So, your company or business has won a major industry award—what a reason to celebrate. However, it’s also an opportunity to share that good news with investors and clients to rally more excitement and interest. The best way to do this is by issuing a press release.
When your organization, or individuals within it, have won a relevant award, issuing a well-crafted and well-timed press release can generate media coverage of such recent achievements.
In this guide, we’ll show award-winning companies like yours how to draft and distribute an award press release. Here’s what we’ll cover.
Don’t worry! Book a free consultation with a PR expert today. We can review what you have or give you best practice advice on how to write a great award press release for your business.
Simply put, a press release is a direct and effective way to communicate business news to journalists and publications. Generally, the aim of any press release is to garner some media coverage, but it can also help boost brand awareness and attract new clients.
In the event that your company wins an award, that accolade is a signal to market reporters that your company is one to watch. Combined with a perfect award press release, such an achievement can supercharge sales, drive visitors to the website, and enhance your company’s reputation.
Likewise, businesses might also consider issuing a press release if they are holding an awards ceremony. For example, when honoring important figures within the industry, a company would probably want to raise awareness for the ceremony itself.
So, where do you start when it comes to writing the press release for your company awards?
Though it might feel daunting to understand where to even begin with a press release, generally all press releases follow a straightforward layout. By learning and following this simple framework, you can easily master the composition of any press release.
As well as abiding by this format, companies might also include visuals, such as photos or videos, to make a press release even more engaging. If your company recently won an award, you might include a picture of the leadership team celebrating the win.
An award press release should highlight the most important information at the beginning, and additional information should appear in subsequent paragraphs according to relevance.
To ensure you’ve structured your press release correctly, use your very first paragraph to answer the “5 W’s” pertaining to the award and its recipient: who, what, when, where, and why. Every paragraph after should include supplemental, but still interesting details.
Want a general guide on how to write a press release? Our full, ultimate guide goes into more detail. Check it out here: How to Write the Perfect Press Release
There are many award ceremonies for businesses that take place around the world every year, so we’ve assembled a few examples of press releases for award-winning companies that stand out from the rest, and will hopefully inspire your own press release.
The opening of the example award press release instantly tells the reader the focus. RaySecur has won a prestigious industry award for its product. What’s more, the 5 W’s are clearly addressed within the opening paragraph.
Here’s an example of an award press release focusing on a CEO’s award, rather than one received by the company. Although it pinpoints a single figure, it’s another handy way to raise awareness for the company in general.
A company holding its own awards ceremony can also make use of the benefits of a press release. In this case, the ceremony is to honor important contributors to the organization’s cause. This award press release is a great way for the DBSA to garner coverage as a whole.
To help make the process as easy as possible, we’ve created a company award press release template below, which you can copy and adapt to your needs:
[Company Name] Named Winner of [Award Name & Year]
The award is in recognition of… [provide short description]
[City, country – Date] – [company name] today announces it has won the [award name & year]. [Finish this paragraph with other high-level information regarding who, what, when, where, and why].
[award name] was created in [inaugural year] to honor and recognize companies for outstanding achievements in [field]. [Provide more information about the award itself here].
[award organization name] has recognized [company name] for its outstanding achievements in [field]. [Provide more information about the company’s success and why it was chosen].
“We chose to honor [company name] with the [award name] in recognition of their tireless efforts in [field],” said [award presenter].
[company name] is the [numbered] recipient of this award, joining previous winners like [past recipient] and [past recipient].
About [company name]
[Provide the company’s boilerplate here].
About [award organization name]
[Provide the organization’s boilerplate here].
Not sure how to write a boilerplate for a press release? We’ve got a guide for that! Check it out: Step-by-step Guide to the Press Release Boilerplate
Once you’ve finished your press release, and double-checked to make sure you’ve included all the necessary info, it’s time to submit your press release to journalists and media outlets.
There are two main ways to do this:
Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of these two options.
When it comes to which option is best for an award press release, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, if you pitch it manually to journalists, the only media outlets that are likely to publish this are those that report on your industry.
Conversely, syndication services may guarantee lots of coverage, but you need to consider if your target audience is going to be reading any of these outlets.
Want a full guide on press release submission? Check out our dedicated article: The Ultimate Press Release Submission Guide
So, we’ve covered everything you need to know to draft and distribute your company award press release. Now you’re ready to get started on your own.
Still not sure how to write an award press release? Let us help! Simply book a free consultation with us to get expert insight into how to start or improve your press release.
