Every construction & property company should enter awards

PR & Media

“Let’s enter loads of awards this year”! As a construction marketing manager who was worked both client and agency side, this is something I often hear and that often elicits two immediate reactions in me – “this will be great for the business” and “here comes the stress!”

Having personally written many award entries, I can tell you now they are very involved and require a lot of time and commitment, but if done correctly they can work wonders for your construction and property business.

Which construction awards are there?

Take the Construction Marketing Awards for example. As a specialist marketing agency for the built environment, it’s vital we continue to raise awareness of Fabrick within our niche market to ensure a steady stream of new business enquiries. The Construction Marketing Awards opens up many opportunities for us as potential clients look at the winners and finalists to see who the industry view as good and worthy of their business.

It’s a little like looking for a restaurant when you and your family visit a new town. If two neighbouring restaurants have caught your eye but one says its award-winning, there’s a good chance you’d choose this restaurant as you’d be thinking ‘well they must be good if they’ve won awards’. The same can be said for construction and property businesses.

What are the benefits of entering industry awards?

Awards allow your construction company or propety business to set itself apart from others. They tell your industry and potential customers that you’re one of, if not, the best and they can put your business firmly on the map. For example, if you’re a new construction technology provider, you will want to increase your brand awareness - awards can help fast-track your marketing efforts.

Awards will generate large volumes of traffic to your website and social channels – people will be keen to check out the finalist or award winner they’ve not heard of. If you’re a housing developer, awards can help potential target buyers make that final decision; for small architect practices, industry awards could help your business move to the next level as your brand name has suddenly now got the attention of a potential client that could make all the difference to your growth and expansion plans.

Awards can also have a positive impact internally too – it doesn’t always have to be about external benefits. When writing about your achievements, it can make you realise just what a great job your team has done.

Awards give you a great sense of pride and accomplishment and make you stop and look – if you work in a fast-paced environment like I do it can prove difficult to take the time to stop and reflect on what you’ve done. They can allow individual efforts to shine through and give staff morale a much often needed boost.

How many construction or property awards should my company enter?

So, if awards can help increase brand awareness, influence buyers decisions, fast-track marketing efforts and generate new business opportunities, should construction and property businesses enter every award they can find or be selective? My advice is to be selective.

Putting to one side for the moment the time and cost investment needed to enter an industry award, you need to give serious consideration to the benefits and credibility of each award you enter. Have you and your peers heard of the particular award? Does the award have a good reputation? Are the awards sponsored by industry leaders? Look at the judging process; are the judges credible and influential leaders in your market/industry? Are you looking for regional, national awareness (or both)? Is your business specialist or generalist? If you were to be short-listed, or win, what doors do you feel that particular award could open for your business? Is the award aligned with your businesses culture? What do you want your business to be associated with? These are all important questions you need to ask before deciding whether to enter an award.

A final note

So, in summary then, as an experienced construction marketer, I highly recommend businesses enter awards. They allow you to shine a spotlight on your brand and can work wonders for your marketing. They give staff a morale boost and sense of pride and can align your business with industry leaders - just remember they’re not a five-minute task so decide which awards are best for your construction and property business and go for it!

If you'd like some advice on which awards your construction business or property company should enter, or you would like Fabrick to help secure a win by writing your award entries, please do get in touch by using the contact button below. Our team is very experienced and we've achieved some great results for clients. Click here for an example.