The Only Guide You Need to Apply For (and Win) Top Marketing Awards
Marketing is a highly competitive industry; brands and agencies of all sizes need something to separate them from the pack. Of course, consistently producing great work for happy clients is the best way to do that.
But a surefire way to leave the competition in your dust is to apply for and (hopefully) win prestigious marketing awards. Winning awards is a great way to establish some serious industry cred and get the rest of the marketing world to take your brand seriously.
So let’s do a deep dive into all things marketing awards: what they are, how they can benefit your business, how to apply for them, the most prestigious awards to vie for, and how to promote your big win.
What are Marketing Awards?
Simply put, marketing awards honor the outstanding achievements and most effective campaigns from the previous year. Judges review entries across a wide variety of categories to choose which companies, campaigns, content, and marketers deserve to be recognized.
Is Applying for Awards Worth It?
The straight answer is an emphatic YES.
Awards serve as valuable third-party validations of your success by showing you’re one of marketing’s shining stars and a force to be reckoned with. Solid industry standing backed by prestigious awards and peer validation will shine a spotlight on your brand that can attract prospective clients, employees, and investors who are eager to partner with a winning team.
They can also help boost the bottom line. According to a study by Best Business Awards, award-winning large companies can see a 48% increase in operating income and a 37% growth in sales. The benefits are even more significant for small brands, which can experience a 63% increase in operating income and a 39% growth in sales compared to non-winners.
12 Ways Winning Awards Can Benefit Your Business
So, how can winning marketing awards boost your business? Let’s count the ways:
Builds Recognition: Winning awards builds credibility and helps establish a reputation for being an industry leader and an expert in thought leadership.
Gives A Competitive Edge: Winning marketing awards can give your company a competitive edge and help you stand out in a crowded marketplace by highlighting your accomplishments.
Leads To Repeat Business: Clients will come back repeatedly when they know a company can consistently deliver the type of top-notch work that wins awards.
Increases Online Engagement: Awards can drive more traffic to your website and boost engagement and followers on your social media platforms.
Strengthens Investor Confidence: Winning awards can enhance investor confidence in your company’s future and attract new investors.
Attracts Premium Clients: Winning an award can attract new clients eager to partner with a winning team with a reputation for award-winning excellence.
Boosts Global Recognition: Being recognized with an international marketing award enhances your global competitiveness and validates you as a player in the international marketplace.
Expands Market Reach: The industry validation that comes with winning awards can help expand your market reach by attracting customers from new segments.
Attracts Media Attention: Winning awards can attract positive media attention and further boost your brand’s visibility.
Promotes Strategic Alliances: The visibility that comes from winning industry awards can facilitate relationships, strategic alliances, and collaboration with other leading companies.
Enhances Networking Opportunities: Winning awards can open new networking channels and opportunities to learn the latest industry innovations and best practices from leading marketers and industry leaders.
Boosts Team Spirit: Working for an award-winning company can boost employee morale, motivation, retention, and pride in their work, which can strongly impact overall company success.
10 Marketing Awards Worth Applying For
While a Google search for “Marketing Awards” can reveal a seemingly endless list of award competitions, we’ve made the search easier by listing some of the heavy hitters. Winning any of these prestigious awards can significantly enhance an agency’s reputation as an industry leader.
B2B Marketing Awards
One of the most prestigious marketing awards for B2B marketers, the B2B Marketing Awards honors the best marketing to businesses by businesses. They recognize work for excellence in creativity, innovation, and value they bring to their clients. Special recognition is also given to effective campaigns on limited budgets.
CLIO Awards
The CLIO Awards recognize innovation and creativity in international marketing across all mediums. The CLIOs give out statues in various specialized categories, including creative effectiveness, sonic branding, innovative use of data, social good, and many others. Winning or placing in the CLIO competition can help marketing brands of all sizes build serious global prestige.
Content Marketing Awards
One of the industry’s top international competitions, the Content Marketing Awards recognizes work in 60 categories, so there’s something for everyone. Categories include strategy, content creation, and visual storytelling, emphasizing unique content strategies and techniques. There’s even a category for marketing campaigns that utilize artificial intelligence.
The Drum Awards
The Drum Awards are the pinnacle of global marketing recognition, honoring the industry’s most influential and creative companies and individuals. Categories cover a wide range of marketing disciplines, from design, media, content, B2B, social purpose, experiential, PR, digital experience, and more. To successfully vie for a Drum Award, agencies must prove the measurable impact their campaigns achieved for their clients.
