Hollywood has the Oscars.
The National Football League has the Super Bowl.
And Major League Baseball has the World Series.
So how do the best of the best small business marketers get recognized? With a Constant Contact All Star Award!
Every year, we recognize the small business and nonprofit organizations that have gone above and beyond with their marketing efforts, and have found great success.
We’ve just selected the top performers for 2011, so why don’t we open the envelopes and announce the winners!
How do you become an All Star?
Alright, before we announce the winners, let’s talk about what you have to do to become an All Star.
For one thing, only 10% of our customers qualify. Here are some other examples of the criteria that go into the selection process:
- Having been a customer the entire calendar year
- Consistently high open rates (greater than 25%), click through rates, and low bounce rates
- Regular contact with your audience, or sending at least three surveys, or publishing at least three events
- Using tools like Join My Mailing List to grow your audience, either on your website or on Facebook
- Using social tools to share and promote your content or events
- Regularly viewing your reports to see how you’re doing
What do the All Stars win?
Other than the glory of knowing you’re ahead of the class, and success for your business or organization, there are some real rewards for being an All Star.
In the past, winners have received early peeks at new products and features, exclusive content, and special recognition and promotion, including featured case studies and special badges for their website.
This year, we’re sweetening the deal!
All of our winners will continue to get first access to and sneak peeks at new products and features, and will be eligible to receive promotional opportunities, such as professional videos, promotion on our Facebook Page and other social channels, and the chance to be featured as a case study, which will expose your business or organization to our entire customer base.
Winners will also get to take part in All Star–only contests, with the chance to win even more prizes.
And … Our top All Star will receive a radio ad package worth $25,000!
Alright, enough build-up. So who won?
For the 2011 awards, we chose top winners in five All Star categories. Here they are … Drumroll please!
Best Overall All Star – This winner met all our criteria to the highest degree
Winter Park Resort – Winter Park, Colo.
Best Overall All Star, Runners-Up
Giant Loop Moto – Bend, Ore.
Creative Play Center – Pleasant Hill, Calif.
Craigies Farm Shop and Café – Edinburgh, U.K.
Best Use of JMML Tool, non-Facebook
Wise Snacks – Atlanta, Ga.
Best Use of JMML Tool, Facebook
Smocked Auctions – Dallas, Texas
Highest Open Rates
Arthur Murray Dance Studios – Oxnard, Calif.
Hudson Health Plan – Tarrytown, N.Y.
Fashion Doll Quarterly – New York, N.Y.
Farmers District Office – San Mateo, Calif.
Most Emails Shared by Their Customers
TeeFury – Irvine, Calif.
Bay Area Paramedic Journal Club – Dublin, Calif.
Made It Ltd – Yamba, Australia
BMT Promotions and Talent – Atlanta, Ga.
And that’s not all. Additional winners will be notified by email, so watch your inbox!
We’re proud of you!
At Constant Contact, we believe that relationships matter. We’re so proud when our customers believe that too, and it’s reflected in their marketing efforts.
Congratulations to all of our winners! Stay tuned here on the Constant Contact Blog to learn more about the ones named above and others.
Are you a winner? Feel free to share your acceptance speech in the comments field below!
What a great contest! How can we enter the next one? We seem to qualify for all the requirements listed above.
Thanks!
Isabelle
Hi Isabelle.
Technically, this is not a contest you can enter. We select our top customers each year based on qualifications such as, but not limited to, those listed above.
Keep on doing what you’re doing and maybe next year will be your year!
- Martin
Congratulations to all the winners!
I’m hoping that one day one of my clients will win, particularly in the Highest Open Rates, since all of their emails are 40+%.
The are private membership clubs so not really looking for add on subscribers (you have to be a member to get the emails). They have Facebook & Twitter accounts, but again only accept the “friend” requests from members. They only “forward” emails when it is a member-guest event so we don’t get many forwards except for those emails. So it looks like they could only qualify in the Highest Open Rate Category. They all have business and home emails and we find they read our emails at one or the other but not usually both so we think it’s great to have the open rates we have. Maybe you could consider adding a “Private Club or Subscription Group” Category.
That said, I’m really impressed with those who won. Kudos
Thank you,
Linda
we just received a notice that we are a 2011 All Star Award Winner. Yet i don’t see it listed on your blog or the facebook page. Thank you, Kelly Ashi Aromatics Inc.
Me too Kelly! What’s up with that??? Lee via My French Chateau
Hi Lee and Kelly.
We had too many winners to list here, so we just included the top ones in our blog post (and on our Facebook Page). But we’re proud of each and every one of you!
- Martin
Hi guys…got your email! Thanks for the award for Brasserie Sixty6 restaurant in Dubli, Ireland! Means a lot to us as we take our online engagement very seriously!
http://www.facebook.com/brasseriesixty6restaurant
Congratulations to you all! It’s a very well deserved honor.
Same with us, Brooklyn Park Recreation and Parks!
TPI Solutions Ink is thrilled to be an All-Star for the second year in a row! Thank you so much for the recognition and congratulations to all of the winners!
