Tech awards season is fast approaching. Research from Boost Awards shows that 72% of buyers are influenced by tech awards when buying IT products or services. It is more important now than it has ever been to push for a significant awards season. Origin Communications works to get our clients recognised for their hard work, and submitting them for tech awards is a PR strategy that we often use to help clients increase exposure and boost credibility within the field.
There is an ever increasing number of tech awards out there and it can be difficult to know which ones to push for. Applications for these awards can also be easily deemed an unnecessary task. However, there are a whole host of reasons as to why you should prioritise pushing for tech awards. From increasing visibility within the industry to benchmarking success and finding areas for improvement. Read on to find out more reasons why winning tech awards can prove a vital tech PR strategy for your clients.
Increased Credibility
The main goal of a PR company is to increase brand awareness and credibility. Winning a tech award places your client at the top of the industry and grants the opportunity to be branded as ‘the best’ within a given category.
Standing out amongst a crowd full of peers and industry leaders is a surefire way to get your client recognised. A study by the British Quality Foundation showed that small, award-winning companies saw a 63% increase in income and a 39% growth in sales compared to non-award winners.
Boost in Visibility
Winning a tech award isn’t just about getting a trophy to put on a shelf in your office. What is important is what you do for your clients with that accolade. Tech award events will be followed up with plenty of PR opportunities such as write-ups in magazines and features on social media. These are all key routes to boost visibility for your client (and if they won an award at the event they are even more likely to be mentioned!)
With a constant shift to an ever-increasingly digital world, many magazine write-ups are now digital. This could also provide the additional benefit of great back-link opportunities for your client, which will in turn boost SEO status and domain authority.
Benchmarking
There are a number of reasons why entering tech awards is a great way of benchmarking a business success. The application process in itself can give individuals the opportunity to look at their business from a different perspective and provide a comparison point next to competitors. It also gives companies a chance to analyse how they can stand out from the crowd and encourage them to think of ways to be more innovative in the way they work.
Good Networking Opportunities
It goes without saying that the crowd at a tech awards event will be very specific, and one in which your client will feel right at home. Gatherings such as those at tech awards provide the perfect networking opportunities with like-minded individuals and industry-leaders.
In the world of PR you know never to turn down a good networking opportunity, and awards events provide some of the best networking opportunities available. As sponsors of the White Hat Ball 2022, the Origin Communications team understands the importance of networking within the industry and we encourage all of our clients to use networking as a means of spreading the word about your company.
Employee Motivation
Awards of any kind are a recognition of the hard work and dedication put in by an entire team. Often work of that kind goes unnoticed, but a tech award is a great opportunity for a company as a whole to celebrate their collective efforts and receive the recognition and praise they deserve.
A survey conducted by Reward Gateway revealed that 91% of HR workers agree recognition and reward has a positive effect on employee retention. So really there are only positive things to say about winning a tech award when it comes to employee motivation. Looking at it from a PR perspective, this allows your business to reap the benefits through the likes of employee advocacy.
How can we help?
The process of finding the right tech awards to apply for, completing the application and the logistics behind applying for each particular award can seem overwhelming, as well as something you may not have time to deal with internally.
This is where a PR team can provide an essential service for your organisation.
As an experienced IT security and technology PR agency, the Origin Communications team knows how to execute a strategy behind applying for a tech award and ensuring a company has the right tools in place to make the most out of the opportunity. If this sounds like a service your tech company might benefit from, feel free to get in touch with the team to see how we can support your business and help you get the recognition you deserve!