This blog is to honour the fantastic businesses that won The Handmade Hamper Awards 2020 in partnership with Handmade Hour. This amazing community is a great support tool for creative small businesses.
It was our pleasure to support this project, and to see the positive reactions of all the nominees and winners in such a negative year. It was a beautiful reminder of how we can support each other, and keep being creative, to bring joy into our lives. I personally got really giddy about the trophy we designed and animated for the awards this year.
But how do you make the most of winning an award? Here is a checklist of steps we recommend you take to ensure you win more customers.
1// EMAILS
Emails are an excellent tool to communicate with your audience; there’s two places you should place artwork mentioning you’re an award winner.
- Marketing emails can be a crucial trust asset, and a great way of sharing news about your business. We advise you to include the award logo somewhere on your email template.
- In your email signature. This is an easy way to spread the news of your award. People you communicate with for both operational and customer service reasons are all potential customers or they could even refer you to someone they know.
2// SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a great place to include any awards you have, as this channel is an important part of the marketing funnel for many audiences. There are three places you should include the award…
- In the bio or description of your page. This is a much more permanent place you can put it. As potential customers will read it as part of their research into your brand.
- Content artwork. Create content that includes the award logo if appropriate.
- #HashtagWewon. Use the award hashtag in the text of the post.
3// PACKAGING
Product packaging is a good way to get this news into your audience’s home which has the potential to be used for referral as well as product shots. If you can’t update the packaging (this could be a costly step) you could just add it to the corner of the product shots as a stamp of approval.
4// WEBSITE
Your website is key in this modern era, as it usually is one of the last ports of call before a potential customer makes the decision to contact or purchase from you.
- Logo. Have the award logo or text in the footer of your site, and on the contact or basket page as this is a common place for your customers to exit.
- Blog. Post a blog on your achievement and what it means to you, this helps to humanise your business, and is a chance to thank people for their support.
5// PRINT ADVERTISING
Print advertising can still be a useful marketing tool especially with online businesses sending out parcels. Team up with a brand that has a similar audience but different product/services, and put a leaflet in with their deliveries is a great way into the homes of potential customers. Make sure you include the award as this can be as useful as review assets from a trust aspect.
In conclusion an award is a tool to instill trust in potential customers as many businesses are different it’s hard to list all the examples. Get in touch and I would be happy to discuss potential places you could include assets such as awards. Email me at danny@emeraldgrove.studio to find out more.
