Skip to content

Categories

With 60+ categories covering content strategy, distribution, editorial, and visual storytelling, you’re sure to find [at least] one that showcases your team’s hard work and innovation. Use the buttons below to review the award categories under each topic.

STRATEGY

DISTRIBUTION

EDITORIAL

VISUAL STORYTELLING

Distinguished Awards

Presented to three agencies; one independent agency with fewer than 100 employees, one with 100+ employees, and one branded studio within a media company.

These agencies have distinguished themselves by creating content marketing that serves as a showcase for the entire industry. The Agency of the Year recognition by the Content Marketing Institute is, perhaps, the greatest award honor a content marketing agency can achieve. The judges look at the agency’s projects and performance over the past year, as well as the innovation behind consistent multi-platform publishing.

To qualify for Agency of the Year, you must submit at least one project submission and complete the agency of the year entry form. There is a $260 fee to nominate your agency (late entry fee of $299 for nominations submitted after 5/21/23).

All entries are eligible for the Content Marketing Project of the Year; the overall best project from thousands of submissions. The Content Marketing Project of the Year award is like winning the Oscar for Best Picture: it simply cannot get any better. The Content Marketing Awards’ judges look at the finalists in every one of the 80 categories to decide which projects were the “best of the best” in B2B and B2C content marketing.

The Content Marketer of the Year is a special recognition from the Content Marketing Institute. Each year, CMI looks at the great work brand marketers are doing in content marketing. We then compile a shortlist of the “best of the best” and choose one B2B and one B2C marketer who stood above the rest during those 12 months. If you’d like to nominate yourself or a colleague for this honor, you’ll have an opportunity on your entry form.

Strategy

A new product or publication that got attention, resonated with an audience, and translated into positive results that you can demonstrate. Show us what you showed off!

You launched a new content marketing program in 2022. That program could be a custom print magazine, an enewsletter, a podcast, a blog, an online magazine (you get the idea). Tell us about it. What were your KPIs? What were your results? What technologies were critical? Give us all the brag-worthy details!

You had great ideas. You planned. You created. You documented your strategy. You got results.

Your organization had a very particular problem you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key in healthcare. How good is yours? We’d like to see.

Your healthcare organization had a very particular problem you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key in financial services. How good is yours? We’d like to see.

Your financial services organization had a very particular problem that you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key in technology. How good is yours? We’d like to see.

Your technology organization had a very particular problem that you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key in travel, tourism and hospitality. How good is yours? We’d like to see.

Your travel, tourism and hospitality organization had a very particular problem that you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key in education. How good is yours? We’d like to see.

Your education organization or educational institution had a very particular problem that you believed could be solved through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the program, the audience you targeted, the platform(s) you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Having a documented strategy for your content marketing is key to a multi-year program. What is your strategy behind sustaining your program over the past 12 months?

Your organization had a particular problem (or opportunity) that you believed could be solved/enhanced through content marketing. Please tell us the overall goal of the multi-year program, the audience(s) you targeted, the platform you chose, your distribution strategy and the results you’ve seen.

Yes, strategy comes first, but technology is important. Show us how you used it to your advantage.

As part of your content marketing plan, you leveraged technology taking your program to new heights. Describe how technology’s use assisted your marketing goals to create and deliver relevant content to nurture your audience. Describe the goals achieve, how you were able to personalize the content and what you learned along the journey.

The well planned strategy resulted in your customer base to take action. More conversions? More subscribers? Share your success.

Content consumption has reached an all-time high. How did you rise above the noise and wow your fans? Talk about your conversions, and share your secret. Was it the content quality?, the distribution channels?, the timing? How might others learn from your best practices?

You worked hard on the content and needed to get it in front of the right eyes or ears, so you developed a channel strategy to drive growth.

You developed a new channel strategy to drive growth in subscribers and engagement. How did you succeed in getting your content in front of the right people at the right time via the right vehicle or media platform?

The placement of paid content in a media publication as part of your overall content marketing strategy.

You paid for on­going or one-time placement in mainstream or trade media, and you achieved significant results. Take us from concept to content ­creation to publication and explain how the native advertising effort supported your overall content marketing strategy.

You achieved a content marketing goal – and you proved it through a measurable ROI.

You identified a measurable goal, you set up proper attribution methods, and you achieved those goals. How did you deliver the successful results so that management understood and appreciated those efforts? Tell us about the small wins and the big wins.

