Awards Timeline

Come back soon for information on the 2013 Digital PR Awards program.

PR News' Digital PR Awards is the industry's top honor in the PR and communications digital space, recognizing outstanding digital initiatives among corporations, agencies and nonprofits. The coveted awards set the industry benchmark for excellence across all areas of digital PR. The winners of the Digital PR Awards are those organizations that took risks, made tremendous strides and understand the power of digital communications in public relations. Your hard work is done – now it’s time for you and your team to get recognized for it! The awards will also salute the PR, marketing and communications executives behind the scenes who make these digital initiatives shine.

Are you ready to enter? It's easy to compete, as your campaigns and people speak for themselves. But you have to enter to be considered, so don't let your competitors steal the show. All winners and honorable mentions will be honored in October 2012 in New York City and in the annual PR News Digital PR Awards Special Issue.

Who Should Enter? 

The Digital PR Awards are open to all individuals and teams worldwide at for-profit and non-profit organizations including: corporations, PR firms, public affairs and IR agencies, publicity firms, associations, government, and NGO teams, and sole practitioners. Vendors are also eligible to compete on behalf of client.

Eligibility Requirements 

To be eligible, the campaign or PR initiative must have taken place (either in part or in full) between January 1, 2011, and July 16, 2012.  Some of the work must have occurred during this time, but it’s not necessary for it to be completed during the eligibility period.

Categories 

Winners will be awarded in the following categories:
  • Blog (Organization): Recognizing an outstanding, influential blog from an organization with the goal of connecting a brand with its target audience and stimulating engagement.
  • Blog (Person): A popular, influential blog from either a PR agency or from someone on an in-house corporate or nonprofit communications team. The blog should be well-written, with high frequency, and offer insight that matters to a broad audience base.
  • Blogger: An individual who has become nearly as well-known for his or her work as a blogger as for public relations work in itself. Should be a thought leader whose blog posts carry beyond the sphere of PR peers.
  • Cause Marketing/CSR: Use of digital communications, including social media, in advancing a cause or corporate responsibility program.
  • Contest/Game: A contest or game used to promote a brand by a PR team that successfully plays across multiple digital platforms. Contest or game itself should be original and terms of play should be clearly expressed; include metrics showing engagemen.
  • Crisis Management: Successful use of multiple digital channels, including social media, to either prevent or mitigate a crisis affecting a corporation or nonprofit organization. Effectiveness of crisis management should be proven with as much data as possible.
  • Digital Communicator: A communications professional who over the past year has found new ways to use digital channels such as blogs, email, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and has since become a go-to resource for best practices. Success as a digital communicator should be demonstrated with client and/or peer testimonials, data showing campaign success.
  • Digital Marketing Campaign: A creative, successful marketing campaign promoting a product or brand that is primarily rooted in digital platforms or has a strong digital component. Objectives of the campaign should be clearly stated and measures of success must be included.
    • 100k and under
    • 100k - 200k
    • 200k - 500k
    • 500k +
  • Digital PR Campaign: A PR campaign that successfully engaged intended audiences and influencers using multiple channels such as social networks, blogs, email, Web sites, mobile apps. Campaigns may be entered in one of the four budget categories below:
    • 100k and under
  • Digital PR Team of the Year/Corporate: A PR team that over the past year has exhibited consistent innovation and success on digital channels on behalf of a corporation. Individual team members should be named and their roles should be described.
  • Digital PR Team of the Year/Nonprofit: A PR team that over the past year has exhibited consistent innovation and success on digital channels on behalf of a nonprofit organization. Individual team members should be named and their roles should be described.
  • Email Newsletter/s: Consistent packaging of high-quality content delivered via email on behalf of a client or clients, or on behalf of one's own organization. A PR team should be the primary driver of the e-newsletter. As much supporting data (open rates, for instance) as possible should be included.
  • Employee Communications Online: Demonstrated success at conveying to staff via digital channels either news of a management change or merger, corporate goals and strategy, a CSR initiative, a new benefits package, etc., as well as demonstrated ability to accept employee feedback. Data showing employee engagement should be included.

