You win a PR industry award by entering a campaign with measured results in the right category and telling its story in a short, judge-friendly summary. Judges for programs such as PRSA's Silver Anvil score research, planning, execution and evaluation, so the entry must show evidence for all four. A clear narrative, a specific result and a reviewer who never worked on the campaign decide most outcomes.
What do PR award judges actually score?
PR award judges score whether a campaign shows evidence of research, planning, execution and evaluation, not whether the idea was clever. PRSA's Silver Anvil guidelines name those four criteria, and PRSA judges have described the full research, planning, execution and evaluation process, often shortened to RPIE, as the standard every entry is measured against.
| Criterion | What the judge wants to see | What to put in the entry |
|---|---|---|
| Research and analysis | A real insight behind the idea | The data, audience finding or market fact that shaped the plan |
| Planning | Objectives that can be checked | Specific, measurable goals with a deadline and a named audience |
| Execution | The plan carried out as designed | The tactics, timeline and any obstacle you overcame |
| Evaluation | Results tied to the objectives | Numbers compared with the goals you set at the start |
Jennifer Brantley, a partner at MP&F Strategic Communications and a 2018 Best-of Silver Anvil recipient, told PRSA that an entry without solid research and measurable results will not win. Evaluation is where I see strong campaigns lose points, because the team measured coverage but never connected it to the original goal.
How should you structure a PR award entry?
A PR award entry should follow the order judges score: situation and objective, insight, strategy, execution, results and budget, with the largest share of words going to results. The table below shows the allocation I recommend for a 525-word narrative, which is the length cap in a public American Business Awards nomination.
| Entry section | What to write | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Situation and objective | The problem the client faced and the one goal you set, with a number and a date | 75 |
| Insight | The research finding that told you where the opportunity was | 75 |
| Strategy | The idea, stated in two sentences, and why it fit the audience | 100 |
| Execution | What you did, in order, including one problem you solved | 100 |
| Results | Outcomes measured against the objective, with the source of each number | 150 |
| Budget | What the program cost and how it compared with the result | 25 |
The title also counts. Name the campaign by what it achieved rather than by the tactic you used, because the title is the first line a judge reads.
What does a winning entry look like in practice?
A winning entry looks like a short business story with a measured outcome, and the public record of 5W's own nominations shows the pattern. The Stevie Awards site publishes 5W's 2014 American Business Awards nomination for Public Relations Agency of the Year, titled "Re-writing the Rules of PR: 5W Builds an Agency for a New Media Landscape," with a narrative capped at 525 words. The entry opens with a year of results and keeps its claims specific.
The results over time are public as well. AgilityPR reported that 5WPR won a Silver Stevie in the Public Relations Agency of the Year category at the 22nd Annual American Business Awards in April 2024, and it earlier reported a Gold Stevie in the same category at the 18th Annual American Business Awards. 5WPR's awards page keeps the agency's recognition in one place.
I do not treat those wins as proof of any single tactic. They show that entering consistently, with a clear story each year, compounds over time.
What mistakes sink strong PR campaigns?
The mistakes that sink strong campaigns are weak evaluation, a hastily written summary, jargon and an entry nobody outside the team has read. PRSA judges name each of these in their published advice.
- Treating the two-page summary as an afterthought, when a longtime judge calls it the most important part of a Silver Anvil submission.
- Filling the entry with industry jargon, when a PRSA committee chair advises writing for judges who may not work in your sector.
- Skipping a cold read, when Silver Anvil judges recommend having a colleague who never worked on the campaign review the entry before submission.
- Entering work that does not meet the category criteria, which a former Silver Anvil committee chair says is where entries often lose points.
Budget is not on that list. Dawn Doty, a University of Colorado Boulder professor and longtime Silver Anvil judge, advises entering when you achieved something notable with a small budget, because winning work does not require a large one.
How early should you start preparing an award entry?
You should start preparing an award entry before the campaign begins, because the plan and the entry share the same structure. The PR firm Axia Public Relations advises writing the plan with the judging criteria in hand, setting specific, measurable, time-bound objectives, and including the budget, which many teams omit.
The practical step is to read the criteria and evaluation form for the award you want before you set objectives. If the objectives are measurable from day one, the results section writes itself at the end.
Frequently asked questions
How do I win PR industry awards?
Enter a campaign with measurable results in the category that fits it, and write a clear summary that covers research, planning, execution and evaluation. Have someone who did not work on the campaign read it before you submit.
How do I write an award entry?
Follow the order judges score: situation and objective, insight, strategy, execution, results and budget. Spend the most words on results, and tie every number to the objective you set at the start.
What do PR award judges look for?
Judges look for evidence of research, planning, execution and evaluation. PRSA's Silver Anvil guidelines name those four criteria, and judges say the strongest entries explain all four clearly and consistently.
Does a small budget disqualify a campaign?
No. A longtime Silver Anvil judge advises entering when you achieved something notable with limited funds, because award-winning work does not depend on a large budget.
How long should an award entry be?
Length varies by program. The American Business Awards nomination for 5W's 2014 PR Agency of the Year entry capped the narrative at 525 words, and PRSA's Silver Anvil uses a two-page summary according to its judges. Check the current rules for your program.
Should I hire someone to write my entry?
Hire help if no one on your team can tell the campaign as a short story with measured results. The skill that matters is writing for judges who have never heard of the client. My guide to press release writing cost explains how to price that kind of help.
By Ronn Torossian. Updated October 21, 2026.
Disclosure: I am the founder of 5WPR, and I own and write this site. This article links to 5WPR's awards page and cites announcements of 5WPR's own awards. Third-party guidance comes from PRSA publications and Axia Public Relations, which I reviewed on October 21, 2026.