Why should you enter a recruitment award?

• To blow some cash
• To give you a reason to lose weight and get into that little black dress
• To waste some time
• To increase your already busy workload
• To create stress for yourself
• To demoralise your team

Or, perhaps some hard figures as to why you should enter a recruitment award?

• To increase sales (37%-77%)
• To improve your stock price (44%)
• To influence your buyers (80%)
• To improve confidence in your supplier status (49%)
• To outperform award “losers” (17% for sales and 36% for share value)

Things to do before entering a recruitment award

1. Agree the goal of winning
2. Ask the awarding body what their marketing process is
3. Speak to previous entrants
4. Have a battle plan (and a resource)
5. Agree your ROI model – what are you measuring?

10 things to do as a finalist, before the “big night”

1. Tell your company
2. Tell your clients
3. Tell your competitors (ideal recruits?)
4. Adjust email signatures
5. Adjust mailers / eshots
6. Adjust social media banners
7. Get a quote from your leader
8. Create content (blog / images / video)
9. Have a marketing plan for the night of event
10. Assume a hangover and get everything ready for the day after

Things to do during the awards

1. Try and stay (relatively) sober
2. Live post on socials – use the hashtag
3. Lots of pictures (that look good without beer goggles)
4. Video of winning the award
5. Video quote from the organiser of the award
6. Get a “feelings” list from the team
7. Engage with the organisers online

Things to do after the awards

1. Measure the ROI
2. Survey your staff, clients, and candidates (to market your win)
3. Create content
4. Adjust all online channel branding
5. Email signatures
6. Video quote from your leader/winner
7. Adjust job adverts
8. Create a podcast
9. Capitalise on your win

Measuring and communicating the ROI

What should you measure?

1. Clicks
   • Meet the team pages
   • Awards page / blog
   • Other content you create to market your win
2. Happiness – ask people how they feel
   • Clients
   • Candidates
   • Staff
3. Leads / cash – are you generating more as a result of being an award winner / finalist?

Need help writing your award entry?  That’s what we’re here for.

The above advice formed part of our PR and content workshop held in conjunction with Barclay Jones.  For more words of wisdom from the day, check out our blog post on 26 recruitment marketing tips, quips and queries.

Originally published November 2016, updated September 2024