Effie Awards
As the name suggests, the annual Effie Awards honor the year’s most effective marketing agencies, marketers, and brands from around the globe. They emphasize the impact and the results achieved for the brand. The Effies have various categories based on industry and specialties, including B2B, commerce, experiential marketing, marketing innovation, and more.
Hermes Creative Awards
According to the entry guidelines, the Hermes Awards are “open to all individuals, companies, and organizations involved in producing any kind of marketing and communication materials for external or internal audiences.” Entries are judged on their own merits, and entrants can write their own category. Given the broad application criteria, these awards are perfect for small agencies hoping to win their first competition.
MarCom Awards
The MarCom Awards honor the best of the best international marketing and communication professionals. The MarComs accept entries in 321 main categories and subcategories, ranging from digital and print media, video, and strategic communications, with special recognition for pro bono and nonprofit work. Applicants can also create their own categories if their work doesn’t fit the others listed.
The Muse Creative Awards
The Muse Awards honors marketing’s risk-takers and mavericks “who inspire others with their ground-breaking concepts, ideas, and designs.” If you consider your work to be avant-garde, innovative, and challenging the status quo while still delivering effective results, these are the awards for you.
The Webby Awards
Conducted annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the Webby Awards are to digital marketing what the Academy Award is to Hollywood. Winners must deliver excellence in creativity, innovation, and technique in categories covering online campaigns, web and mobile sites, videos, social media, AI and metaverse, and more. Winning this one is truly an impressive feat.
Women in Content Marketing Awards
The Women in Content Marketing Awards honor the top achievements made by women in the marketing industry. Judging is based on creative and professional achievement, innovations in approach and thinking, leadership and mentorship, and community involvement. The WICMAs also have a special category honoring freelancers who have produced outstanding campaigns for a brand or organization.
How To Apply for Award Competitions
Applying for an award can be a time-consuming process and takes a lot of thought and preparation. Here are some best practices for making sure judges consider your submissions to be worthy of competing and potentially bringing home a big prize.
Choose the Right Awards: It's essential to carefully consider each award program to determine the best fit for your company and to ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements before applying. Play to your strengths by entering competitions that emphasize your strongest areas.
Enter the Right Category: Carefully read category descriptions and their judging criteria before choosing one (or many) to enter. Make sure the category you choose ties back to the campaign’s objective and results. Understanding a campaign’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall impact will help you select a category you can win.
Do Your Research: The various marketing awards have different submission criteria, and judges will reject anything that doesn’t fall within those parameters. So, research the requirements to better understand what judges are looking for. Your submission stands a better chance at winning if it checks off all the right boxes.
Highlight SMART Objectives: To be considered for an award, your campaign or entry must clearly demonstrate SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) objectives. You must also show how these objectives were reached and exceeded.
Present The Evidence: Judges want to see solid evidence of success, with an emphasis on impact, effectiveness, and how a campaign resonated with the intended audience. So, quantify your results with hard data and numbers to demonstrate why a campaign is successful. Client testimonials can also help solidify why a campaign should be a winner.
Tell a Compelling Story: When entering a competition, showing your brand’s personality is of utmost importance. Judges want to know what makes your company unique and what separates you from competitors. Make them understand what your brand is all about. Tell a story that resonates with them.
Think Local: Don’t overlook competitions in your own backyard. Winning regional awards can be just as impactful as winning the global ones, helping you build a reputation as a local leader and attracting the attention of local businesses.
Ask the Hard Questions: Be completely honest before submitting something for competition: is it really an award winner? Did it deliver solid, quantifiable results? If the answer is “yes,” then go for it. But consider other work or hold off entirely if you have doubts. Compare your work to past winners. If you feel your campaign falls short, there’s always next year’s competition.
You Won It! Now Flaunt It!
On top of the benefits we listed earlier, winning an award is a marvelous way to generate free publicity and can be a dynamic addition to your marketing arsenal. So go ahead and share the news! Proudly display your award logos and badges on websites, social media, email signatures, corporate presentations, and other marketing materials to let the world know you’re a winner, baby!
Other smart ways to promote your award include:
Email your database of current and previous clients, leads, and partners
Send out an official press release
Include your award in your search advertising copy
Create an SEO strategy around your award
Produce a video highlighting your award
While no one wants to come across as arrogant or braggy, sharing the news of your awards win and accolades is perfectly acceptable, if not expected. After all, you put in the hard work, and now it’s time to enjoy the rewards!
Comma Copywriters knows a few things about winning awards, having been named Utah’s “Best of State” in Writers’ Service for 2023 and 2024 and Utah’s Business Fast 50 Award. Our talented team of writers can produce compelling, effective content that could put you in the winner’s circle. Click here to schedule a quick consultation call to find out how.