Participation of the company in contests, awards and ratings: is it worth considering?

When the market is overloaded with advertising and marketing promises, it becomes even more difficult to gain the trust of customers and partners. Therefore, more and more companies are paying attention to participation in professional competitions, industry awards and ratings. This is often perceived as a nice bonus or PR move. Is this so – or is it a full-fledged strategic tool that can bring real benefits?

Not just a trophy, but a working tool

First of all, it is important to understand: participation in awards, contests and ratings (ACR) is not about self-admiration. This is an investment in recognition, reputation and business growth with quite measurable results:

Increasing confidence. A high place in the ranking or winning the competition is an external confirmation of the examination. This is a signal to the market: “Leaders are working here.”
Visibility in a professional environment. Competitive platforms provide access to the target audience: clients, partners, industry flagships of the business. It’s an opportunity to make a statement in the right context and be seen.
Team motivation. Public recognition is a powerful internal driver for the team. Employees feel pride, involvement, confidence in the significance of their work. This is especially important in the face of high competition for talent.
Ready-made marketing and reputation resource. The statuses of finalists and winners are not in order to “gather dust on the shelf,” this is material for PR campaigns, social networks, site, and presentations. These are news feeds, confirmed not by your words, but by the decision of a professional jury.

How to choose a premium: strategy instead of excitement

Rushing to participate in all events in a row is the path to disappointment. The choice must be conscious and strategic. It is worth considering the following points:

Industry relevance. For example, the participation of an IT company in the Runet Rating is appropriate, authoritative and effective. It is important to understand: winning a random or irrelevant nomination will not benefit, and sometimes it can harm.
Authority of the organizer and the jury. Clear evaluation criteria, a transparent process, well-known experts – all this creates the value of victory. Also, on the contrary, participation in “contractual” competitions can damage reputation.
Media reach and impact. Which media outlets publish results? Who are the partners of the award? What are the views and citations? A good premium is always accompanied by an information feed, which gives powerful coverage.
Compatibility with your strategy. If you work for recognition and positioning, choose awards where the effect will be cumulative. If you are aiming for sales here and now – look at premiums that give instant traffic and interest.

Participation price: not just organizational contributions

Participation is an investment that requires resources. Costs can be conditionally divided into two categories:

Direct costs: registration fees, creation of presentation materials, possibly using the services of external specialists.
Indirect costs: preparing cases, filing applications, collecting data, participating in face-to-face events – all this requires concentration and attention. The main labor costs here are team time.

Important: the more carefully you prepare, the higher the chances of success. The “hack” application can not only reduce the chances of winning, but, again, damage the reputation.

What you can get: diverse benefits

If the choice is made correctly, participation can bring both direct and indirect dividends:

Brand and trust.
A company that regularly participates and wins is beginning to be perceived as a serious player in its industry. This strengthens not only the client, but also the HR brand: applicants are more likely to respond; employees are more loyal, feel engaged and stable.

Flow of applications and leads.
In our experience, participation in Tagline Awards and other ratings directly affects the incoming flow. People are looking for companies that can be trusted, while awards and contests work as trust markers – and these are the companies customers go to.

Competitive advantage.
The status of the winner can be a decisive argument in the tender or negotiations. This is an additional weight in the eyes of the client and partner.

Expanding business ties.
Final events, award ceremonies are informal, but valuable points of entry for new partners, suppliers and investors.

How to measure effectiveness

Many people doubt: is it possible to “feel” the result? Yes – if you initially build a tracking system according to the following parameters:

Media activity: look at the number and coverage of publications, the growth of traffic, especially branded traffic.
Conversions and applications: use UTM tags, ask new customers how they knew about you. Record the growth of requests after participation.
Internal metrics: increasing team engagement, increasing the number of quality responses to vacancies.
ROMI (return on investment in marketing): compare costs with the results obtained: number of leads, sales, media availability of mentions, growth in recognition. Consider not only the instant effect, but also the cumulative one.

Pitfalls: what to look out for

Participation does not always bring only advantages – it is important to take into account the possible risks.

1. Demotivation of the team.
Losing can be frustrating. To avoid this – initially formulate participation as a process, as part of strategic work on the brand, and not a bet to win at any cost.

2. Reputational risks.
Non-participation is better than participation in a dubious award. Check the organizers, read the reviews, evaluate the composition of the jury and participants.

3. No result.
If the award is not relevant, the preparation is formal, and the participation is one-time – the effect will be close to zero. It is important to understand that by participating in an award or competition, you are playing long.

Awards and ratings: two wings of the same strategy

Although ratings and awards differ in mechanics, in practice they complement each other perfectly. Ratings give quantitative benchmarks: positions in the tops, objective metrics, comparison in scale. A high position in the ranking will be strong “social evidence” for customers who value facts and figures.

The awards emphasize the quality, creativity, uniqueness of projects (“Best Case,” “Product of the Year”). They are about depth. Together they form a voluminous image of a leading company: with strong results and interesting cases.

Tip: Combine participation! Presence in authoritative ratings and victories in prestigious awards create the most complete and convincing image of the leader – both in scale and quality.

At the beginning of the article, we asked the question: is it worth considering? Definitely yes. Only if several conditions are met:

Participate consciously, only in relevant and authoritative awards and ratings.
Prepare thoroughly – don’t skimp on serving.
Measure the result – set up analytics and ROMI.
Play long – the effect intensifies with regularity.
Combine approaches – use both ratings and awards to build a voluminous reputation.

Participation in ACR is activity not “just for show,” but a working tool of marketing, PR and HR, which can give not just recognition, but also a stable flow of interested clients. The main thing is to work systematically. Start with one or two of the most reputable venues for your industry, take the process seriously – and you’ll see how the rewards start to work for your business.