What makes a 'winning' SMA entry?

With less than three weeks to go until the SMA entry deadline, how can you ensure your entry will make the shortlist and go on to be a potential winner?

Submitting an entry to any awards is often seen as a time-consuming and thankless task, but if the entry actually scoops an award the hard work will all be worth it.

Many companies ask what extra they can do to make sure their entry is noticed by the judges, but the SMAs really don't need a huge amount of extra effort.

The key is to have a smarter approach to putting an entry together.

It is amazing just how many people don't actually read the criteria for each category thoroughly before even starting an entry. The criteria really do give the perfect guide to what to include in each entry.

It is also important to ask yourself a few basic questions: Do we really qualify for this category? Why are we actually entering? Do we have sufficient data/ROI stats to really hammer our achievements home? Have we really achieved that much this year or should we wait another year? Are we really passionate about this category, or is there another one that might be a better fit?

It is so important to make sure your company is truly ready to enter that particular category - it can be better to wait a year to get some real achievements behind you, than to enter when the entry might appear weaker than the competition.

Data is absolutely vital to any entry - if you can't provide hard stats and data to back up your claims, it is difficult for the judges to justify putting that entry through to the shortlist, let alone pick it as a winner.

Another key inclusion is a testimonial or two from customers or partners. Make sure the testimonial comes from a named person/company otherwise an anonymous testimonial can look like it has been made up. The judges will deduct a point for unnamed testimonials.

Above all the key to a successful entry is making it fun and entertaining to read - if you enjoyed compiling it, then the judges will enjoy reading it.

SMA judge Sophy Gray, founder and managing director of The Marketing Bee, agreed.

"One of the most common mistakes people make is making their entries boring. Please make them easy to read, include some pictures and if you can inject some colour, personality and fun, then even better!"

Another common mistake a lot of companies make, particularly vendors, is focussing their entry solely on themselves. Obviously, the judges do need to read about the company that is entering, but a better balance is often needed.

SMA judge Richard Eglon, marketing director at Nebula Global Services, explained: "A common mistake companies often make is incorporating too much about themselves in the submission and not enough about what they've done for their customers or community of partners and team members," he said. "Judges want to see what you have done to the benefit of your customers and partners."

Finally, the saying ‘less is more' really does pay dividends when it comes to entering the SMAs. Be succinct in your entry, don't ramble or use too much corporate speak (particularly cut and pasted from corporate websites), and don't submit exactly the same entry in multiple categories. It is better to have one amazing entry in one category than several mediocre entries in multiple categories. The judges will definitely mark you down.

The deadline for entries is Thursday 28 March. Good luck to everyone submitting an entry and we look forward to reading them!

Click here to get started on your entry and read the criteria.