Got a kickass social campaign? Enter the Bees Awards

Social media campaigns are big business. A couple of years ago Hubspot estimated that some US$3.08-billion was spent just on advertising on social networking sites. That number has undoubtedly grown (Twitter alone is expected to bring in close to US$1-billion from ads next year), especially when you consider the results of a recent Gartner survey, which showed that most people now see social as being nearly as important as a corporate website and more traditional forms of online advertising.

A 2012 study by research company Millward-Brown meanwhile showed that there was a direct correlation between how successful a company is and how well it uses social media. Research from eMarketer also suggests that brands can profit dramatically from a well-executed social campaign.

It makes sense therefore that well executed social media campaigns should be rewarded. Enter the Bees Awards, a San Francisco-based award for the best use of social media, now in its fourth iteration.

Entries are now open for the awards, which have previously rewarded the likes of Ogilvy Cape Town’s mobile campaign for Black Label beer — which allowed soccer fans to “Be the Coach” and choose players for two of the country’s premier soccer sides, also stands out — and Canadian company Agence Tuxedo‘s “Go Beyond The Cover“, which used the tattoo-covered Rico Genest (a.k.a. Zombie Boy) to demonstrate how effective cosmetic company DermaBlend’s concealing products are.

Entries for the awards close on 12 April.