After years in the business, you've figured out the keys to winning over a client and executing a successful public relations campaign. Experience has taught you how to compile
a team of diverse experts who can develop innovative plans and achieve your client's desired business results. In an ideal world, the praise would automatically roll in.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. In order to be recognized at industry awards ceremonies, you have to sell your ideas once again.
Writing an effective entry is all that stands between you and the elusive award you seek. Receiving recognition requires you to differentiate your work from thousands of other
deserving campaigns in the eyes of the judges. What you choose to include in this entry is all that they know about your campaign. While each awards committee has its own nuances
and entrant requirements, these five pointers will help propel your entry to the top of the heap, no matter what award you're trying to win.
Tell a compelling story...and tell it clearly.
Winning entries tell a story about how public relations solved a business challenge. A successful campaign does not operate in a vacuum; it requires careful planning and
creative execution of public relations techniques. If you can convey a gripping narrative that illustrates how your campaign made your client look like a hero, while at the same
time demonstrating the value of public relations, then you will stand out from the crowd. Keep in mind that these awards are judged by industry insiders, so one of their goals is
to recognize innovative uses of public relations techniques.
While it may seem obvious, it will not matter how interesting your story is if it is not clear and concise. Good writing often separates the average entries from the award
winners. Using crisp and interesting language keeps judges reading. Try to stick to short, pithy sentences and always proofread for grammatical mistakes.
Once you have the writing style down, take a look at your page. One surefire way to bore the judges is an entry with no white space. Avoid long-form prose by using bullet
points when applicable. Bullets are especially helpful when presenting your campaign execution and summarizing the tactics used by your team.
Create an attention-grabbing title and introduction.
The title is just as important as the content of the entry. Think of your title in the same way you would think of a headline for a news article; it likely forms the judge's
first impression of the entire campaign. Make sure to include a subject and a verb, and do so in a way that captivates the reader.
Judges are inundated with entries, so your first few lines have got to catch their attention immediately. The judges will never read your compelling story if they lose interest
in the first paragraph. Right off the bat, a high-quality entry will set up the client's problem and illustrate why your team's campaign was the right solution. Convince the
judges that your work had a real impact and make that point early on.
Demonstrate a link between your initial research and ultimate results.
A successful entry will go beyond citing what research was conducted. It's not enough to state that you did research; stand out from the crowd by providing the implications of
your findings. You can add greater credibility to your entry by clearly showing how your research influenced the campaign's planning and ultimate execution.
Prove that the campaign was a success in the eyes of your client.
Press coverage and media impressions simply aren't enough to deem a campaign a success. You can assume that every single entry will provide a summary of media results and will
try to wow the judges through the mere number of impressions. Show that you accomplished the client's business goals in a thorough manner by pairing each result with a
corresponding objective. While it may feel like you're writing in a backwards manner, this technique is the clearest way to show that you improved the client's bottom line through
measurable results.
Distance yourself from the entry by getting a fresh set of eyes.
After investing yourself in a campaign and being involved every step of the way, it's often difficult to objectively evaluate your entry. While you may think that the judges
need to know about all of your hard work and every single detail, you must be able to pinpoint what's truly the most important and salient. Once you've finished the write-up,
distance yourself. Give the summary to a colleague who was not on the account team and have them look at it critically, as if they were a judge. You may find that the things you
find most interesting are not the same as those that would impress an outsider.
CONTACT:
This article was written by Barri Rafferty, a partner and director of Ketchum's New York office. She can be reached at [email protected].