FAQ: Why is there an entry fee?
PRICE FREEZE: The entry fee is the same this year as it was last year.
WHY IS THERE AN ENTRY FEE?
The entry fee of £108 (£90 + vat) is a low barrier to entry and represents excellent value for money. When TWIA entered an awards a few years ago we had to pay £275 + vat per entry and then £300 + vat per ticket to the awards event! Our entry fee (and event ticket price) is much more accessible.
We charge an entry fee because:
- TWIA is a business with associated costs, just like your business. From the web site and marketing costs to managing the 100+ judging panel, the 1000+ entrants and the 25,000+ voters, running TWIA takes a lot of time and effort. You can’t do what you do for free and neither can we.
- TWIA gives you so much more in return for your entry fee than any other awards:
- Access to TWIA branding for use on Social Media etc.
- Free listing on the exclusive TWIA-only TWIA Directory.
- Full Voter Feedback provided – vital customer feedback on your business.
- Raised industry profile for your business.
- Regional and National Awards – greater chance of being a finalist or winning.
- Great marketing potential – vital differentiation to help you stand out in a competitive market.
The entry fee enables TWIA to…
- Recognise and reward excellent wedding suppliers all over the country, thus helping them generate more business.
- To help engaged couples find tried and tested wedding suppliers for their weddings.
- Ensure that the high standards it recognises become the industry standard to which we all aspire.
- Be rigorous, fair and open to all wedding suppliers in the UK.
Integrity, credibility and reliability lie at the very heart of everything we do. We think that’s worth £108 and we hope to involve as many people as possible in the Awards.
“PEOPLE SHOULDN’T PAY TO ENTER THE AWARDS; AWARDS SHOULD BE WON ON MERIT.”
Payment of the entry fee in no way affects the ability of any supplier to win an Award on merit. In fact, TWIA is more merit-based than any other wedding awards. This is due to our rigorous process, our unique client voting system and our large, broad, diverse and expert judging panel. Furthermore, in other industries, it is standard protocol to charge an entry fee for awards programmes.
We have worked hard to ensure that suppliers of all shapes and sizes can compete on a level playing field as it is not all about the total number of votes received. More details on this can be seen here.
We regret that there may be some wedding suppliers who will not be able to afford the £108 entry fee but we believe that these are in the very small minority. We feel that £108 is a small business investment to make in light of the considerable benefits of entering TWIA. It’s all about value rather than cost.
“THE ENTRY FEE AFFECTS THE FAIRNESS OF THE AWARDS.”
One of the main criticisms of the entry fee is that the Awards can only be fair if every wedding supplier is involved and that an entry fee of £108 is unfair because it stops some wedding suppliers being involved.
If TWIA attracts about 1200 entries each year but that doesn’t mean that the TWIA is unfair. With or without an entry fee, there will always be many suppliers who choose not to enter TWIA for a variety of reasons. Many suppliers, for whatever reason, choose not to enter TWIA (or don’t even know about it!) and the presence of an entry fee does not alter the situation.
The keys to fairness are the voting system and judging processes. The TWIA voting and judging processes are rigorous and fair to all involved and sit at the very heart of everything we do.
THE ENTRY FEE IS TOO MUCH
It is important to see the value in the entry fee, not just the cost. We think that £108 is really good value for all the things we offer including:
- A fully editable profile on the TWIA Directory. The TWIA site attracts over 10,000 supplier searches a month and is a valuable resource for anyone organising a wedding.
- Use of appropriate Awards branding for use in your own marketing. Just by entering, suppliers are able to download a variety of TWIA logos for use on their web sites and social media. TWIA has an unrivaled reputation in the wedding industry and the TWIA logo has become a recognised kite mark indicating the very highest standards. Entering TWIA shows clients (past, present and future) that business owners are confident in their products and services, that they are proud of what they do and are backing themselves in a fair and rigorous competition based on client’s votes and a judging process that is second to none. This is a powerful message in a highly competitive market place.
- The chance to be shortlisted for and win a regional and national award voted for by their clients and judged by our expert panel. The marketing potential associated with this is huge not to mention the satisfaction of being voted for by your clients and officially recognised for what you do.
- Full voter feedback (including average scores). This has proved incredibly popular with TWIA entrants year on year.
- We have had a huge amount of feedback from past entrants saying how TWIA has helped not only their businesses to grow and develop but also helped them personally through increased self-confidence and interacting with other wedding suppliers at our regional awards events etc.
TWIA provides entrants with two main services. Firstly, an arena where anyone organising a wedding can find great wedding suppliers from all over the country who are actively endorsed by their clients and by our panel of industry experts. Secondly, appropriate branding and brand association enabling individual suppliers to use their entry, shortlisting or win in the Awards to their advantage in their own marketing and advertising as so many of last year’s entrants have done and continue to do.
If used effectively, being associated with TWIA is good for a supplier’s business and we hope that the £108 entry fee will become part of people’s annual advertising and marketing budget due to the benefits and services that TWIA offers.
SPONSORS/SPONSORSHIP
We have worked closely with several excellent sponsors and extending this sponsorship is something we continue to investigate thoroughly, but without the backing of the wedding suppliers themselves through entering the Awards, appropriate sponsorship is unachievable. This is a virtuous circle; the more entrants and web users TWIA has, the more chance we have of getting sponsors. The more appropriate sponsorship we can generate the more people will enter. TWIA provides a service to wedding suppliers so that TWIA may provide a service to potential sponsors.
If you look at many other events and competitions, entry fees are charged even with extensive sponsorship. To take The Windsor Triathlon as an example, (at the time of writing) the competition has been sponsored by Toshiba, Speedo and Timex, amongst others, yet all competitors have to pay a race entry fee of about £100. Entrants win on merit regardless of the entry fee and no one would expect it to be free.
We understand that the entry fee might well be a sticking point for some wedding business owners, but yoiu coiuldn’t do what you do for free and neither could we.
For more information on how TWIA works and to enter CLICK HERE.
