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Dear OpenWater: What is the Biggest Mistake Awards Programs Make?

Regardless of how big, small, or successful, no awards program is perfect. At one time or another, it’s inevitable that somewhere a small misstep will occur.

While that’s no reason for countless sleepless nights, some mistakes are more grave than others. So what hiccup that most programs make do we find particularly bad? We’ll tackle that in this month’s Dear OpenWater.

Dear OpenWater –

What is the biggest mistake that you often see awards programs make?

Thank you,

Curious Awards Manager

Dear Curious Awards Manager –

There are several common mistakes that almost all awards programs make at one point.

One that particularly stands out, however, is not securing judges (or at least a portion of the judges’ panel) prior to, or during, your call for entry.

Entrants enter awards programs to be recognized for the work that they themselves have or their company has accomplished. More importantly, they want to receive this recognition from thought leaders within their industry. Entrants would be more inclined to enter your program if they know who the judges are and if they have a high regard for the individuals in your judges’ panel.

Here’s an example of how securing judges early on can positively impact your awards:

The LOUIE Awards is a greeting card awards program that I managed from 2013 until earlier this year. For the 27th LOUIE Awards, we were able to secure a portion of the judges’ panel early on during the call for entries.

So what did we do? In our weekly email blast, we created a Judge Spotlight section in which we provided a profile of at least one judge. We also promoted that week’s judge(s) on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The driving force behind this campaign was the increasing perception that a certain aesthetic was dominating the LOUIE Awards. The finalists and winners for previous LOUIE Awards had had similar aesthetics. We wanted to show that the LOUIE Awards recognized greeting cards of all types.

By highlighting the judges each week, entrants got to know the judges’ backgrounds and saw how diverse the panel was. This showed that people from varied backgrounds and schools of thought would be judging entries (ie. entries of all types would be reviewed and selected by a panel just as diverse as the entries themselves).

The campaign was a success. Entrants who hadn’t entered in the last couple years returned. A number of entrants entered for the first time. Overall, the number of entries, entrants, and revenue increased. The marketing campaign highlighting the judges is partially responsible for this success.

What’s the takeaway?

Don’t procrastinate when it comes to selecting your awards judges. Many awards programs make the mistake and wait until further down the awards cycle to select and confirm their judges. Doing so restricts the amount of time you have to find, confirm, and train your judges. It also eliminates the opportunity to showcase your judges in your marketing strategy to gain more entrants.

So avoid procrastinating and utilize your awards judges to cash in on the tremendous marketing potential!

Sincerely,

Want to learn more about awards judging? Just download our guide! For other questions about awards, just ask us here!

Got questions about your awards program? Just ask us!

Theresa Delgado

Theresa is our resident awards guru. She managed the Greeting Card Association's LOUIE Awards before joining us here at OpenWater. She brings first hand knowledge and experience in successfully managing and expanding awards programs.

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