Frequently Asked Questions | ABIA Wedding Awards
Interested in participating in The ABIA Wedding Industry Awards but need a little more information? We answer all your frequently asked questions right here.
During Covid, we noticed the ABIA Awards were held online, is there a cost to watch the virtual awards?
No, all vendors are free to watch the ABIA Awards online via the ABIA Youtube channel. You can watch past videos here.
Do couples’ rate and review our wedding business OR our wedding services?
Couples rate your wedding service rather than just your business. This is important because a wedding business may offer multiple services (such as bridal makeup and bridal hair) and therefore it is important that couples are afforded the opportunity to rate each service on its own individual merit.
Are the ABIA Awards simply a popularity contest?
No, Winners and Finalists are determined by a combination of excellence in four key metrics: Quality of Product, Quality of Service & Communication, Attitude Of Staff & Overall Value. The ABIA Awards algorithm applies additional weighting to the Number of Nominations and Best Vendor of the Day Nominations. The minimum number of nominations is based on the average number of nominations that all vendors receive in their respective categories and state. Click here to learn more.
Is there a cost to enter the ABIA Awards? Do I need to be an ABIA Partner to Win or become a Finalist?
No, this is a common misconception. Since 1996, all credible Australian wedding businesses (regardless of their partnership status) have been welcome to participate in the ABIA Awards. All businesses are eligible to become an Award Nominee, ABIA Finalist, or ABIA Winner.
Will I be stripped of my Award title if I do not attend the Gala Awards Ceremony?
No. Attendance is not required in order to receive your award title. This is against ABIA’s business ethics and is not reflective of how ABIA Award Finalists and Winners are determined.
How can my couples vote for me?
Wedding Businesses are required to register their couples using the ABIA Business Portal. ABIA’s review engine sends an automated online voting form (personalised link for security purposes) to couples who are then invited to rate and review your services.
How do you stop fake ratings from being submitted?
ABIA uses classifiers to determine if a rating or review is legitimate or not. Unverified ratings and reviews are automatically red-flagged and voided. If a business is found to be manipulating the voting process in any way, it will be banned from the ABIA Platform.
Can Vendors “cherry pick” only some of their couples?
In theory yes, however, this is not a business practice that ABIA would recommend, condone or encourage. Importantly, due to the ABIA Awards algorithm that includes a weighting scale for the average number of nominations, the practice of 'cherry picking' will not increase a business’s chance of achieving a higher ranking. ABIA recommends that businesses register ALL couples to receive an accurate reflection of their customers' experiences.
The ABIA Award Ratings are so close between Wedding Vendors, how is that possible?
The ratings are so close because only businesses that achieve an average customer satisfaction rating above 95% go on to become finalists. What separates businesses beyond this point is the customised ABIA algorithm and weighting scale. On average only 30% of nominated businesses will go on to become a shortlisted ABIA Finalist, hence to qualify is not an easy feat.
Can businesses offer an incentive to couples to rate and review them on the ABIA Platform?
No, this is against ABIA’s terms and will result in a business being disqualified and removed from the Awards.
Privacy is really important to me; do you use my clients’ details for any other purposes?
No. Your clients' information is solely used for the purposes of collecting Award nominations & reviews and will NOT be passed on to third parties or used for any marketing/promotional purposes.
