All Categories
Applied Technology
Sites, applications, or projects that take a cool new technology and, either, turn it into useful solutions, build an improved site or customer experience and/or integrate multiple technology elements in order to streamline a current business/service process. The project could include, but is not limited to, online commerce, search functionality, data management, or transaction processing, or any disparate set of these, or similar, technologies.
B2B/Professional Services
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created for a company that has a primary function of providing a service to other businesses. For example, this category includes, but is not limited to self-promotion of law firms, accounting firms, and advertising/design/ public relations agencies.
Best Engagement
Awarded to the entry that best leverages its audience and/or customer base. The winner will show a creative use of feedback and contributions from users to create content, spread the word, improve the product, or help each other use it.
Best of Show
Awarded to the entry with the best overall combination of creative concept, user experience, and use of technology. An entry does not have to win another "Best of" category award to qualify for the "Best of Show" award.
Best Use of Technology
Awarded to the entry that incorporates technology, new or old, in the most efficient, smart, and effective manner. This technology is appropriate to the target user, enhances the user's experience, and integrates well into the site.
Best User Experience
Awarded to the entry that provides the best overall user experience in terms of navigation and ease of use and allows users to accomplish critical tasks in an efficient manner.
Brand Response Campaign
Campaign that demonstrates the most innovative and effective use of the interactive channel where the primary goal was brand awareness, message association, purchase intent or moving the needle on specific brand attributes. Entry should include details of the program goals, objectives, target, tactics, and results. Effectiveness will be measured by comparing results to initial goals or industry standards along with program impact on the brand.
Consumer Goods
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created to market directly to consumers. This applies both to retail products and the retailers who drive brand awareness, indirectly sell to consumers and/or drive consumers to retail outlets. This category may also include the presentation of large price point products, including real estate and automobiles.
Content Integration
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns that successfully integrate a original, informational, educational or entertainment content as the main means to engage customers and drive marketing objectives.
Creative Use of Paid Social Media
Campaign that demonstrates the most creative and innovative use of paid social media. Paid social media includes; Self-serve ads on Facebook, Homepage ads on Facebook, Promoted accounts on Twitter and Promoted Tweets. Entries should include samples of the works and results (estimates) on the campaigns.
Cross Media Campaign
Campaign that seamlessly integrates a message across multiple channels, including offline/online channel mixes or a mix of purely interactive channels. This category will strongly consider how interactive plays an integral role in the program and measurement of its impact on the overall campaign. Entry should include samples of work across media and overall campaign effectiveness.
Direct Response
Awarded to the agency/marketer that demonstrates the most innovative and effective use of the interactive channel where the primary goal was defined by a “hard” metric, including the acquisition of new customer: lead generation: download, registration, or information capture, etc. Entry should include details of the program goals, objectives, tactics, and results. Effectiveness will be measured by comparing results to previous efforts, industry standards or initial goals along with customer acquisition costs (directional/percentage results accepted).
eCommerce
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns with the primary goal of providing online commerce and sales of any products/or services. This includes, but is not limited to, transactional commerce, personalized commerce and group buying.
Educational Institution
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created to market one or more educational institutions or programs within a school. This includes primary and secondary schools as well as higher education institutions.
eLearning
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created with the primary goal of educating, training or providing e-learning to customers, clients, employees, or others on behalf of a company, product or service. This category also includes eLearning targeted at specified audiences, for instance, sites for kids, tweens and teens.
Financial Services
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns for companies that market and/or sell financial products and/or services, such as banks, insurance companies and venture capital firms.
Games & Branded Entertainment
Interactive, mobile or digital game and branded entertainment sites or applications that are produced for the purpose of entertainment, for promotion of a brand and/or targeted at specific demographics such as kids and teens. This category is also for sites and campaigns that are powered by game mechanics / gamification strategies.
Healthcare and Wellness
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created for health and fitness providers to market or sell fitness and wellness products or services; and/or address issues or disseminate information concerning healthcare and wellness; and/or promote health or fitness facilities.
Innovative Use of Social Strategies
Campaigns or projects that demonstrate the most innovative and effective strategy for utilizing social marketing to direct users to a specific action. This includes, but is not limited to, a cohesive implementation of multiple social media and online channels, crowdsourcing strategies, blogger outreach campaigns, and word-of-mouth campaigns.
Integration of Mobile
Campaign that demonstrates the strongest integration of mobile advertising. This category will consider how mobile advertising played an integral role in the impact on the overall campaign. Entries should include samples of the works and results of the campaigns.
Interactive Marketer of the Year
Awarded to the marketer who continuously sets gold standard in interactive marketing and who represents the ideal of interactive advertising through creativity, innovation, and proven success in the field, therefore demonstrating superior understanding and thought leadership in interactive marketing.
Mobile
Mobile applications, sites or campaigns intentionally designed and/or optimized for mobile audiences. Examples include, but are not limited to; mobile applications, mobile games or mobile sites that demonstrate mobile as the primary objective of the site.
Nonprofit and Government
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created for or by a nonprofit organization, fundraising and charity programs or government agencies. (Note: Sites whose primary mission is educational should be submitted into the appropriate Education category.)
People's Choice for the Best Digital Marketing from a Local Brand
Awarded to the company whose online experience represents the ideal blend of creativity, innovation, and impact in connecting with their customers, as voted by "the people" on Boston.com.
Rich Media
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns that allow a more powerful and high-performance visual/media or interactive experience.
Search
Campaign that demonstrates the most effective and innovative search program. Entries can be submitted across various search efforts, including paid and organic search, and highlighting any innovations around strategy, targeting, buying, and/or tracking. Entries should include campaign volume (estimates) as well as key results.
Social Influence Applications
Sites, fan pages, platform implementations or applications that are used for social influence and aim to enhance community, information sharing, and collaboration in the form of online communities, emerging micro platforms, social-networking sites or applications, wikis, and blogs.
Targeting
Media program that succeeds in effectively targeting a specific audience. Entry should include: specific strategic information, an outline of how specific business intelligence information was utilized to change or implement strategies and a compelling story about the use of the data and the results of this implementation.
Technology
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created for a B2C or B2B company that develops and/or provides technology products or services.
Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns created for businesses in the hospitality, travel or tourism industries, such as hotels, restaurants, and airlines.
Use of Insight
Demonstration of the most thorough understanding of the target audience, whether through communications planning or customer insights, to inform a media plan, campaign, project or site.
Video
Sites, applications, projects or campaigns that allow a more powerful and high-performance visual/media or interactive experience.