HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Web Marketing Association judges will select the best email advertising campaigns in 86 industries as part of their 11th annual Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards. The IAC Awards are the first and only industry-based advertising award competition dedicated exclusively to online advertising. Companies or agencies wishing to nominate their work for consideration may do so at www.IACward.org before the deadline of January 31, 2013.

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"Email marketing is the workhorse of online marketing for many companies trying to maintain an ongoing relationship with customers and prospects," said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association.  "The creative used in an email marketing campaign has gone from text only to highly personalized ads targeting highly segmented lists.  Each email advertisement and campaign will be judged on creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, and use of the medium. The IAC Awards provides an opportunity to find out who is doing an outstanding job creating email advertising. It's also a great marketing opportunity for the winners to promote their work to senior management, customers and prospects their outstanding work".

The 2013 Internet Advertising Competition Awards will accept entries from 86 industries, including airline, biotech, B2B, consumer goods, education, health care, financial services, professional services, technology and travel just to name a few. Entries judged to be outstanding will receive an IAC Award. The entry receiving the highest score in each industry will be recognized as the best email advertisement for that industry.

The 2012 Best of Show winner for Email Campaign was VerticalResponse for VerticalResponse Customers Get Their Deal On.

Past Top Email Advertisements for include:

The 2013 Internet Advertising Competition Awards are open to all organizations and individuals (advertising and interactive agencies, corporate marketing departments, etc.) involved in the process of developing Internet advertising. Entries may be submitted online at http://www.iacaward.org.  The deadline for entry is January 31, 2013 and will be judged on creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, and use of the medium.

In addition to individual email creative and email campaigns, Awards will be presented within each of the industry categories and advertising formats such as:

Social Media
Online Video
Rich media ads
Web sites (including microsites and landing pages)
Online ads (including banner, pop-up or interstitial)
Online applications
Online newsletter campaign
Integrated ad campaign
Mobile Apps
Ads the client did not choose

"We believe that winning an industry specific award is more valuable to the participant.  It allows the participants to be judges against their peers, just like in the marketplace," said Rice.

Interactive agencies that win multiple awards will also be in the running for Top Agency Award. In a change from prior years, each entrant will be awarded points based on the level of award for each award received. A Best of Show will be worth 5 points, Best of Industry 3 points and each Outstanding award 1 point. The agency with the most points will be awarded the Top Agency Award.

In the 10^th annual IAC Awards, Saatchi & Saatchi LA was recognized with the 2012 Top Agency Award, winning 17 IAC Awards. Their awards include 7 Best of Industry awards and 10 Outstanding awards.

In an effort to recognize those organizations that demonstrate exceptional development skills across multiple entries, agencies that win more the 6 awards will also be recognized with an Outstanding Advertising Developer award from the Web Marketing Association. In 2012, ten agencies won this honor.

Judging for the IAC Awards will take place in February, 2013, and winners will be notified by e-mail in March, 2013. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet advertising professionals with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web advertising.

The 2013 Internet Advertising Competition Awards are sponsored by Burst Media, BGT Partners, PR Newswire, ExactTarget, EContent Magazine, ad:tech conferences, Internet World UK, Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster Radio and Website Magazine.

A complete list of past winners can be found at the IAC Award Website.

About the Web Marketing Association

The Web Marketing Association is an organization working to create a high standard of excellence for Web site development and marketing on the Internet. Staffed by volunteers, it is made up of Internet marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of online advertising, Internet marketing and promotion used to attract visitors to Web sites. The Web Marketing Association's two annual award programs, the WebAward Competition and the Internet Advertising Competition Awards, have been helping interactive professionals promote themselves, their companies, and their best work to the outside world since 1997.

SOURCE Web Marketing Association