  • Facebook Communications: Use of Facebook by either a PR firm on behalf of a client or clients or by an in-house organization's communications team; significant increase in "Likes" should be demonstrated. Examples of useful comments and content should be included. Also encompasses use of Facebook related to a specific product, CSR initiative or for crisis management.

  • Influencer Communications: Success at both finding online influencers (tactics used should be described in detail) and communicating with them and transforming them into advocates for a brand or organization.
  • Intranet: Intranet from an organization that has either launched or relaunched in the past year and that has successfully woven in new technology such as content-sharing tools. Data showing visits and time spent should be included.
  • Listening Campaign: Employment of digital channels to survey audiences or otherwise monitor them (via social networks, for example) to gauge their sentiments about a brand or organization, and demonstrated ability to put that information gleaned to use in communications initiatives.
  • Location-Based Digital Campaign: Successful initiative using a geo-location platform or feature. Objectives of initiative should be clearly stated, as should metrics that demonstrate success.
  • Media Relations Campaign: Use of digital channels—in particular, social networks—in communicating with traditional media and bloggers for a particular PR campaign. Two-way engagement with the media should be demonstrated; media placement and comments should be tied directly to digital outreach.
  • Microsite/Custom Site: Microsite launched or relaunched in the past year with a clearly expressed goal (for instance, microsite launched to promote a corporation's branding or CSR initiative, or microsite launched by an organization to promote a new service), backed up by metrics showing high engagement.
  • Mobile Campaign: A communications initiative either solely designed for mobile devices or one that encompasses mobile. This can include, for instance, use of texting for a PR initiative.
  • Mobile App: An easy-to-use, well-designed mobile app created to support a communications initiative, to promote services of a PR agency or created on behalf of a client. Objective of app should be clearly stated; include number of downloads.
  • Most Engaged Brand: A brand that over the past year has succeeded in measurably increasing its engagement online with target audiences.
  • New Digital Service/Product: Either a PR agency that has successfully rolled out a digital service available to clients or has created a specific new digital product on behalf of a client, or a corporation or nonprofit organization that has launched a digital service that engages audiences or sells a product in a new way.
  • New Site: A site launched in the past year by either an agency on behalf of a client or by an organization's in-house PR team that is marked by high-quality design and content that clearly conveys the organization's brand and encourages engagement. Traffic metrics should be included.
  • Online Community: A community that has launched in the past year and has surpassed targets for engagement and members, or an existing one that has grown demonstrably over the past year. Can be either a branded community or one that is based on social networks.
  • Online Newsroom: An organization's newsroom that has either launched or relaunched within the past year and goes far beyond the listing of press releases and contact information; metrics showing engagement should be included.
  • Podcast or Videocast: A series of high-quality podcasts/videocasts that provides useful or entertaining content and either promotes a brand or individuals representing a brand. Metrics showing viewings/listenings should be included.
  • PR Firm of the Year: Digital: A PR agency that has become synonymous over the past year with the innovative use of social media, Web sites, email, blogs, etc., on behalf of clients. Client testimonials are encouraged.
  • Public Affairs Campaign: Successful digital PR campaign that measurably influences opinion about an issue that affects a wide swath of the public on a national or local level.
  • Redesign/Relaunch of Site: A site redesign that is clearly distinguishable from a prior version; the objectives of the redesign should be clear, as should metrics showing an increase in traffic or engagement. Communications initiative promote the redesign and relaunch should be included.
  • SEO: Clearly demonstrated success at using optimization tactics to improve searchability for a client's site or organization's site and content.
  • Social Networking Campaign: Innovative PR campaign either solely restricted to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., or one in which social networks play a large role. Goals of social networking campaign and indications of success (increase in likes, increase in Twitter followers, sentiment of comments, increase in sales, participating in contest, for instance) should be included.
  • Twitter Communications: Use of Twitter by either a PR firm on behalf of a client or clients or by an in-house organization's communications team; significant increase in followers should be demonstrated. Examples of useful comments and content should be included. Also encompasses use of Twitter related to a specific product, CSR initiative or for crisis management.
  • Use of Facebook: Innovative use of Facebook by either a PR firm on behalf of a client or clients or by an in-house organization's communications team; significant increase in likes and engagement should be demonstrated.
  • Video: Production and digital distribution of video content that promotes a product, organization or individual or is used to respond to a quickly developing issue or crisis. Recognizes video content that both surpasses expectations of viewings and succeeds at enhancing a brand and building an audience.
  • Viral Campaign: A digital PR campaign that is designed to be sharable beyond a brand or organization's immediate audience; metrics of success must be included.
  • WOW Campaign: A digital campaign that either creatively overcomes the constraints of minimal resources or introduces an entirely new concept or new use of digital channels. It should make one's peers think: "Why didn't I think of that?"

 

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How To Enter  

Enter Online Only: The online entry portal will walk you through the registration process, and then the nomination process.

Compiling Your Entry

The following information must be listed on your synopsis:

  • Category entered
  • Title of entry (as it would appear on your award)
  • Team members (on campaign)
  • Key contact for entry
  • Organization submitting entry
  • Budget (All budget information is strictly confidential and will not be published w/o expressed permission.)

 

Within your two-page synopsis (max 800-1200 words), please describe your campaign or PR initiative using the following subheadings:

  • Objectives
  • Strategy
  • Tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation of Success/Results/ROI

 

Supporting materials should show evidence of the success of your work. It can be any of the following: sales figures, brand media coverage, clippings, photos, urls/web sites, research documents, and testimonials.

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Deadlines/Entry Fees 

Deadline: July 13, 2012
Late Deadline: July 20, 2012

All entries must be final and paid for by Friday, July 20, 2012.

For entries finalized between July 13 and July 20, 2012, please add a $199 late fee per entry. Finalists will be notified in late August and honored in October 2012 in New York City.

Entry Fees
The price of each primary entry is $300. If you submit the same entry into multiple categories, the additional fee is $199 per category. Late entry surcharge of $199 per entry. Payment in full must accompany the entry.

All entries are non-returnable and non-refundable.  

FAQs 

How are the entries judged?
Entries are judged by a blue-chip panel of corporate, agency, nonprofit and academic executives, as well as by the staff of PR News. We evaluate your entry based on creativity, innovation, sound planning implementation and results. Our most important criterion is proven success in aligning your strategic objectives with you end goals.

Who is eligible to win an award?
Any communications team or individual – corporate, agency, association, governmental agency or nonprofit – of any size is eligible to enter the Digital PR Awards Program.

Where and when will the reception be held?
The winners and honorable mentions will receive their Digital PR Awards in October 2012 during an awards luncheon in New York City.

How do I increase my chances of winning an award?
Emphasize the goals of your campaign, as well as your campaign’s achievements in your synopsis. Provide as many concrete and specific examples of success as possible, and explain clearly and succinctly your research, planning, implementation and measurement of the campaign.

When will I be notified about the status of my entry?
You will be contacted by PR News staff regarding the status of your entry online if you are named a finalist in the awards program. Finalists are notified 30-60 days in advance of the Platinum PR Awards/Digital PR Awards ceremony.

Must we include our campaign budget?
It’s not a requirement, but it helps the judges to better compare your campaign against other entries. Include at least a reasonable budget range. The judges always take into account the campaign budget relative to the goals and outcome. All information is confidential and will not be published.

What is your tax ID number?
52-2270063

W-9 Form Request

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Questions:

Please contact Marketing Coordinator, Saun Sayamongkhun at (301) 354-1694; [email protected].

Sponsorship Opportunities:

To sponsor the Digital PR Awards and the Awards Event in October, please contact VP & Publisher, Diane Schwartz at (212) 621-4964; [email protected].

 

Notify me when this awards program will be available again.