No need to thank us, Carrie. You did all the work yourself.
You earned this honor. Congrats to you!
Wow! Thanks Constant Contact! Evolve Bootcamp is PUMPED to be recognized as a 2011 All -Stars! Thank You, Shelley Devine Evolve Bootcamp
https://www.facebook.com/pages/EVOLVE-BOOTCAMP/244470005570530
Thank you for selecting Hood River Lavender Farms once again as an All Star! We appreciate it and love Constant Contact!!
Thank you Constant Contact for choosing Hudson Health Plan as one of your 2011 All Stars!
Thanks for recognizing the efforts of the Blue Microphones team with the Constant Contact All-Star Award. Not ashamed to say we’ve been working on it this year.
Thank you Constant Contact for awarding my holistic healing business with an All Star Award for 2011. I appreciate it! And, congratulations to all the other winners!
Is there a comprehensive list posted somewhere that shows all the winners? I’d love to see them all!
Yours,
Laura West, RMT
Owner, Divine Lotus Healing, LLC.
Not at this time, Laura.
Congrats to you and your business!
Thank you for the All Star Award for Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. We have found this has been our most cost effective and efficient way to communicate to our members through email and facebook. Thanks, again!
Jenny Van Hoy
Administrative Assistant
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
We also just received our Constant Contact All Star winner’s notice again this year. Thanks everyone at Constant Contact! We have used your service for over 10 years now, sending our customers a once per month opt-in email newsletter, and the results have been astounding. Constant Contact plays a key part in our promotional program. In fact, together with the web site, our newsletter program forms the basis of all our marketing success.
–Kirstie Bennett
The Framer’s Workshop
Berkeley, Ca
http://www.framersworkshop.com
https://www.facebook.com/framersworkshop
No, Kirstie … Thank YOU. We love all of our customers, and we’re so happy when they find success from using our tools.
Congratulations to you and your business.
Your email for the 2011 All Star award for Nicole’s Notes was a wonderful surprise today! Thank you for such a fantastic way to keep connected with audience members and other musicians–and I just had a new subscriber notice this morning!
It’s so very clear that your goal is relationships, and when I attended a Constant Contact seminar for Small Business Week in Bloomington, MN last year, even your CEO was right there relating personally to the attendees. Your excellent work allows me to go even further with my newsletter and given the choice, I would choose Constant Contact again–every time!
The 2011 All Star award is music to my ears!!
Get a free download when you sign up for my newsletter, Nicole’s Notes, at http://www.nicolewarner.com!
I just sent out a special edition of my newsletter to my list this morning thanking them for making this happen, because it was really my readers that did it–and I have received so many congratulations already! (Plus I’m giving away more mp3 downloads of one of my songs!) You are all true to your words with your actions–you want us to be successful and you make it so easy. Thanks again!
You’re very welcome, Nicole.
Congratulations again!
Thank you so much for the 2011 All Star Award for my newsletter. I was a winner last year as well so I feel very proud to be honoured again. I will be placing it on my website and in my next newsletter as well as announce it on twitter.
Constant Contact makes is very easy to stay in touch with my community and list to build great relationships.
I am an Australian dietitian and nutrition author. I wonder if there are many other Australian winners?
If others want to checkout my newsletter, then hop over to http://www.foodtalk.com.au and sign up.
thanks again
Trudy
We are so proud to be named an All Star {happy tears}
This confirms for us that we are consistently providing valuable information to our clients and followers in support of their goal to become more organized.
Thanks so much for tracking our success and recognizing it. OXOX
Thank you very much for the award. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without Constant Contact.
Ilia
Thank you so much for recognizing us for this award in 2011! We are truly excited and this is such a great way to give back to your (Constant Contact) customers too.
It really shows us here at the Bay Area Paramedic Journal Club that we are truly doing the right thing as a non-profit that provided education to Firefighters, EMT’s, Paramedics, and RN’s.
Come check us out if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area!
http://www.bapjc.org
http://www.facebook.com/bapjc
I’m giddy with excitement to be chosen along with others as part of the All-Star list. It gives me even more motivation to create more innovative e-newsletters. Love Constant Contact. Best bang for a small business’s (ok solo-preneur’s) marketing buck!
Thanks, Victoria Maxwell
(Crazy for Life Co. http://www.victoriamaxwell.com )
Where are the winners listed on Facebook? Is there anyway to get a list of the winners? It would be wonderful to see other businesses in our category and the winners overall.
I recently received notification that Sincerely Yours Coaching Services was named as a 2011 All Star Winner! I appreciate this recognition of my business, it was a nice surprise, as well as an honor!! Just validates why I’m a Constant Contact Customer~
Thanks for once again naming the Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce an All-Star this year!! Constant Contact has allowed us to communicate so much more effectively with our membership!! I appreciate your constant updates to templetes, they help keep my emails interesting for our readers. Keep up the good work!
You’re very welcome, Lisa, but we just gave you the tools. You did all the work, and did it very well.
Congratulations to you and the entire Lincolnton-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce.