All right. You and your marketing time have put a ton of blood, sweat, and tears into creating high-quality content. Now it’s time to show it off. Marketing awards are a fantastic way to demonstrate your value, individuality, and quality as a marketing brand. This article will guide you on the right marketing awards you should apply for.
Why are marketing awards important?
The digital marketing space today is highly competitive and oversaturated. It can be tough for you and your team to stand out. Marketing awards can help with that!
Why You Should Apply
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- Recognition and Prestige: Winning an award establishes you as an impactful thought leader in the industry. It also gives you street cred with clients and potential business partners. Plus, getting to showcase your work as “award-winning” is a great way to market yourself and your business!
- Networking and Publicity: Marketing awards ceremonies are a fantastic way to network! You can connect with other professionals and build valuable business relationships. You also increase your visibility in the marketing space. Before you know it, new collaborations, opportunities, and partnerships are around the corner.
- Benchmarking: Applying for awards allows you to evaluate your work. You get to see how your brand performs against the award-winning standards of the industry. It can also generate new ideas on how to improve the quality of your work.
- Boosting Morale: Don’t forget about boosting morale. It’s important! Winning awards can be a powerful motivator and a massive morale boost. It instills a sense of pride and accomplishment in what you are all doing. It also inspires your team to continue striving for excellence.
One way to ensure your content is award-worthy is by having the correct content marketing statistics and data at your disposal so you can make the most informed and accurate content marketing decisions for you and your team. Knowledge is power.
Where You Should Apply
How do you know what marketing award to apply for? Good question. There’s a bunch. But here are a few things to pay attention to when deciding on the right award:
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- Budget: Submitting costs money. Decide on the amount you’re willing to spend. Use that to narrow down your application choices.
- Correlation: Not every awards show corresponds to your campaign’s storytelling and objectives. Research each of the awards and hone in on which ones your brand feels connected to.
- Past Winners/Competitors: If you aren’t sure where to apply, look at an award show’s past winners list.
- Reputation: Submissions cost time and money. It is only worth it if the awards have a level of quality that makes them valuable to your brand. Always verify an awards show’s reputation before submitting. Like the ones below!
The top marketing awards to target in 2023
Finally, the awards! Be sure to follow the links to each of the awards for details on how to prepare your entries. Most of them offer tips and advice on their website on how to best position your application. Let’s get to it!
Content Marketing Awards
These awards are one of the most prestigious marketing awards in the industry. Award categories total more than 80, involving all aspects of content marketing. Definitely worth checking out. Even being a finalist for one of these awards is an incredibly high honor. These awards are open to any company in content marketing. Submissions can come from any country; entries must have been created in 2022 to qualify.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Early Bird – April 16, 2023, Regular – May 21, 2023, Late – May 26, 2023
How Much: $199 for early bird, $260 for regular, $290 for late entry
Marketing Week Awards
The Marketing Week Awards reward work that combines creativity and innovation. They want content that raises the standard of excellence in the marketing space. The eligibility period runs from 6/1/22 to 6/1/23. But, work launched before that period can be entered if you can prove a substantial return in that time. Open to any brands or agencies entering on a brand’s behalf. Open to any international organization.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Early Bird – April 19, 2023, Regular – May 3, 2023
How Much: £359 plus tax for Early Bird, Regular Entry £399 plus tax
The Drum Marketing Awards
A highly regarded marketing awards program, The Drum Awards reward marketing teams that truly understand their customer base through their measurable impact. These awards are open to anyone who has carried out a marketing campaign. Eligibility requirements are content that went live between April 2022 and April 2023.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Extended Deadline – April 6, 2023
How Much: $555.50 for extended deadline
Hermes Creative Awards
One of the oldest marketing awards around. The Hermes Creative Awards places its focus on imagination and creativity. Something cool about them is the Pro Bono category, where you can enter work you did for free. These awards are open to anyone that’s produced marketing content after January 1, 2021 (That’s not a typo. It’s a two-year window.)
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Final Deadline – April 13, 2023
How Much: $120 for single submissions, $195 for each campaign, plan, or app entry
Digiday Awards
One of the most prestigious marketing awards out there and worth checking out. They place particular importance on modernization (there’s a category for A.I. use). Past winners include Edelman, Vice, and Coca-Cola. In addition, Digiday sponsors multiple awards programs. For example, this year’s Digiday Content Marketing Awards have already closed. But the Digiday Awards are still open. Anyone can submit, and the submission eligibility period is April 27, 2022 to April 27, 2023.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Early Deadline – Apr 27, 2023, Regular Deadline – Jun 08, 2023, Last Chance Deadline – Jul 20, 2023
How Much: $499 for early, $599 for regular, $729 for last chance
Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards
These awards are for all the websites and publications out there. They focus on editorial distinction. Organized so brands compete within their peer group. Categorized by the specific market they are in or what publication type they are. Any content published between May 1, 2022 and May 18, 2023 is eligible.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: Standard – April 6, 2023, Final – May 18, 2023
How Much: First entry fee is $300, and $270 for each additional entry
PR Top Women in Marketing Awards
PR Daily is an organization that sponsors a number of awards programs. These specific awards acknowledge the top female leaders in the marketing industry. They are looking for women who are pushing boundaries and elevating the brands and products they work for. You can nominate anyone working in a marketing role, including yourself. The eligibility period is from March 2022 to March 2023.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadline: Final Deadline -March 31, 2023
How much: $725 (factoring in the late fee)
Effie Awards
The Effie Awards would be right at the top of this list if the deadline for this year hadn’t already passed. They are on par with the Content Marketing Awards. They carry a level of prestige and distinction that dates back over 50 years. Any and all marketing efforts are eligible for submission. Keep an eye on this in the future.
How to Submit: Online here
Deadlines: TBD
How Much: $995 – $3,245 (past year numbers)
B2B Marketing Awards
The B2B Marketing Awards are the most distinguished marketing awards in business-to-business marketing. They reward the most forward-thinking B2B marketers who show strategic innovation through their data-driven campaigns. Anyone in the B2B marketing space can submit. Submissions aren’t open until later in the year. So keep an eye out and register your interest below.
How to Submit: No submissions are allowed yet
Deadline: Not open yet, but you can register your interest here
How Much: £280 plus VAT
Final Thoughts
In a digital marketing industry that is only getting more competitive, winning a marketing award can be a huge achievement that separates you from the pack. Even if you don’t win, being active in the digital marketing awards space can create all sorts of opportunities for you and your brand.
If you need help getting your brand recognized (either by your audience or one of the great awards listed above), set up a Content Strategy Session with ClearVoice and we will get you sorted out. Also, make sure you are using content marketing strategy essentials to put yourself in the best position possible to make award-worthy work. Good luck!