For a marketer leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning tools/software to create and sustain smarter content programs. 

Show us how you are integrating artificial intelligence or machine learning technology into your overall content marketing strategy. How is it working, and what has been the biggest benefit of this use of technology?

Your outstanding one-time event or a series of in-person or virtual events run by your brand was a key part of your content marketing strategy. 

Sometimes you need to be together – in person or virtually), to have your audience look you in the eye and hear the sound of your voice. How did you deliver a great customer experience that drove further conversions?

You’ve surrounded your team with smart people who are an extension of your brand. This agency/client relationship has made you BFFs.

And as with all relationships and partnerships, it’s not just magic chemistry that makes for productive harmony, it’s hard work, candid communication, and even occasional conflict. How do you two pull it off?

You are leveraging influencers – industry leaders, bloggers, or others – who have the ear of your target audience.

Integrating influencers to both create and distribute your content can amplify your message. Share with us the strategy and the results of your trusted influential partnership.

The setup and approach is what allowed your content project to be discoverable, reusable, reconfigurable and adaptable.

It required a lot of forethought and productive and necessary planning. What was involved in the process that made your marketing more intelligent, effective and enduring?

Print complements the digital, and the digital amplifies the print. 

You’re long past merely dumping print copy online, and you know how to use a print following to create an online community. If you’re achieving it efficiently with amazing results, fill us in.

NOTE: PRINT EXAMPLES REQUIRED

Paid placement played a critical role in amplifying your content marketing program, and content marketing provided assets and data for your paid program. 

You’re pragmatic and strategic, and you’ve become adept at amplifying your content through paid placement. You know when advertising works, when pure content is best, and how each feeds the other. Share your thinking, and explain your approach and success.

Your content showed a commitment to thinking beyond products, services, and transactions to audiences and impacts.

Tell us how your content strategy makes purpose the source of your brand’s storytelling and how it speaks to the hearts and minds of your customers. How did it support your brand’s values, and how did it create connections and deepen engagement with your audience?

The best content-driven campaign to accomplish your specific B2B marketing objective.

This could be one piece of content or multiple pieces of content around a particular idea, and the brand or brand’s products and services are part of the content itself. We want to hear about your success!

The best content-driven campaign to accomplish your specific B2C marketing objective. 

This could be one piece of content or multiple pieces of content around a particular idea, and the brand or brand’s products and services are part of the content itself. We want to hear about your success!

Distribution

You’re collecting new data or analyzing existing data to share insights with your audience, or you’re using original research to tell high-performing, data-driven stories.

Tell us how you combined data and story to share new insights with your audience. How did you collect the data? What did your audience learn through your data-driven storytelling? What results did you see for your business?

Delivery of compelling content via email that gets your subscribers to open and click through to some amazing content.  

Your subscribers have asked for it, and you continue to deliver content that people like to receive in their inbox. Talk about your combination of information, voice, format and frequency, and how and why this works for your customers.

Social media is ever changing, the creation of consistent or visual content on social created an engaged user base.

The creation of consistent textual or visual content shared on social yielded high rewards in your content marketing program or groups, as well as an engaged user base. Explain the strategy behind the channel you used and share the results.

The creation of consistent content specific to multiple business social media accounts, as well as an engaged user base. 

Everybody uses social, but so few know how to integrate various channels without sounding repetitive. You use it beautifully, to place your brand at the center of the right kinds of conversations. Tell us your secrets, and show your content marketing colleagues the way.

The creation of consistent video content to one or multiple business accounts, as well as an engaged user base.

You successfully used video to capture the attention of customers and prospects. They loved it so much they shared it with their colleagues and friends. Congratulations. Now tell us about your storytelling and platforms!

A consistent employee/corporate blog showcasing topics critically relevant and important to your target audience. *Must submit a minimum of three (3) blog entries.

“Corporate blog” – the very words turn people off. Yet yours excites customers and prospects because it’s consistent, relevant, and personally compelling to them. Let us know how attract this audience!

This single blog entry shows how a well-written blog can humanize a leader or an organization, get a point across spontaneously and quickly, or create a fruitful dialogue with key constituents.

This blog post is an exemplar of style and substance. Show us your post, and how your readers responded.

A consistent corporate blog, but executed by multiple internal and/or external sources/influencers. *Must submit a minimum of three (3) blog entries.

