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.
• 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 has successfully conceived and executed digital PR campaigns on behalf of his or her organization or clients over the past year and, in doing so, has revolutionized that organization’s approach to communications in the mobile & social era.
• 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:
• 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 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?"