Judging Criteria

WEBSITE AWARDS

The judges will be looking for clear objectives, creative and effective implementation and tangible and demonstrable results in these categories. They will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:

Website Overview & Strategy (1-10 points)

Please provide the judges with a synopsis of what the website does and how it adds value to the end user. Please also provide details of the target audience and your overall strategy to reach them as well as the strategy to meet the overall objectives.

Please provide examples of Implementation, Innovation, Conversion & Creativity (1-10 points)

Please give us a detailed explanation of how you implemented the website outlining the innovation you used to make this website stand out amongst the crowd. Please also detail the conversion stats for the website including any screenshots necessary to demonstrate this.

Results & evaluation (1-10 points)

Please relate these to the objectives and targets stated above. Provide actual numbers rather than percentages wherever possible.

Why do you think you should win (1-10 points)

What do you think sets your website apart from the other entries being judged? Judges will be looking for the thing that makes this website unique.

Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission.
Optional – please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form.

Any entries that do not include information under these headings will be marked down.

CAMPAIGN/APPLICATION OF TOOLS/DATA AWARDS

The judges will be looking for clear objectives, creative and effective implementation and tangible and demonstrable results in these categories. They will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:

Objective(s) & budget (1-10 points)

Tell us what you were looking to achieve from the campaign and any targets that were set. We recommend showing targets as quantifiable metrics e.g., ‘Increase conversions from 150 to 300 a month’ rather than ‘Increase conversions by 10%’.

Please include a breakdown of implementation costs, staffing costs, agency fees etc. All elements of the entry form are confidential, and judges will not share this information. If you are unable to provide a detailed budget breakdown, please include the financial band your budget is within along with the percentage budget allocated for staffing costs, agency fees and media spend etc.

Target audience & strategy (1-10 points)

Please provide us with details about the audience you were targeting and your overall strategy to reach them as well as the strategy to meet the overall objectives.

Implementation & creativity (1-10 points)

Please give us a detailed explanation of your implementation for the entry. Include screenshots to help us visualise campaigns. Provide information on the creativity of the entry.

Details of any challenges faced and how these were overcome (1-10 points)

What challenges were unique to you and how have you overcome them? What was the end result of overcoming these challenges?

Results & evaluation (1-10 points)

Please relate these to the objectives and targets stated above. Provide actual numbers rather than percentages wherever possible.

Why should you win? (1-10 points)

What do you think sets your entry apart from the other entries being judged? Judges will in particular be looking for the thing that makes this entry different to the others, what is unique?

Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission
Optional – please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form

Any entries that do not include information under these headings will be marked down.

TOOLS/TECHNOLOGIES AWARDS

The judges will be looking for a clear description of the innovation, tool or technology, with an indication of budget. Judges will be looking for new features/tools added in the last twelve months for the tools awards. They will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:

Total budget

Please include costs associated with running the innovation/platform/tool and how much you intend to or do sell the innovation/platform/tool for.

Overview of platform/tool/innovation

Please provide the judges with a synopsis of what the tool does and how it adds value to the end user.

Existing problems and target audience (1-10 points)

Please include details outlining the problems that this platform/tool/innovation solves and how if at all these problems were previously dealt with. Entrants should detail who the target customers or users of this product are.

USP and Features (1-10 points)

Please outline what is the platform/tool/innovation unique proposition. Entrants should highlight the major features that are unique to the platform/tool/innovation which help solve a customer problem or benefit the customer positively.

Key Metrics (1-10 points)

Please detail what key metrics have you used to measure whether this platform/tool/innovation. I.e., does it save money, make things faster, and generate more revenue?

Why should your tool/innovation win? (1-10 points)

What single thing about your innovation, software or product is not done by anyone else? What makes it stand out to be award-worthy?

Please include a login and password for numerous users to access your tool/innovation.

We ask you to send a ‘UK Digital Growth Awards’ login to allow judges to be able to test and evaluate your product if they feel necessary. In addition, if you’d like to provide a demo or video, please provide the link below.

Please note if you’re unable to provide a login please contact awards@dontpanicprojects.com. Judging is based on the application form and the judges’ industry knowledge of the tools. They are a highly experienced judging panel with in-depth industry knowledge. The tool logins requested are for any judges who feel that want to delve deeper into any claims/functionality detailed in the entry.

Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission
Optional – please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form

Please include a link to an online demonstration of your product or send a short demonstration film to awards@dontpanicprojects.com. Please note that all entries into these categories must be supported by an online demo or video of the product. In addition, we ask you to send a ‘UK Digital Growth Awards’ login and password that can be used by the judges to test your product.

Any entries that do not include information under these headings will be marked down.

TEAM/AGENCY AWARDS

Judges will be looking for agencies or teams that can demonstrate an ongoing and sustained commitment to delivering best practice while showing a creative and innovative approach to digital marketing. Judges will also consider the structure, presentation and clarity of each entry.

Each entry must include information under the following headings:

Overview of the Agency/Team

Please include numbers, staff turnover, roles etc for agency and team nominations.

Agency/Team objectives (1-10 points)

Tell us what you were looking to achieve and any targets that have been set within the agency or team to help achieve your goals. We recommend showing targets as quantifiable metrics e.g., ‘Increase conversions from 150 to 300 a month’ rather than ‘Increase conversions by 10%’.

Recent work example(s) (1-10 points)

Please include details of recent client or campaign work. How does your recent work display creativity and make your team or agency stand out amongst others?

Details of any recent achievements (1-10 points)

What makes your team or agency stand out? Please include details of any achievements you feel make your agency or team worthy. What are you proud of?

Details of any challenges faced and how these were overcome (1-10 points)

What challenges were unique to you and how have you overcome them? What was the end result of overcoming these challenges?

Why should your Agency/Team win? (1-10 points)

Please detail what you feel makes you stand out amongst others and why you feel your entry is award-winning. What makes you unique? What gives you the competitive edge?

Please detail any supporting documents you are including as part of your submission
Optional – please upload to the online entry portal when submitting this entry form

Any entries that do not include information under these headings will be marked down.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All material will remain confidential to the judges. Winning case studies may be used in post-event materials to promote best practices and permission will be sought from entrants before publishing these.

TOP TIPS FROM THE JUDGES

Gerry White, ODA

1. Don’t waffle, make sure it is meat rather than buzzword stuff, if it feels like the paragraph doesn’t say anything all it does is frustrate smart judges. Concise answers are often better with a fuller explanation below.
2. Answer the question, all too often it feels like the question has been missed – going off tangent is fine but front load the answer to the question, we understand you often want to say something else something that really is important to you and your entry but our marking criteria means we need to be able to answer the question. In programming there is something called ‘rubber duck debugging’ imagine you are explaining this to a rubber duck it works well for programmers, and the same principle would apply to award entries.
3. Don’t underestimate the judges, if you say you have done XYZ, we can check – we have the knowledge and experience to validate many claims, our knowledge and experience are suitably high enough for us to be able to validate almost all claims. Percentage increases are valid but backed up with enough numbers that we understand it was a real impact not a low number to a still low number.

Daniel Evans, MSL Group

1. Tell a story! Numbers, clicks, growth, client satisfaction etc are all good as evidence to support why you should get an award, but they are not reasons in themselves.
2. Don’t be afraid of telling the bad as well as the good. good work in difficult circumstances, or challenges overcome, are just as award-worthy as effortless brilliance.
3. Remember that to be worthy of an award you need to stand out, not just be creditable. Emphasise what is exceptional about what you are submitting, including what constitutes the “normal” that you are standing out against. the judges may not be as familiar with your specific area of business as you are.