13 Marketing Awards Worth Applying for in 2023
Your marketing team puts in a great deal of time and effort into every campaign, content asset, and piece of collateral. Why not show it off to the world by applying for a marketing award? While a handful of entry windows for applying for awards in 2022 are still open, most are closed by May. Fortunately, you still have plenty of time to research 2023 awards and prepare your entries.
Before we get to the list itself, let’s consider what marketing awards are even good for in the first place.
Do Marketing Awards Matter?
If you think that marketing awards aren’t worth the trouble of an application, think again. Earning external recognition for excellence in marketing helps you out in two ways:
Prestige for your company. You’ll raise the reputation of your whole organization by earning industry recognition in creative excellence for branding or in modernizing media, for example.
Prestige within your company. Sometimes it can be a struggle to persuade leadership that investing in a long-term marketing strategy is worthwhile today. An award that’s literally called “Killer Content” can make your team that much more persuasive.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. For even more reasons why marketing awards matter, check out the Marketing Awards Guidebook from Forbes.
13 Content Marketing Awards to Watch in 2023
B2B marketers, particularly in tech, have the opportunity to shine in marketing awards in 2023. While nearly all of the awards have “traditional” categories like Best Content Marketing Program or Best Content Strategy, most also have appealingly niche categories such as Best Use of Imagery, Best Q&A, or even Best Use of TikTok.
Here’s the (alphabetized) list of 13 prestigious and noteworthy awards:
1. ANA B2 Awards
Given by the Association of National Advertisers, the ANA B2 awards recognize dozens of categories in B2B marketing and focus on the best in modern B2B thinking and business results. You might be interested in applying if you’re part of a B2B organization that wants to be reviewed and recognized by your peers. The entry fee is $450 for ANA members and $575 for nonmembers.
2. B2B Marketing Awards
The B2B Marketing Awards are fiercely competitive with over a thousand submissions in 2021. According to the awards program website, its mission is to “the most innovative, creative, and forward-thinking marketers and their campaigns.” The 2022 categories were campaign media and mechanics; campaign planning, strategy and objectives; target audiences; and practitioner, supplier and agency.
3. Brand Impact Awards
The Brand Impact Awards (BIA) celebrate the world’s best branding with a focus on creative excellence and consistency. Projects are judged by market sector and judges focus on quality and consistency across two or more brand touchpoints.
4. Clio Awards
The Clio Awards have recognized excellence in advertising since 1959. Its focus is on moving the industry forward and developing the creative community. The recognizable Clio statues are given to award winners in the Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories.
5. Communicator Awards
As the name suggests, the Communicator Awards recognize excellence in communication across multiple channels including digital, video, podcasts, marketing, mobile, and print. This international awards program began in 1994 and are presented by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. The entry fees range from $165 to $375 per category.
6. Content Marketing Awards
The Content Marketing Awards are the ultimate recognition for content marketing agencies, projects, and marketers. With over 80 categories, there are plenty of opportunities to win in this program by the Content Marketing Institute.
7. Digiday Content Marketing Awards
If you’re all about modernizing media and marketing, you’ll love the Digiday Content Marketing Awards. Past winners include Chipotle, Airbnb, and R/GA. The entry kit even comes with tips and tricks to win.
8. Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards
The Folio: Eddie and Ozzie awards bring together editorial and design excellence. The publishing award program includes categories to spotlight articles, essays and full issue magazine, to blogs, podcasts and video content to cover design, graphic design, illustration, photography.
9. Hermes Creative Awards
Each year, the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals celebrates marketing’s best messengers and creators with the Hermes Creative Awards. Judges evaluate publications, branding collateral, websites, videos, advertising, marketing, and communication programs. Winners range from individuals to media conglomerates.
10. International Content Marketing Awards
The Content Marketing Association recognizes distinguished global marketing campaigns with the International Content Marketing Awards. Areas of focus include content marketing campaigns, strategies, teams, and marketers.
11. Killer Content Awards
Celebrating the human in B2B brands since 2020, Killer Content Awards (aka the Finnys) are given in 16 categories for marketing that humanizes. Top categories include audio content, buyer-focused content, influencer campaigns, and short-form content.
12. Webby Awards
With the catchphrase, “Honoring the Best of the Internet,” the Webby Awards recognize a little bit of everything across the web. Presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, this award program is 26 years in the running.
13. Women in Content Marketing Awards
The Women in Content Marketing Awards (the WICMAs) have recognized women in content marketing across five categories since 2021. Nomination is free.
Past winners, and in some cases the award ceremony itself, can be viewed on the individual awards’ sites. Competition is robust, with past winners like Forbes, Cisco, British Gas, and Autodesk.
How to Prep for Marketing Award Applications
The majority of these awards programs offer pointers, tips, and other advice on how to position your application to your best advantage. The CMAs, for example, have an extensive page on preparing your entries as well as additional content explaining what they’re looking for and what past successful finalists have done to set themselves apart.
Marketing is both an art and a science, so be both creative and methodical as you design your entry. Carefully observe all of the case studies, explanatory videos, lists of winners and judges, and other how-to materials provided by the award.
Award winners are often announced at an expo, awards gala, or conference, such as the Content Marketing World Conference and Expo for the CMAs. Once you’ve narrowed down the awards you aim to win, you’ll want to attend the conference this year to see how it’s done and to make connections, and the one next year to hear your team’s achievements celebrated.
If you’re not sure about the whole conference thing, read our guide on marketing conferences of note in 2022. At its core, a marketing award is an opportunity to celebrate the deserving achievements of your incredibly talented team. They've earned this distinction!
We’re ready to partner with you on your award-winning content marketing strategy. If you need to leverage our expertise in marketing content that stands up to the competition, schedule a quick strategy session to learn how we can help.