringing attention to yourself. You want people to recognize your achievement and celebrate your success, but you have to forget about yourself if you want to get the message out in the right way. As with any marketing, you need to focus on the customers and make it clear why your message matters to them. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
6. Share Actionable Takeaways
We all face similar enough challenges and can learn a lot from the success and failures of others in our space. If you can publicize this kind of win in a way that ultimately allows others to benefit — gives others an actionable takeaway — we all win. – Lori Paikin, NaviStone®
7. Have Your Team Share It
One approach would be to lead with your team sharing the accolade more than it coming from the brand itself. Team social channels and the excitement that could be shared from them regarding that new big thing can feel more honest than a press release and can get you more traction. Make sure the team knows the organization is 100% behind them sharing and resharing as appropriate. – Paul E. Benninghove, Pavone Marketing Group
8. Have A Higher Purpose
Communicating a philanthropic purpose for the investor announcement ensures that the publicity is a stepping stone for providing additional support for the companý’s selected charity partners. Publicizing an award win or honor can also be used as a way of promoting any giving-back initiatives to a captive audience, through the news release. – Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR
9. Tie It o A Larger Industry Trend
We recommend our clients connect any big achievement with a broader industry trend, when possible. As well, depending on the honor, there are different ways you can share the news to make sure it is reaching the right audiences. For example, if a company wins an award, you might want to only promote on social media and in a blog post instead of through a press release. – Catherine Seeds, Ketner Group Communications
10. Lead By Example
One of the ways I showcase my achievements is by teaching others how I came to win the award — the tips, tricks, how-tos and untold secrets. A great leader creates more leaders and helps others become their best selves. Don’t brag about your accomplishments — use them as an example to inspire others. – Alex Quin, UADV
11. Focus On Outcomes
Turn your bragging into a value proposition by putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and asking how the award or designation benefits them. Think about what distinguishes your services or products from organizations who haven’t received this honor, and look for ways to highlight those qualities in your announcement. – Hannah Trivette, NUVEW Web Solutions
12. Lead With Recognizing Others
Whenever an individual or company receives an award or accolade, it is always great to let followers, customers and others know about it, but it’s important to lead with recognizing everyone’s efforts — from the team members to the customers to the followers. Acknowledge the fact that the accolade is the sum of the cumulative efforts of many. – Tony Pec, Y Not You Media
13. Add It To Your LinkedIn Summary
Your LinkedIn summary section is gold for search engine optimization. This is a great place to include awards and other accomplishments you have earned over the course of your career. Google and other search engines will definitely pick up on these awards as search terms because LinkedIn has a lot of credibility as a website. – Nancy Marshall, Marshall Communications
14. Plug The Value Into Your Marketing Plan
One of the most important things you want to make sure of is that you are able to have access to the best ways to plug the award into your marketing plans and use this information to appear as an authority. This is one of the best ways to ensure that you are always positioned for success. – Jon James, Ignited Results
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Author: Forbes Agency Council, Forbes Councils Member
