New categories added to the Digiday Content Marketing Awards

Best Brand/Influencer Combination
Brands are learning that they can’t always create and/or distribute their best content all on their own. This new category is for the partnerships between brands and influencers that furthered the brand’s reach, increased awareness and drove results.

Best Use of Snapchat
In addition to Best Use of Facebook, Best Use of Twitter and Best Use of Instagram, this category also highlights Snapchat’s unique features, like Discover, Live and its QR code, and the brands using them for promotional purposes.

Best User-Generated Content
Sometimes, the best content is not made by brands themselves. This category is for the most effective and creative contests, social channels or other media that tapped into an audience’s love for a brand and created content in the process.

Best Interactive Content Series or Piece
Just reading isn’t enough to make a piece of content stand out. This category is for the interactive articles, survey tools, infographics or other formats that got people involved in the content.

Best Use of Real-Time Streaming Video
This category is for the brands that have found substantial brand-building opportunity in video streaming platforms like Meerkat and Periscope.

Most Effective/Measurable Campaign
Shiny Toy Syndrome afflicts the content marketing profession, so this category focuses on results. We’re looking for campaigns which had measurable and proven impact on business objectives, including but not limited to brand equity, sales and profit, where identifiable.

Content Marketer of the Year
This award will be presented to a leading thinker in the marketing world whose vision, innovative marketing tactics and leadership stand out amongst the competition.

Content Marketing Team of the Year
This award will be presented to an in-house marketing team that has produced world-class campaigns and innovative marketing for the promotion of a brand, product or service.

The early bird deadline for the awards is less than a month away, but you will have the opportunity to submit right until midnight on March 11. Here are some dates for your online or analog calendar of choice:

• Early deadline: February 12, 2016 – $395 per entry
• Regular deadline: March 4, 2016 – $495 per entry
• Last chance deadline: March 11, 2016 – $695 per entry

The shortlist will be announced during the week of April 4 on Digiday.com.

The Digiday Content Marketing Awards jury is a group of award-winning creative directors, digital producers, directors and CMOs from brands, agencies and publishers like Sonic, Chobani, Huge, Innocean USA, The New Yorker and Forbes. Brian Becker, vp and head of content, JPMorgan Chase, will be joining us before the regular deadline for a Social Media Week New York panel titled “The High Stakes of Content Marketing” on Feb. 23.

Learn more about the new categories, entry deadlines and judges by clicking here. Good luck.