Your blog offers consistent communication from a chorus of voices. Multiple different influencers from inside or outside your organization contribute to this rolling roundtable, which keeps your constituents informed and engaged. How do you choose your bloggers, and how do organize blog operations?

This blog helped focus an audience around a subject of mutual interest to the company and its customers and audience. *Must submit a minimum of three (3) blog entries.

You’re owning one subject of interest to your customers and audience – a subject that you know well, one you stick to with discipline and explore with imagination. How have you done it and with what results?

A regular series leveraging audio, radio or a podcast service that focuses on a particular topic. *Submit either the entire podcast series, or a minimum of three (3) consecutive podcast episodes. 

You’ve created a regular series of audio content that focuses on a particular topic. It’s consistent, relevant and personally compelling enough that people listen and engage. Your colleagues want to know: What’s your secret?

Your website exudes amazing storytelling, entertaining, informative, and emotionally compelling.

Like a friendly neighborhood tavern, your site is buzzing with engaging storytelling, relevant conversation, intelligent debates, and even useful advice. It’s a true digital experience. How did you build this, and how do you keep it up?

This video leaves audiences inspired, and moves them to take action.

The best thing about video storytelling is its power to elicit emotions. But content marketers must do more than bring out emotions, they need to harness them to make their audiences act. From concept to creation, how did you make a video or a video series that made people move?

A video that made an important point to a key audience, laser focused on one specific topic.

Sometimes the key to content marketing is not to overreach. One message, via one medium to one audience: That was your plan with this video, and the video hit its mark. What was your thinking, what did you produce, and what results did the video achieve?

A shortform video – one minute or less in length – was created to grab and guide your audience to take action. 

It often takes more time to write a poem than a story. It often takes more thought to create a short video than an film. How did you decide that short-form fit this subject, and what were the results that proved you were right?

This video series delivers real substance to audiences who need it.

The only thing better than a stunning standalone video is a series of them. How do you sustain interest? How did you make an impact with your series? Show us, and share the details.

eBooks are an ideal way to do a deep dive into an important topic — and make it look good along the way.

Tell us about your eBook that truly made an impact on your audience. This could be one or a series of ebooks.

Forget boring and dense. A modern approach to a white paper can turn heads.

Tell us about your white paper program that truly made an impact on your audience. This could be one or a series of white papers.

All of the elements of editorial and design come together to maximize the communication goals in this association industry publication.

Your association publication is simultaneously tailored to its strategic purpose and your specific audience. Tell us your publication’s goals and show us your achievement.

All of the elements of editorial and design come together to maximize the communication goals in this B2B publication.

Getting in front of key decision makers requires perfectly tailored content which is fascinating to read and engages the right decision makers. You’ve created a publication that is a cut above. Share your insights and tell us the success of your work.

All of the elements of editorial and design come together to maximize the communication goals in this B2C publication.

You developed a strategic purpose to get in front of an audience who have multiple options. Tell us your publication’s goals and show us your achievement.

All of the elements of editorial and design come together to maximize the communication goals in this nonprofit publication.

Editing and designing a nonprofit publication is more than content marketing. It’s a calling. But if your publication is going to fulfill its worthy aims, it must be sharply strategic in the editorial elements and pleasing in the design. Tell us your publication’s goals and show us what you’ve done.

Editorial

The publication was built and distributed in print or digital format creating success for the strategy.

There is no day more exciting than the day you say, “Let’s start a new publication!” And no day more daunting than the next day when you say, “Where do we begin?” Well, you built it. And distributed it. And it worked. Show us the publication, and tell us the story behind your story.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL MATERIALS REQUIRED

All the elements of editorial and design come together to help you meet your audience’s needs (and your communication goals) in this print publication.

Tell us your print publication’s goals and show us your achievement.

NOTE:PRINT REQUIRED

All of the elements of editorial and design come together to maximize the communication goals in this online publication.

Tell us your digital publication’s goals and show us your achievement.

From an engaging lead to a compelling conclusion, with lots of great content in between, this is an article readers raved about.

It begins with an engaging lead, it ends with a compelling conclusion, and it’s packed with information, anecdotes and emotion in between. This is the kind of article that draws readers back to your publication time after time. Show us the article, and tell us what it achieved.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL EXAMPLE REQUIRED

You ask the tough questions and probe for the obscure nuances, and readers come out feeling like they’ve had an intimate conversation with the subject.

Your great interview skills compelled your subject to share information that satisfied readers’ curiosity or made their eyebrows rise. They came away feeling like they know this person. Show us this piece!

