Here’s your chance to join Oracle’s CX Hall of Fame by winning a 2021 Markie Award. If you’ve won before, don’t miss out on the opportunity to earn another prize.

It’s easy to enter, and there’s no charge to do so. Nominate your team members or the agencies who have helped you throughout the past year. And there’s still time!

We’ve extended the call for nominations to Friday, April 16.

How can you put together the most compelling version of your story? After all, Oracle receives hundreds of submissions each year, and you want yours to stand out. Here are some tips to improve your chance of winning.

1. The earlier you start your Markie Award submission, the better

Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your application. You might find you need more time to collect all the necessary data. And often, editing is the secret sauce to a compelling story. Incorporate extra time in your timeline to take a second look before submitting your application. In his memoir “On Writing,” Stephen King shared, “For me, the answer has always been two drafts and a polish.”

2. Use a storyteller’s approach

Go beyond listing challenges and achievements. Tell a story that captivates and keeps the judges engaged. Remember, the judges will evaluate your submissions alongside entries from dozens of peers, so make your submission memorable.

3. Put your story in context

Help the judges understand why you should win by giving them access to all the background information beyond your actual process. What was the situation before? What problems were you trying to solve for your organization and customers?

4. Choose the best metrics to support your CX or advertising story

Revenue. Conversion. Growth. Customer Satisfaction. Back up your claims with metrics and hard data. Think numbers, percentages, or dollars. As much as possible, provide convincing before-and-after data. More importantly, focus on those metrics that will best support your entry and align with your chosen category.

5. Use visuals and video to highlight results

The judges get excited about entries that demonstrate robust, measurable results. The strongest contenders often include videos, charts, graphs, and other visuals to illustrate performance. Pictures, screenshots, and videos can grab a judge’s attention and help your story resonate. You don’t have to stick to just answering the questions with sentences—show the judges what you did to succeed.

6. Realize the judges want to hear about your CX and advertising successes

The judges are looking for ways to applaud you, so don’t hold back on sharing your wins! Describe what you and your team accomplished together to help your business and customers. Share your successes in a year when success was often hard to find and challenging to define. You achieved great results despite the times, and the judges want to hear what you did and how you did it.

7. Collaborate on your Markie Award submission

Submitting your entry alone might make things faster, but working as part of a team can give you the boost you need to truly be successful. Be sure your colleagues and leaders are aware of your entry and support it. Maybe they can provide you with access to additional data or feedback to improve your story and help you make your point.

8. Learn from past winners and finalists

Discover what winning entries from previous years look like. Check out videos of last year’s Markie winners, or go back even further and see what set apart the 2019 winners and finalists.

9. Avoid industry or unexplainable jargon

Stay away from unexplained acronyms and jargon. Make your entry clear and easy to understand. The judges are well-versed in customer experience (CX), but as a best practice, avoid using terms that might be confusing.

10. Your budget or the size of your project will not determine your success

You don’t need to be working with a considerable budget to have a winning entry. Oracle applauds the creativity and scrappy mindset used to get great results while working with a smaller budget.

In this spirit, Oracle decided to split the two biggest awards, The Pinnacle Award for Best Overall Customer Experience and The Insight Award for Best Use of Data, into small, midsize, or medium-size business (SMB) and large company/enterprise sub-categories.

Oracle wants to applaud you for finding success in these challenging times. Enter your submission and give the judges a chance to celebrate you and your team.

There’s no cost to enter, so consider submitting in more than one category!

Once the judges learn your story, they’ll look for additional ways to shine the spotlight on you. This submission may be a great first step to growing your professional brand with other CX and advertising leaders.

Good luck!

Versions of this post also appear on the Oracle Advertising blog and SmarterCX.com. 

Whether you're a B2B or B2C marketer, or both, we have more resources for you. 

Download the Personalized Marketing for B2B Marketers ebook here.

Download the Personalized Marketing for B2C Marketers ebook here.

Or, to find out more about the tools needed to succeed as a digital marketer, check out Oracle Marketing. 

Build your free WordPress website with Host2.us free hosting today!