The OpenWater Blog

Using Awards to Increase Member and Customer Engagement

Membership engagement. It doesn’t sound too difficult, but all organizations struggle and work hard to retain existing members and customers, while simultaneously attracting new ones.

I know what you’re wondering: “Then what can help our organization increase member and customer engagement?” The answer is an awards program! And there are a few key touchpoints that you can focus your attention on to ensure that members don’t slip through the cracks throughout your awards season.

Generating Interest Through Your Website

You’ll hear time and time again that your website is one of the most important aspects of your awards program and when it comes to engagement, this is no different. As a matter of fact, you can do multiple things with your website to create a buzz that’s worthy of your program.

So, what should you be doing? There’s a few different routes you can choose to take, including:

• Showcasing Judges

  Your awards website is a great platform to use when you want to showcase your judges and pump up the buzz already starting around your program. Do they have amazing industry credentials? Perhaps a notorious reputation for being the best of the best? No matter why they’re important, be sure to share it.

• Featuring Submissions

  A public submissions gallery can also create buzz for your program. Consider this: entrants see their posts shared on your program’s website, get excited, and share your program with friends. Or, potential entrants see high-quality submissions, become excited to submit their own and review others, and join your program. See the win-win situation here? We know you do!

• Updating Content

  Informationally-rich, relevant copy can also help pique engagement. As simple as this sounds, your website is the one, authoritative resource that entrants can turn to throughout your entire program. This means that if you’re always refreshing your site with updates, important deadlines, or other key information, your entrants will take notice.

Strategizing With Social Media

Social media is not only a great way to save time with your awards program, but it’s also an excellent way to boost engagement too. This is because social media isn’t just the resource you can turn to when you need to reach all of your followers, but because it’s also your direct connection to all potential entrants.

This means that you can choose one or several tactics to keep members and customers engaged via social media, including:

• Custom Hashtags

  Assigning custom hashtags to your event not only adds to the fun, but it gives your current entrants and potential new entrants something to Tweet about and connect with. Give your call for entry (CFE), awards gala, and other crucial aspects of your program a specific hashtag to keep engagement running high.

• Take Public Votes

  Your followers love voicing their opinions and when it comes to your program, things are no different. Upload submissions and take a public vote to give people something to talk about. The best part? More will likely apply as a result.

• Create Groups, Pages, or Events

  Solidify your program’s following and create specific pages, events, or groups to keep all of your members engaged and in contact with one another.

Whether you choose to turn to your website, social media, or hopefully both to keep your members and customers engaged, one thing remains true: doing so is critical to the success of your program. And, by optimizing each of your platforms to reach their full potential, your membership engagement will fly high as well.

Want to learn more about why awards programs are essential for your organization? Download our guide and get the information you need, and now!

[button id=”” style=”” color=”orange” type=”large” size=”large” href=”http://www.getopenwater.com/subscribe-to-openwater-blog” align=”center” target=”_self”]Like what you’ve read? Click here to subscribe to this blog![/button]

Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

Why Developing an In-House Awards System Will End Up Costing You More

Avoiding Confusion in Your Call for Entry