Call for Entries Deadline: Jan. 24, 2025

PR Daily's Social Media & Digital Awards honors the most innovative and effective digital communications and social media strategies of the past year. This is your chance for your organization’s or client’s work to be recognized as a standard of excellence in digital communications.

From transformative campaigns to groundbreaking social strategies, these awards celebrate outstanding work across industries and sectors. Whether you're a brand, agency, nonprofit, or public sector organization, this is your opportunity to stand out in the competitive digital landscape.

Submitting your work to the Social Media & Digital Awards doesn’t just offer you the opportunity to step into the spotlight—it gives you a chance to be placed among the best in the field. Share your organization’s or client’s success, build your reputation and show the industry the impact of your efforts.

Don't miss the opportunity to highlight your achievements. Submit your entries by January 24.

CATEGORIES

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

 Agency of the Year

For Marketing, Digital and PR agencies. Your agency’s services delivered incredibly successful campaigns for your client(s). How did you navigate the digital stratosphere? What tactics and strategies did you employ that earned engagement across digital channels? Why was yours the best digital agency?

 Campaign of the Year

Your campaign demonstrated communications expertise, creativity and a distinct point-of-view. You created a digital campaign that delighted your audience and startled your competition. Tell us about it. Outline your goals, strategy, execution, and results. Your concept must be groundbreaking; your implementation inventive, unexpected and even daring.

 Team of the Year

Your team’s collaborative efforts returned impressive results for your organization or client(s). How did you get everyone on the same page to create a killer digital campaign? What obstacles did you have to overcome? What made your team the industry’s best group of digital communicators?

CAMPAIGNS AND CATEGORIES

 AI – Use of

This category highlights campaigns that effectively harness the capabilities of artificial intelligence to enhance digital experiences, showcasing the strategic implementation and impactful outcomes of AI technologies in social media and digital initiatives.

 Accessibility

This category honors exemplary initiatives that demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, recognizing outstanding efforts in making digital content and platforms accessible to all users, regardless of abilities or disabilities.

 Annual Report

It’s difficult to deliver essential information while simultaneously conveying what makes your organization amazing—but you captured the essence of your organization in your annual report. What story did your report tell? We want to hear it.

 Blog

Tell us why your blog is a destination for your target audience. Why does your content provide the most relevant information? How do you keep readers coming back for more? Do you use visuals to entice your audience? Do you provide practical facts and tips? Include statistical analysis or metrics and links to at least three blog posts you’ve created for your organization or client.

 Brand Awareness

Explain how you used to social media platforms or digital marketing to create a community of loyal customers. How did you turn followers into advocates for your brand? Tell us your goals, strategy and results. We want to see your flawless creative execution and the data to back it up.

 Cause Marketing

Tell us how you used digital communication to advocate for an important cause or social issue that fit your brand identity. How did you get your employees enthusiastically on-board? Did it help you raise money, awareness or inspire others to get involved? What were the goals and results?

 Collaborative Social Media Communications

It’s essential that social media professionals and teams work in harmony with their colleagues in marketing, communications and content. This helps deliver the best engagement from your audience in the moment of greatest impact. Tell us about your collaborative efforts and how they led to success for your organization or clients.

 Community Engagement

You tapped into your company, client or agency’s roots to discover local tastemakers, influencers and leaders. How did you engage a community of people and help them develop an affinity for your organization? Tell us how you engaged a network of people using social and digital media. Please include posts, examples of interactions and statistics from your measurement.

 Content Marketing

How did you develop a content strategy that expressed your organization’s expertise? Tell us how you transferred this stream of interesting stories to social media. Include examples and metrics.

 Crisis Management

Communicating effectively during a crisis is essential. How did you use social media or other digital platforms to share an honest and transparent message? Why was this effective and what were the results?

 CSR/ESG Communications

Is your organization a steward of the environment? Is giving back to the local or global community an important part of your business or philanthropic model? Do you show innovative, unusual ways of caring for your employees’ well-being, or lend your voice (or financial support) to a worthy cause? What have you done to spread this message on social media? Send us the response and feedback.

