There are so many different award options out there, especially for tech startups, and it’s tempting to write a generic award entry and mass-send. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as each event has its own quirks. You might get shortlisted, but to win, the award entry needs to be written in a way that is memorable and that requires a combination of persuasive and creative writing.
Writing about ourselves in a persuasive and creative way, however, isn’t easy. It’s very similar to website copywriting. Taking the words out of your head and piecing them together in a coherent and engaging manner is difficult, so here’s what we suggest:
Since the beginning of time, stories sell, and an award entry is no different. Our content writers will find a way to set the scene before jumping into results. Figuratively, judges want to see a villain of some kind getting in the way and how your company/product as the hero in the story overcame that. Remember, the judge sometimes has to read 100’s of applications so a narrative makes your application easier to read.
Every good story, however, needs to have noticeable and undeniable results in order for it to become a winning entry. Naturally, the more numbers we can use throughout the better. We need evidence to back up every claim, and quantitative metrics do that best.
In the absence of numbers though, superlatives can also help. Our tech content writers are up-to-date with the tech industry in Southeast Asia, and we know you’re not just a tech company doing X, you’re the first, or the only tech company doing X. This might look like a small change, but it makes a notable difference when applying for awards.
Other ways our tech writers can help to show results (which can particularly help in a tie-breaker situation) is by including the times where your company has gone the extra mile to do things that benefit the broader community, or your internal teams.
Our tech content writers will ask questions to find out what makes your company different and will make this crystal clear in your award submission. This is what helps your award entry stand out from your competition.
When judges are looking through applications for days on end, your spelling, punctuation and grammar can make all the difference. It needs to flow naturally to the reader, and that means seemingly small mistakes can make your application hard to read. The worst situation is to have a winning application end up in the ‘too-hard-to-read-basket’. When you engage Etymon your appointed content writer will hand over your award submission entry to one of the other tech content writers to play the role of an editor before submitting you the final version.
After you get the good news, hire us to write your press release.
It very much depends on the type of award you are applying for and the entry requirements. For straight-forward award entries, it usually takes 5-7 working days, subject to our availability. Our B2B writers will spend 1 day doing our own research on the award, your company, and the likely competitors as well as past winning results.
Thereafter our writing team will arrange a meeting or call with you to ask some questions and find out more about your campaigns. Then the team begins brainstorming. We require up to 2 days for writing and 1 day for editing before presenting it to you. The first draft is usually a work-in-process as our writers will need to ask more questions and validate the information and this may require another round of questions.
Our content writers will research your company, the award you are applying for, past winners, and your likely competitors to come up with some interview questions which we’ll send you ahead of time. To fill in the gaps, we usually require more information on your project/campaign/business objectives and most importantly, your results.
When entering business awards, they usually allow you to highlight sections in your submission that you wish to keep confidential and their judging panel has signed an NDA not to disclose this information. Likewise, Etymon will enter a non-disclosure agreement with you to keep your information private.
We always include up to 3 revisions for any form of content we write with additional revisions for agencies.
