Find The Client's Key Differentiators

Before agencies start drafting award entries for clients, they will want to define the client's key differentiators. What key strengths, innovations, or impacts set their company apart from competitors in their industry? These should align closely with the client's core value proposition. Agencies can measure the differentiation through metrics and KPIs that showcase tangible outcomes aligned to the client's key messages.

For example, if a core differentiation for the client is customer satisfaction, agencies should identify metrics like the client's net promoter score trends over time, customer retention, repeat purchase rates, or customer satisfaction survey results. If thought leadership and innovation is a key message for the client, agencies should measure the business impact of their innovations through metrics like new product sales or customers acquired through those innovations.

Measure Impact with Supporting Metrics

Agencies must align the identified metrics and proof points directly to the award criteria to showcase how the client's strengths stack up to what the award judges analyzed. They should reference major milestones, launches, campaigns, or partnerships and dig deeper into why these mattered. What business or customer needs did they meet? How did they propel the client's brand forward compared to competitors?

Connect the Dots

The most compelling entries effectively connect these dots to reveal the underlying narrative of how the client strategically achieved outcomes that merit industry recognition. Measuring how those outcomes delivered superior value to customers and set the client's brand apart is key. By defining and showcasing the client's unique attributes aligned to award criteria, agencies provide a fact-based, high-impact rationale for why the client's entry deserves to win.

Here is a checklist of potential differentiating attributes agencies can highlight in an awards entry for clients:

• Innovation - Showcase specific products, services, or technologies that were first-to-market or disruptive in the client's industry. Include metrics on sales, adoption rates, and new customers acquired through these innovations.

• Growth - Spotlight multi-year revenue, profit, and market share growth trends for the client. Feature specific divisions, products, or regions driving growth. Show benchmarks versus competitors.

• Impact & Reach - Quantify the client's total customers and share growth over time. Detail expansion into new customer segments or geographic regions. Reference major partnership or integration milestones that expanded reach.

• Customer Love - Show rising NPS scores and customer satisfaction over time for the client. Feature testimonials and case studies from loyal, long-term clients. Reference customer retention and repeat purchase rates.

• Talent Magnet - Showcase workplace and leadership awards won by the client. Feature ratings on employer review sites like Glassdoor. Highlight adoption of progressive policies and benefits that attract talent.

• Strategic Partnerships - Detail major partnerships formed by the client with industry leaders, startups or research institutions. Quantify reach, customers or revenue gained through these collaborative growth catalysts.

• Quality & Performance - Show benchmarks versus competitors on safety, quality, outcomes-based performance, or audits/certifications achieved by the client.

• CSR & Sustainability - Feature the client's ESG goal progress including emissions, waste, water reduction and volunteer hours. Showcase green product or climate innovations.

• R&D Leadership - Demonstrate the client's commitment to innovation through R&D spending benchmarks and new patents secured.

• Thought Leadership - Reference the client's total media impressions and features secured in major publications. Highlight speaking sessions given at top industry conferences.

• ROI Focus - Show initiative cost savings and efficiency gains delivered through process improvements or technology implementations by the client.

• Stock Performance - Feature investor returns over time for the client. Highlight analyst praise and positive market response to strategic moves.

The more agencies can measure results and impact for their clients, the stronger the case for winning an industry award. Identifying the 3-5 most compelling differentiators for the client that align to the award criteria and then weaving them into a compelling, differentiated story that showcases their success is crucial.

For each section of the award entry form, agencies will want to incorporate these key points of differentiation to show why the client deserves the win!