 Digital Community Engagement

Were you instrumental in creating a digital destination where like-minded people could connect? Did you help your employees stay connected during WFH? How did you foster an online community that users loved? What did you do to keep up engagement? This could be for an internal or external audience.

 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Campaign

These campaigns and initiatives have fostered inclusive communities, championed underrepresented groups and supported equal representation, creating a more diverse and equitable community.

 Edutainment

Celebrating the seamless fusion of entertainment and education, this category acknowledges digital campaigns that captivate audiences while imparting valuable knowledge and insights across various platforms.

 Email Communications

Tell us about your engaging email tactics. Did you re-imagine your email marketing strategy to get dramatic results? Did you promote a product, event or brand? Did you keep your newsletter from being dragged immediately into the digital dumpster? What made it successful? We want to hear about it. Share metrics and other pertinent information.

 Employee Engagement

Tell us how your digital efforts increased workplace collaboration and encouraged new business ideas. Did your internal site redesign increase cooperation? We want to know how you engaged employees through digital channels and achieved business results.

 Employer Branding

We will highlight exceptional initiatives that use social media and digital platforms to enhance an organization's brand reputation as an employer. This category celebrates campaigns, strategies and creative content that effectively attract and engage top talent, showcase a positive company culture and demonstrate a commitment to employee satisfaction and development.

 Facebook

How did you make use of the world’s largest social network for your client or organization? Tell us your strategy for using Facebook to share your message and create an engaged community. How does your Facebook page enhance your PR and marketing strategy? Entries for this category do not need to focus on a specific campaign.

 Global Campaign

 Healthcare Campaign

How did you illustrate the talent and tirelessness of the healthcare comms and marketing pros in your organization? Did you publish stories about miracle patients? Did you raise awareness about community health issues? Tell us how you used digital media to engage prospective patients and brand your healthcare organization’s practice in a field or discipline of medicine as one of the most trusted in your city, state, or region.

 Influencer Campaign

How did you work with digital influencers to increase brand awareness within your target audience? Tell us your strategy for finding the right tastemakers to represent your brand. What content did you collaborate on and what were the results?

 Instagram

Your organization’s Instagram account speaks volumes about your brand’s aesthetic and who its customers are. How did you make yours stand out? Did you use Instagram to display and sell products or to share an inside look at day-to-day operations? What was your special Instagram strategy and what kind of results have you seen? We want to know how you used this popular visual platform to connect with your consumers.

 Interactive Content

You cut through the noise and kept audiences engaged with your interactive content. This created a more personalized experience and provided value to your audience—and your organization or client. What content did you use? What were the overall goals? Share with us how your tailored experience delivered incredible results.

 Intranet

All too often, organizations’ internal hubs become digital wastelands where information goes to die. This wasn’t the case for yours. Tell us how you made your intranet an essential, engaging destination for employees.

 LinkedIn

We want to hear how you used the premier professional networking site to deliver impressive campaigns, projects and initiatives. Was your marketing campaign incredibly successful on the platform? Was this the perfect channel for delivering your organization’s content? Did your efforts help attract and retain the industry’s top talent? We want to hear all about it.

 Marketing Campaign

We’re seeking marketing campaigns with strong digital elements. How did you make your brand or product’s presence known in the over-saturated online world? Send us the results of your killer online marketing campaign. The goals of your campaign should be clearly stated, and measures of success must be included.

 Media Relations Campaign

Tell us how you collaborated with journalists and storytellers to get your brand’s message out there. Did you work with influencers, subject matter experts or academics to reach a larger audience? Did you earn media placement in a newspaper or magazine? How did you make an extra push to establish relationships with journalists? Start with the goals of your campaign and how you achieved them.

 Metaverse

We will shine a spotlight on the innovative and immersive initiatives that use social media and digital platforms to create and explore virtual worlds and interconnected experiences. Tell us how you pushed the boundaries of technology and storytelling, enabling users to engage, interact and collaborate in the evolving landscape of the metaverse.

