The OpenWater Blog

Key Metrics You Need to Report on the Success of Your Awards

Analyzing your program after it ends is one of the most important parts of the awards cycle. By raising important questions it helps determine how things went. Was the execution of the program good, bad, or somewhere in the middle? What was the cause of these results and how can they be improved?

It also helps you determine the success of your program in relation to your industry. After all, your awards program doesn’t operate within a vacuum. The context in which your awards program operates is always evolving. For example, the rise of social media has had a huge impact on marketing and advertising. As a result, advertising and marketing awards have evolved to include categories about social media.

So, while analyzing the data is clearly important, sifting through and making sense of it takes time. While it can seem like a daunting task, the time and manpower spent is definitely worth it. Taking the time to review your awards program’s data and devising strategies based on your analysis, is one of the best ways to improve your program.

What do you look for?

When it comes time to analyze and report on your program, be sure to get the data on the following metrics:

• Total number of entries and entrants

Has the total number of entrants increased or decreased from last year? What could be the cause behind the numbers? What can you do next year to attract new entrants?

• Total revenue

Did your revenue from the most recent cycle meet your goal? Where is the revenue coming from? What other revenue generation options are there?

• Most and least popular categories

Are the categories broken down properly? Should they be reworked? How do you increase the appeal of your least popular categories?

• Judging

How was judging performance and how did it align with expectations? Did the judges have sufficient training to fulfill their tasks?

• Fees 

Were the cost of fees reasonable? Did more members or non-members apply? How can you attract more members? 

As an awards manager, you should always look for and analyze data to learn more about your program. Data is a powerful tool that enables you and the rest of your team to make informed decisions that will elevate your awards program each year.

What does a stellar awards program analysis look like? Don’t have the time to work through the nitty gritty details? Learn more about the OpenWater Executive Report!

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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.

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