Achieve Your B2B Award
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes
Intended Audience: B2B Business Owners, Microsoft Partners, SaaS Business Owners, Tech Company Owners
You do impactful work. It’s time you get recognized for it. You may think it’s a bit late in the year to be talking about award entries, but we are here to make sure you have ample time to get a head start on the B2B, technology, and partner awards for 2022. Creating an award submission that helps you stand out and showcase your talents takes time, and nobody wants to be thrown in the deep end as the clock ticks towards the deadline.
To craft a piece this significant, we are here to share with you the ingredients of a winning entry from the multi-award-winning Mavens at this Collective:
1. Carefully Read & Review the Guidelines
Award guidelines exist for a reason. Take the time to read and review them thoroughly to ensure you understand what is expected. Guidelines provide important insight on how to structure your entry and what details to include. They include details on the eligibility marking scheme, weightage of different components of the entry, judges’ expectations, as well as official deadlines and contact information for any queries. If you want to be an award-winning entrant you need to be very familiar with the requirements and scoring of each award entry.
2. Selecting the Appropriate Category
Developing an award submission proposal under the wrong category can cost you, both in time, money and endless frustration. Take the time to conduct research on the various categories to plan how your body of award-winning work fits into them. By selecting the correct category and knowing that your solution/service/product is eligible for entry, you are setting yourself on the path to success. This will take some planning and discussion on your part to determine the perfect fit, but rest assured it will be worth it!
3. Stick to the Subject
It is easy to run astray when writing lengthy submissions. Stay conscious of the requirements and scoring criteria are for each B2B award. Speak directly to the requirements and criteria while providing a unique and entertaining storyline that animates the true problem, challenge, solution and outcome for each entry.
Be mindful of word limits! Most B2B, technology and partner awards demand a maximum word or character count limit. This is something you must plan for from the start. It can be very challenging to cut down on details once you have drafted the complete submission.
4. Prove It
Evidence is everything when it comes to technology awards. If you can show measurable results for the work you have done, it will have a significant impact on your submission. Using metrics and testimonials is a powerful way to demonstrate your impact. Customer case studies are a great resource to capture your influence.
5. Add Visuals
Videos, screenshots, photos, and other media help the judges visualize your work. Even if they are not mandatory to the submission, do try and include visuals if possible in every entry package. The judges usually come from all walks of life and some may not be well-versed in your product or service. In such cases, visual representation delivers the most impact in the fewest characters, which we all know are mercilessly counted.
6. Take Your Time
This might not seem like a big deal, but trust us when we say that award entries are time-consuming and you do not want to rush it. Your B2B award submission is not a race, it’s a marathon. Therefore, you must take your time to plan your submission, map out what needs to be done and strategize an approach. This is the real secret, giving your award entry the time and attention it deserves to truly showcase your soon-to-be award-winning work.
7. Reuse and Repurpose
Reduce, reuse and recycle your B2B award entries throughout the year. This simple entry can be a very fruitful content piece for you to repurpose in a blog, in a case study, into another award entry, transformed into a presentation for a virtual event, edited into a guide of best practices, and much more. Don’t let these award-winning works sit stagnant after all the initial effort to get the award entry up to snuff. Reuse this excellence in the many mediums that showcase the outstanding work your business delivers in multiple means through many channels.
Upcoming Technology, Microsoft Partner & B2B Awards
Microsoft Inspire Awards – The largest partner event of the year, Microsoft Inspire awards recognize the outstanding success of Microsoft Partners from over 100 countries. In addition, Microsoft introduced a new category in 2021, the Social Impact Awards, to drive innovation through community response, inclusion, and sustainability. Award entrants must submit by April to be considered.
Microsoft Canada Impact Awards – This is hosted by Microsoft to recognize Partners that create solutions leveraging Microsoft products, services and technology, and drove exceptional customer excellence in Canada.Award entrants must make their submissions by April to be considered.
P.S. We have had the pleasure of taking our clients to the finalist circle last year!
Deloitte Awards – These awards recognize the unique strengths of Canadian innovation. Some noteworthy categories are: Technology Fast50 & North American Technology Fast500. Award entrants have deadlines ranging from April through summer.
Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards – Honors people and companies solving problems of today and tomorrow through innovation. Award entrants must submit by April to be considered.
SaaS Awards – The Software-as-a-Service awards celebrate software solutions that solve business challenges. Award entrants must submit by May to be considered.
Stevie Awards – Acknowledge the positive contributions of organizations worldwide, Here are some awards hosted by them, relevant to our North American audience: International Business Awards & American Business Awards. Award entrants must submit by February to be considered.
P.S. We have had the pleasure of taking this award in years past!
The CANIE Awards – The Candian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards promote and encourage innovators and entrepreneurs in Canada to create unique solutions year after year. Award entrants must submit by April to be considered.
IT World Awards – Honoring achievements in every field of information technology, IT World awards provide industry-wide recognition. Regular deadlines are in January, but you have the option to submit late entries until April.
Future of Tech Awards – Celebrating the leading product and innovation in the US technology sector. Award entrants must submit by November to be considered.
That’s not all, there are several regional and global awards that take place throughout the year. Put your best foot forward as you step into 2022 by celebrating your hard work.