 Micro-Influencer Campaign

This category honors campaigns that leverage the influence of micro-influencers to authentically connect with niche audiences, showcasing effective and targeted digital engagement.

 Mobile App

You met your audience where they are—on their phones. How did you make your mobile app a brand experience? Tell us how you used mobile technology to provide or promote a service to your audience. Did you use your mobile app to engage and inform them? Tell us about your mobile content, design and features. Show us why your mobile app has users reaching for their phones—on their way to work, at work and after work.

 Multichannel Campaign

We want to see campaigns that performed well across several platforms. Why was your project best suited for a more than one channel? Tell us your plan and which mediums made the most sense for your work. How did you alter your message for different platforms? How did it reach a broader audience?

 Paid Social Media Campaign

You got your content in front of the right eyes on social media channels. We want to hear about the tactics and strategies that made your paid social media campaign pay off for your organization or clients. Share the details.

 Pinterest

We want to hear how you use the visual-first platform to deliver messaging to your most important audiences. What was your strategy for using Pinterest to deliver messages? What worked, and what were the results?

 Podcast

You inspired an audience to listen up. Your podcast tells your brand’s story and publicizes your organization. What does your podcast intend to teach or share? Tell us about your expectations and how they matched up with your listener count. How do you engage and incentivize your listeners on multiple platforms? Share your strategy for generating a continuous conversation.

 Public Relations Campaign

How did you use digital PR to inform audiences about your product or service? What were your campaign goals? Did it solve a problem or launch a new product? Tell us about your intended audience, your creative vision, strategy, execution and results.

 SEO Strategy

You got your content into front of eyes and in prime locations in search engine results. How did you get top rankings on search engines? We want to hear your strategy and the secrets to your SEO success.

 Social Listening and Real-Time Response

In order to understand your audience, you have to listen to it. Tell us about your social listening strategy and how you’ve been able to use that information to engage in real-time conversations with your audience. Is social listening a part of your online customer care strategy? Did it help you during a crisis? What tools do you use? Share examples and feedback that prove this strategy is working.

 Social Media Campaign

You wanted to engage a specific audience, so you found them where they spend most of their time – on social media. Who did you target and what platforms do they use? Was this a multi-channel campaign? Did you use video, text or photos to entice your desired audience? Tell us your plan, show us your content and give us data to back up your success.

 Specialty Campaign

Did you launch a campaign aimed at a consumer group last year? How did your custom-made message strike a chord in that audience? Who did you reach? Tell us how you reached your ideal consumers, and how you tailored a message just for them.

 Thought Leadership Campaign

This category recognizes campaigns that adeptly position brands and company leaders as thought leaders through compelling digital content, showcasing the ability to drive meaningful conversations, shape narratives and establish a strong, authoritative presence in the digital landscape.

 TikTok

How did you tap into TikTok's quick-hitting visual stories? We want to hear how you used this visual platform to engage your audiences.

 Twitter/X

Do you use Twitter to build a following for your client or organization, handle a crisis or deliver news? How do your tweets fit into your PR and marketing strategy? How do you use Twitter to interact with customers in real time? Entries for this category need not focus on a campaign. We want to see your most interactive, inviting Twitter accounts.

 User Generated Content

This category recognizes campaigns that skillfully leverage user-generated content, showcasing the ability to foster authentic connections, amplify brand narratives and drive meaningful interactions across diverse digital platforms.

 Video

Tell us your vision for video as well as your execution. Were you seeking increased brand awareness or did you want to inspire action? Give us the details on how it increased engagement on its channels.

 Visual Storytelling

Your visuals told powerful stories. Tell us how you captivated digital audiences using stunning visual designs. Where did you deliver your content, and how did you get audiences to engage with these visuals? Tell us your plan, show us your visuals and give us data to back up your success.

