Agencies that work with clients should give themselves plenty of lead time to put together an outstanding award application. Rushing through entries at the last minute often results in critical information being overlooked or poorly presented, greatly reducing the chances of success. These agencies should identify submission deadlines months in advance and create a project plan for drafting content, gathering supporting materials, getting stakeholder reviews, and finalizing the polished entry well in advance.

Carefully Review Category Questions and Criteria

It's crucial for agencies to closely examine category descriptions, questions, and judging criteria to understand exactly what information needs to be provided in the responses to directly address what award judges will analyze. Agencies must ensure they have fully showcased their client's achievements and outcomes tied to each scoring criteria area. Referencing the criteria throughout the responses is essential.

Follow all Formatting Specifications Provided in the Entry Form

Agencies must also carefully adhere to all formatting requirements provided for items like word counts, attachments and multimedia limitations. Many applications specify precise word or character limits for each written response; agencies need to pay close attention to these restrictions and edit responses to align.

Judges often need to evaluate many entries in a short time, so conforming to specified response lengths signals discipline, allows for faster scoring, and prevents important information from getting lost in overly long submissions. Following all directions shows discipline while verifying entries meet the standard format makes the judges job easier.

Agencies should submit neatly formatted, legible content without spelling and grammar mistakes. Always proofreading the entry before hitting the submit button is crucial.