For a long time Lithium user and community professional, there are few things as sweet as winning a Lithy. It feels like just yesterday I was standing shoulder to shoulder in an exuberant and well-dressed crowd of peers, excitedly clutching my glass of champagne, and reveling in the atmosphere of the Lithy Awards Ball. And then I heard the words I had only been dreaming of hearing, “And the winner of the Social ROI Titan award is… H&R Block!”
That singular moment was validation, recognition, and elation all packed into one. And I hope every Lithium customer gets a chance to feel what I did. However, you can’t experience winning a Lithy without writing a Lithy. So here are our top 3 tips and tricks for writing a winning submission:
1. Know you are awesome.
Want to know something I regret? For a long time, I read and voted on my peers’ Lithy submissions, but I didn’t dare submit one. I didn’t think what I was working on was interesting or ground-breaking enough, so I hadn’t earned my right to try for a Lithy. Last year my team and I finally got the courage to put ourselves out there – and we won. Why didn’t we do that sooner?
It doesn’t matter where you are in your customer experience journey or what everyone else is doing. You are doing something awesome, and you have absolutely earned the right to share. Go into writing your Lithy with a positive mindset and don’t get lost comparing yourself to others. Know you’re doing something worth sharing.
2. Teach us something.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m looking for inspiration and ideas in my daily work, I usually find myself perusing past Lithy submissions at some point in the process. And you know what? I never walk away empty handed. I’ve found ideas for advocacy programs, design, ROI, and numerous processes to improve my community.
One of my favorite things about working on a Lithy submission is finding ways to use it as a teaching opportunity. So, get creative. Tell us about your crazy dashboard that proved incredible ROI. Show us how you used post-it notes to come up with the most mind-blowing process. Tell us how you came up with the best advocacy program of all time. Teach us something!
3. Visuals are key.
You know that corny saying, “Pictures are worth a thousand words”? Turns out it’s very true when you’re faced with a word count limit for each question. And that word count is for the best. Some of us (me) would write a novel.
From an even more logical perspective, you wouldn’t design your community with just text so the same should go for your Lithy. Break it up with screenshots, graphics, charts, and whatever else helps to tell your story and teach your lesson. It will help move your readers – and the judges – through your submission.
Get writing and good luck. We hope to see your Lithy submission up soon! For instructions on how to submit, click here!
Note: This was originally published in the Lithium Community.