 Website

Your digital hub caught the attention of audiences. Tell us what makes your site a go-to destination for your audience. Be sure to share metrics, visuals and content.

 Website Redesign or Relaunch

This category recognizes exceptional website redesigns or relaunches that showcase innovative design, enhanced functionality and improved user experiences, contributing to the overall success and relevance of brands in the dynamic digital landscape.

 Wellness Campaign

We will showcase the top initiatives that use social media and digital platforms to promote physical, mental and social well-being. This category celebrates work that effectively educates, inspires and engages audiences in adopting healthy habits and prioritizing overall wellness in their lives.

 YouTube

This category acknowledges campaigns that leverage YouTube's reach and engagement capabilities, showcasing effective strategies in content creation, audience connection and digital storytelling.

HOW TO ENTER

Awards Criteria

On the entry form, be sure to include a thorough synopsis explaining the purpose and scope of your project. We ask that the synopsis be 350-900 words and include the following sub-headings (when applicable):

  • Goals
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation: success, results or ROI

Be sure to follow the guidelines laid out in the category descriptions, as the judges will look for those elements when they select the winners.

You will be able to upload additional documents to your submission. We encourage you to include press releases, design concepts, videos, analytics, testimonials and anything else you feel will give us a better sense of your project. Proprietary or internal information can also be attached and will not be shared with the public.

ENTER

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

These awards are open to in-house, agency and independent communication practitioners in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Enter your work, the work of your organization or submit entries on behalf of your client.

Companies from around the world are welcome to enter as long as the entry is submitted in English.

Contact Brendan Gannon to find the perfect category for your campaign or project. You can email him at brendang@ragan.com or call 312-960-4407.

This year’s program is open to any work executed between Jan. 1, 2024, and Jan. 24, 2025, inclusive.

ENTRY FEES

The fee for this program is $550 per entry into standard categories, and $600 per entry into Awards of Distinction categories.

A late fee of $325 per entry will be added to all entries received after 11:59 p.m. Central time, January 24, 2025.

Do you have a campaign or project you'd like to enter into multiple categories? Pay the original entry fee, and then only $250 for each additional category!

All entries are non-returnable and non-refundable.

W-9 Form / Tax ID Number Request

Frequently Asked Questions

🏆 WHY SHOULD I APPLY?
  • Gain Industry-wide Recognition: Winning a Social Media & Digital Award highlights your team’s creativity and expertise, showcasing your work to top leaders across the communications field.
  • Boost Brand Visibility: Recognition in these awards puts a spotlight on your brand’s digital success, helping you reach a wider audience and reinforcing your position as a leader in social media and digital strategy.
  • Attract and Retain Top Talent: Earning this award distinguishes your organization as a digital leader, appealing to top talent who want to be part of an innovative, successful team.
🌎 WHO CAN ENTER THESE AWARDS?
Entries may be submitted by organizations worldwide. Entries must be submitted in English. The program is open to in-house, agency, independent communication practitioners and vendors in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors.
✅ CAN I ENTER TWO OR MORE CATEGORIES?
YES! In fact, we encourage you to submit your applications in multiple categories. Each category is judged discreetly, and discounted pricing applies to your 2nd category and beyond. This also increases your chances of winning.
🔎 WHAT DO THE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN ENTRIES?
Judges look for top-quality work that shows clear, bold and creative ideas that benefit your business or client. Please provide metrics or results that support your claims, and share creative collateral such as videos, visual design or websites that were a part of your project. Please look at our past award winners to see what gets recognized and rewarded.
🗓️ WHY ARE SOME DEADLINES EXTENDED?
We extend deadlines based on applicant needs and upcoming promotional opportunities.

Additional Questions

If you have any questions about the program or problems submitting your entry, please email Brendan Gannon at brendang@ragan.com.

Sponsorship Opportunities

If you are interested in sponsoring one of Ragan Communications’ award programs, please contact Morgan Einspanier at morgane@ragan.com. 

 

Ragan Communications is not responsible for international shipping fees related to trophies or certificates.