It’s that time of year again…awards season. And no, I’m not talking about the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards. It’s time to roll out the red carpet and start campaigning for your campaigns – PR campaigns, that is. While we all have good intentions when it comes to nominating our programs for awards, the demands of our day-to-day client work always take precedence and many times awards submissions move to the bottom of our to-do list. However, the marketing opportunities that come with winning an award can help shine the light on your agency, resulting in incremental new business, as well as employee recruitment and merchandising opportunities.

Here are just a few of the ways you can leverage a big win:

New business presentations and pitches: Differentiating your agency in new business pitches is a constant challenge for PR professionals. Highlighting an award winning campaign, particularly if there are elements similar to what your prospect is looking for, can turn your pitch into a BIG win for the agency.

Client outreach: Merchandising an award honor, such as Agency of the Year, to all of your existing clients is a great touch point, as well as an opportunity to create dialogue with past prospects, friends of the agency and industry trades.

Employee morale: Let’s face it, we PR professionals are always looking for a reason to celebrate, and nothing brings a company together in a better way than celebrating a big award! It's a strong morale booster, a great way to show the agency that hard work does really pay off and sets the bar high to inspire the rest of the agency to deliver quality campaigns.

Recruitment: As you look to recruit the best and brightest crop of young professionals, being able to share your latest award honors is another differentiator and a way to not only recruit employees but interns as well.

Industry media relations: Agencies are so busy promoting their clients’ programs that many times they forget to promote their own work. Award recognition gives you the chance to conduct trade media outreach, provide a case study that can be featured in an industry publication or even use your winning campaign to position your agency as a subject matter expert through an editorial or POV piece.

Agency website: There is no better way to attract the attention of a prospective client than with a big award win featured on your agency website. Agency of the Year, Campaign of the Year or just winning top honors in a prestigious category will set you apart from your competitors and is something you can call out on your website’s homepage.

Whatever the award, remember that winning doesn’t stop at the awards ceremony. Merchandise your victory to win new business, media coverage, happier employees and bragging rights.

--Stephanie Doherty, Vice President