Winner: HGExpo - New Online Home & Garden Show
Our 2013 Digital PR Award winner in the New Site category is HGExpo. The objective in creating this remarkable Web site was to build an “online house and garden show—a destination for homeowners looking for education and inspiration and the place for home professionals to find warm, well-qualified leads.” Essentially, the site looks to connect consumers searching for innovative home improvement ideas with the top local professionals who can make those ideas real.
Tactics included the extensive use of online video to replicate the experience of meeting home improvement professionals in-person; demonstrating specific products and services; providing customer testimonials; and use of a Facebook contest app to create a “Giveaway Station” where visitors win prizes and exhibitors gain new fans.
HGExpo also used Pinterest to share photos of real, local projects and built a directory-style Web navigation system to easily search for specific projects or professionals. The results are indisputable: HGExpo sought to sell four to five exhibits per month before the January 2013 rollout, and did it. It sought to sell eight to 10 new exhibits per month in the months subsequent to launch, and is on track. And user testimonals are pouring in.
Honorable Mentions:
- Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens - Volunteer Website
- National Multi Housing Council and National Apartment Association - Apartments. We Live Here.
- National Retail Federation - This is Retail: Careers, Community & Innovation
- RF|Binder and Loews Corp. - The New Loews.com: A Fresh Approach Telling the Value Investing Story