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Innovative Customer: How the Hanley Wood Editorial Team Leverages Awards Content for Year Round Marketing

Awards programs make any organization relevant and prevalent to audience members. However, awards programs last for only a few months and then vanish. And, all too often, organizations vanish with their programs.

Hanley Wood is different.

Instead of viewing an awards program as a short-term tool to put their organization in front of audience members, Hanley Wood leverages their awards program for year-round marketing. Doing so keeps them relevant, interesting, and grows their organization regardless of whether the call-for-entry just began or the program is six months away from its next cycle.

In this article, we’re sharing some of Nickie Denick’s World of Awards Conference presentation to demonstrate what she refers to as “Social Marketing Through the Power of Awards Recipients.” We’ll share:

• Who Hanley Wood is;
• How they leverage their awards program for content; and
• The basic three-step process of Nickie’s strategy for content success.

Who is Hanley Wood and How do They Leverage Their Awards Program?

Hanley Wood is a premier media, event information, and strategic marketing services company serving the residential and commercial remodeling industries. Many of their awards programs have run for anywhere from 20 to 30 years, giving them a breadth of experience that is invaluable to their current marketing strategy.

The company made its transition to the digital first format with OpenWater. Now, instead of letting content sit in binders in drawers, the company utilizes awards content in multiple streams to connect with and engage their audience. Nickie’s approach is a three-step process any awards program can incorporate for similar success.

The Three-Step Content Utilization Process You Should be Using

Nickie’s content utilization plan includes three basic steps:

• Content and Conversion: Create quality, targeted content and syndicate it through social platforms in an engaging way. The best way to do so is to incorporate a combination of short messages, visuals, and interactive content on each platform you publish to.
• Authentic Conversation: Acting as a facilitator for your posted content allows you to take a step back and encourage meaningful conversation. Encourage conversation on social media forums, comment boards, and any other mediums relevant to your organization.
• Rules of Engagement: Go mobile and repurpose content to turn one story into countless posts for your social networks. Remember, different distribution formats helps your content go further than it otherwise could.

View the Full Presentation and Begin Producing Year-Round Content From Your Program

Whether you run one awards program or tens of programs, you can repurpose content from each to attract, engage, and convert audience members.

Check out Nickie’s full presentation from our World of Awards Conference here and begin a strategy of your own!

Kunal Johar

Kunal Johar is the OpenWater platform evangelist. He currently manages our development teams and enjoys diving into the fray. Find him in our community chat room.

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