Today, we at the Local Search Association (LSA) announced the finalists for the 2017 Ad-to-Action Awards. With 172 entries across 11 categories, this was, once again, a true competition of merit.
“As the number of entries shows, digital marketers and advertisers are waking up to the critical importance of local and location-based marketing,” said LSA President Neg Norton. “This is our most successful award program to date, and it reflects that the industry is now on a path of continuous innovation.”
Our panel of expert judges reviewed entries from some of the most prominent media publishers, agencies and technology providers in the local marketing industry. Each entry was rated for innovation, ability to impact consumer actions (calls, clicks, store visits, etc.), ROI potential, ease of implementation and several other criteria. Each of these areas of focus were scored on a 10-point scale.
“The number of submissions and sheer caliber of the solutions pushing to further blur the lines between digital and physical channels is impressive,” said award judge Sherry Thomas-Zon, product management, mobile at Macy’s. “From engaging consumers with creative time-and-location based campaigns, to deploying rich analytics and extended personalization to in-store experiences, it was a pleasure to review such thought-provoking concepts and innovations.”
LSA will be announcing the winners at the LSA17 Conference in San Diego February 27 – March 1. Here are the finalists for each category:
PRESENCE MANAGEMENT
Brandify: Brandify is an industry leading provider of location based marketing solutions.
Yext: Yext enable companies of all sizes to manage location data across their websites, mobile apps, internal systems, and the industry’s largest ecosystem of maps, apps, social networks, directories, and search engines including Google, Apple, Facebook, Bing, and Yahoo.
VERTICALS & MARKETPLACES
MatchCraft: A real-time media-trading platform facilitating the purchase and sale of online media in an automated, web-based environment.
Unacast: Unacast is the #1 global proximity platform, connecting Proximity Solution Providers to Marketing Platforms.
ATTRIBUTION & ANALYTICS
Empyr: Empyr empowers companies to track and monetize online to offline (o2o) commerce using card linked offers.
FreshLime: FreshLime offers real-time marketing automation and customer engagement solutions.
LOCAL COMMERCE SERVICES
Agendize: Agendize provides a suite of conversion tools for publishers and marketers to turn online traffic into business.
MyTime: MyTime is an online appointment booking website that allows users to find and book appointments for local businesses.
SALES & MARKETING AUTOMATION
Customer Lobby: Customer Lobby enables local businesses to get more repeat business and build their online reputation.
ReachLocal: ReachLocal offers a total digital marketing system for local businesses to help them get more customers online.
MOBILE
eKomi: eKomi provides the e-commerce community with customer feedback and marketing services.
ShopAdvisor: ShopAdvisor enables agencies, brands, retailers, publishers, and shopping malls to power mobile shopping experiences that drive consumers’ path to purchase in brick-and-mortar locations.
SOCIAL & REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
BrandMuscle: Brandmuscle offers a comprehensive Local Marketing Automation platform backed by 24/7 on-demand support to help national brands capitalized on opportunities and local market conditions with brand-compliant, customized marketing across all mediums and formats.
Shout About Us: Shout About Us is a web development company that produces online review management software.
BEST LOCAL SEARCH CAMPAIGN
Location3: Location3 is a digital marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado that delivers enterprise-level strategy with local market activation for global brands.
Rio SEO: Rio SEO simplifies complex local search marketing to convert searches into sales. They partner with global, multi-location brands to optimize local listings and content across every major search engine – on every device.
BEST USE OF LOCATION
Swirl: Swirl’s mobile presence management and marketing platform enables retailers to get more from every shopper visit.
Balihoo: Balihoo increases the ROI of paid search, display and social campaigns by dramatically improving the local relevance of ads.
BEST CREATIVE
Verve: Verve is a location-based mobile marketing platform that connects advertisers with consumers to deliver successful business outcomes.
Scorpion: Scorpion is an award-winning internet marketing company that provides marketing services such as web design, SEO, PPC, and more.
BEST OMNI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGN
Kenshoo: Kenshoo is the global leader in agile marketing. Kenshoo’s mission is to empower every marketer in the world with technology to build brands and generate demand across all media.
Gray Sole Media: Gray Sole Media is a digital media agency connecting seasoned digital marketing, advertising, creative, and integrated media professionals, seeking to diversify their freelance portfolio, with small to mid-size companies, non-profits and startups wanting to cultivate or expand their brand.
To find out who wins, join the LSA in San Diego February 27 – March 1 at the LSA17 Conference. Click here to learn more.