Another week goes by and we've just won another award... Yayyyy!
It was announced yesterday that my agency has won the DADI award for our work on the "This Girl Can" campaign with Sport England in the travel and sports category. Over the years, we've received over 150 nominations and over 50 wins from industry-leading awards, like BIMA, Digital Impact award, UKUX - and many others - for the various digital solutions and campaigns that we've delivered to clients.
We all know that digital is a very competitive market so it must prove that we're doing something right, and our clients get amazing results if we win all those awards. Such recognition leads to some great PR and contributes to SEO results... so it's really worth investing in this award strategy if you're in that space.
In this episode, I will share with you some of our secrets so you can also turn your next digital project into an award-winning solution. Let's get to it.
Those awards ceremonies in the digital industry are quite frequent. There's more and more every year from various industry bodies, similar to the music or movie industries. And yes, one could say that the criteria for judging are not always very transparent.
Additionally, the design - like art - is very subjective... it depends on how you like a website, the way it looks. However, the most famous awards, the most recognised ones, are judged by industry peers, by other experts who work in the digital space. They know what it takes, and they can objectively judge what makes a good website, a good digital platform or a marketing campaign.
Let's explore the four elements that make our work award-winning.
1. Design the User Experience
The first point is that you need to have a great user experience. It's starting with the navigation, the layout of the page, you have to design the new website with the target audience in mind. It's important to think about who needs to connect with your digital interface when you pick colours, fonts, how you name the pages and all of that.
2. Provide engaging content
It's also closely connected with the second point, which is about having engaging content. You really need to clearly communicate what the site or what the campaign is about. It's simple copy in the header and a big bold message. You need clear call-to-actions on what do users should do next. This is where you can play with the tone of voice to provide insightful content that the user will remember. It's all about providing a good digital experience.
3. Deliver fast performance
The third element is fast performance. The loading time is still very important. We're all expecting very quick and fast loading times. I will notice when something is super quick and it blinks in an instant... but I will notice even more when it takes too long, it just brings quite a negative first impression, don't you think? At the end of the day, the end-users, your visitors, don't really care how the technology works behind the scenes. It just needs to work well, on all devices and platforms. This is where you need to make sure that you have a robust quality assurance process and that the platform is secure with their data, for example.
4. Don't forget to innovate
Lastly, the fourth point is that you should try to innovate. You should try to do something a bit unique, whether it's a special technical animation or interactive elements. Try to use new technologies, or new browser features to introduce some special animation, a transition, interactive effects on some of the elements... You don't want to overwhelm the users, but add a little bit of magic that makes the visitor go "wow, how did they do that?"
So all in all, I think that the main driver that has made my team successful is the will to go the extra mile. We have to do what's best for the end-users.
Obviously, you need to find a balance between the budget and the time available and what can be delivered in that time. However, if you focus your efforts on those little details, it will have a lasting impact and enhance the end product.
If you follow all of this, you'll get much closer to winning an award for your work.
That's it for today. If you'd like me to review your current website or digital platform, and give you some advice on how you can make it more "award-winning", just get in touch. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter to keep learning with me and grow your career in digital.
Until next time, stay safe and see you soon.
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