Awards in tech PR
Posted by Paul Allen on 21st January 2013 / 0 comments
Anyone that has worked in tech PR will be familiar with award submissions. There are hundreds and hundreds to choose from, broken down by vertical market, product, service and much, much more. Whatever industry your client is in, it is safe to say that there will be awards-aplenty for them to enter.
I wouldn't claim to be an expert as such but I have had a good few years, with some notable successes in a whole host of awards, from PassivSystems in the Red Herring Global 100 to Wazoku in the BCS & Computing UK IT Industry. Just this morning MicroStrategy has been shortlisted for technology provider of the year in the 2013 FStech Awards.
How to be successful in PR Awards
There isn't a magic formula sadly but entering awards can be a time-consuming business for your humble tech PR, so it is advisable to choose ones in which your client has a decent shout at winning, ie if the awards asks for customer success stories and your client doesn't have any, maybe give that one a miss! Reading the criteria sounds obvious but having spoken to a number of judges over the years you would be amazed how often people don't.
Relevance to tech PR
But what I'm interested in, is the value awards bring to a tech PR agency and ultimately the client. There is a certain amount of prestige to be had, recognition from a client's peers and competition, but does an award help open doors in terms of sales? Or is it more of use for internal comms, something to help make people feel they are part of a successful organisation? Perhaps it is a good night out, a thank you to staff, customers and partners or maybe it is just a shiny gong for the mantlepiece / nice logo to include on the website?
Clients would obviously rather win an award than not but wondering how awards are perceived client-side - a relevant and valid tactic in a tech PR programme or lacking the tangible reward to justify the time spent on entering them?
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