Issue after issue, this is a familiar friend readers look forward to seeing.

Issue after issue, this is the familiar friend that readers can’t wait to turn to, for regular updates, grounding editorial wisdom or a reliable chuckle. The regular section anchors the digital or print publication, giving your readers a place to go first, or something to savor last.

Your first installment leaves readers wanting more, and the rest of the article series delivers on its promise.

This is sustained content marketing, and it does more than tell a story. It leads the reader on a journey with you, to a strategic destination.

From cover to cover, the content in your publication is so compelling readers will want to absorb every word.

From cover to cover, the content in your publication is so compelling and the design so pleasing that readers will want to absorb every word, linger on every layout. Show your content marketing colleagues how it’s done and tell us how you went about it.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL REQUIRED

You engage your readers and achieve important informational goals in this issue of your publication that’s devoted to a special topic.

You offer your audience a balanced diet of information. But occasionally you need to focus on a topic that’s important to your audience, and to you. You created a special, compelling issue of your publication on a single topic: Why, how, and with what results?

From the CEO letter to the last financial table, the content in your publication is so compelling readers and stakeholders will want to absorb every word.

Producing any annual report is so much work, you might as well make it great. And you did. From the CEO letter to the last financial table, your report is thorough, filled with answers to all the important questions, plus some compelling and empathetic stories that needed to be told.

Visual Storytelling

From cover to cover you publication keeps readers turning the pages.

The look and design of your print or digital publication continues to “Wow” your audience creating FOMO for each issue. Describe your strategic plan for the look and what elements you consistently used to attract and retain your intended audience.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL REQUIRED

Your editor entrusted you to give a story an award-winning layout, and you’re never one to disappoint.

The print or digital story your telling deserves an award-winning layout, and you’re never one to disappoint. Is it a cover design or featured layout within the pages? Show us your work.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL EXAMPLES REQUIRED

A picture is worth a thousand words, and when you’re trying to convey statistics, facts and figures, it could be worth more than that.

Sometimes only an infographic can make an abstract idea concrete, a complex concept simple, a detail or fact indisputible. You created an infographic like that. Show us!

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a strategic series of pictures can educate audiences.

Sometimes marketing needs graphics to make the message clear and compelling. If you’ve used three or more infographics to lead your audience down a single road, show us too!

Interactive infographics, like quizzes, research tools and gifs can tell a story and create engagement and conversation.

You created an interactive infographic (a quiz, a tool, a survey, etc.) that really made a huge impact in your content marketing program. Tell us how you did it.

You know exactly when to call on the imagination of an artist to communicate important ideas.

You know exactly when to call on the imagination of an artist to illustrate important ideas, and this was one time when idea plus art equaled communication. Show us the art it happen, and take us through the creative conversation.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL EXAMPLES REQUIRED

Your use of photography that’s integral to the feature makes for a stand-out spread or cover.

The images communicate what the text can’t say, creating a context that gives the viewer a new perspective. How did you get these photographs, how did you edit them, how did you choose which would work best? Show us the pictures and tell us the story behind them.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL EXAMPLES REQUIRED

Wow. Just wow. From concept to execution, from big picture to tiny details, you’ve outdone yourself—and everybody else.

The design makes us want to keep turning the pages for more. It’s beautiful, compelling, provocative, unique. Give us the inside story about your style. And tell us what impact the publication has had.

NOTE: PRINT OR DIGITAL EXAMPLES REQUIRED

Visual Storytelling

WINNER
Qantas magazine – Medium Rare Content Agency

FINALISTS

  • Ideas of Order Magazine, The Belonging Issue – Redbird Group and California Closets
  • Four Seasons Magazine Refresh – Pace – Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
  • Influx 09: Marking 15 years of motoring beauty – Maze
  • The State of Data Security – Rubrik and Shaped By

WINNER
SoftBank Autostore – Message Lab – SoftBank Vision Fund

FINALISTS
Citizen Developer – Message Lab – ServiceNow

WINNER
Where to Look for Late-life Income – Life Income – AARP

FINALISTS

  • The Top 10 Tech Trends Expected in 2023¬ – OneAffiniti
  • “How automation can turbocharge your sales team” – FORTUNE Brand Studio and Slack
  • METAVERSE A1 #ConnectLife – A1 Telekom Austria AG
  • Wasting Energy is a Hard Habit to Break – Questline Digital
I am tab content. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
I am tab content. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.