Top tips for a winning Golden Post Awards Entry
Contributed blog by Katie Grant, Awards Committee Co-Chair & Midwest Council Representative
This year’s Golden Post Awards entry period is now open. Are you ready to submit your entry? Participating is an excellent way to showcase your achievements, stand out in the socialgov field and be recognized by your peers. Make sure your entry catches the eyes of judges to secure your spot among the winners.
To gain more valuable insights, make sure to watch the recording of “How to Create Standout Golden Post Awards Entries!” Awards Committee Co-Chairs Katie Grant & Frances LaRue take a look behind the scenes on how to craft excellent entries for the 2024 Golden Post Awards. Learn even more top tips on how to make your agency’s hard work stand apart from all the rest and hear updates to this year’s program. Watch the recording now!
What are the Golden Post Awards?
People who manage social media in government are some of the hardest-working and most creative social media professionals out there. The Golden Post Awards is a free program dedicated to recognizing their hard work, which frequently involves high stakes, high expectations, and limited resources in facilitating open communication with the public.
There is zero cost for government agencies to submit up to three entries. Finalists and winners will be recognized in a special ceremony at GSMCON2024 in Palm Springs, CA on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
Understand the judging criteria
Thoroughly review the criteria laid out for each category and plan your answers for all the questions asked (after you start your entry, you can save at any time). Remember, judges are government communicators just like you – think about what would compel you to raise this entry to the top of your list if you were a judge.
Tell a story
Craft a narrative that tells the story of your agency’s accomplishments this year. Get specific and showcase your unique approach, challenges you overcame and measurable results. A well-structured, specific entry can make yours more memorable and help you stand out in the crowd.
While we’re on the topic, use visuals, testimonials and endorsements to further support your storytelling. Include the creative that propelled a campaign forward, show us the analytics charts and graphs and screenshot that frequent flyer who keeps singing your praises in the comment section.
Quantify your success
Numbers speak louder than words. Don’t just tell of your achievements, show the judges what you accomplished with quantifiable data pulled from the social media platforms directly or your social media management tool. Use this data to demonstrate things like increases in engagement rates, follower growth, impact on your community and more. If you have it, add in an extra layer of anecdotal evidence to further support your analysis of those metrics. Concrete results will add credibility to your submission and emphasize your impact on your community.
Showcase creativity, innovation, adaptability and resilience
We’re all government communicators here – we’ve all done the standard Facebook post. Think outside of the box and highlight those posts, campaigns, and situations where you had to push the envelope, get creative, try something new or overcome a challenge. Illustrate how your approach brought a fresh perspective to your audience, implemented a new strategy, and contributed to elevating the socialgov industry.
Proofread and edit
It may sound silly, but if you’re waiting until the eleventh hour (no shame in the game – most people do!), you may be a bit rushed with your brain getting ahead of your fingers. Take a quick breath, look away for a few minutes, and come back to proof your entry for grammar errors, typos, and inconsistencies before you submit. A polished entry reflects professionalism and attention to detail, which goes a long way.
Bonus: Start planning for next year now
New year, new you, and all that. Don’t wait until next year to prepare your entries. Make it a 2024 resolution to keep a running document of your successes and the things you’re proud of so that when awards season rolls around next year, you’re prepped and ready to go!
Need some inspiration? Check out last year’s finalists and winners to see how they composed a winning entry. Here’s how to get started on your entry today.
Good luck and may the Golden Post odds be ever in your favor. I hope to see you on the stage at the Golden Post Awards in April!
Meet the author
Katie Grant
Awards Committee Co-Chair–GSM Membership Council
Katie Grant is Communications Director at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Katie began working in the DNR’s award-winning Office of Communications in August 2018, and has also served as Digital Communications Section Manager. She got her start in communications through her own business of teaching coaches how to build their social media presence and has worked in various industries including non-profit events, restaurants and grocery stores. She is currently serving as vice president and Midwest representative for Government Social Media Leadership Council and has a Bachelor of Arts from UW-Madison in Spanish Language and Hispanic Studies.
Government Social Media empowers government professionals to achieve mastery in social media through conferences, online training, and professional association membership.
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