Picking the Right Category Is the Key to Winning Awards

Published June 6, 2025 by Edna Salcedo

Let’s be honest: when you’ve poured heart, hustle, and a few too many late nights into a great campaign, the last thing you want is to fumble your award entry because you chose the wrong category.

With 80+ categories to choose from in the Shorty Impact Awards, picking the right one(s) can feel like assembling IKEA furniture—there’s a right way, a wrong way, and a way that leaves you questioning all your life choices.

But don’t worry. We’re here to simplify the process and help you submit smart, strategically, and confidently.

Start by Defining What You’re Submitting

You can’t choose the right category if you don’t know what you’re entering.

Take a step back and get specific:

  • Is this a single campaign or part of a larger initiative?
  • Was it digital-only or a cross-platform effort?
  • Who was involved—your internal team, an agency, a nonprofit partner?

If you're submitting multiple projects, separate them early on and give each its own entry strategy. Don’t try to force one entry to do too much.

Set a Goal for Your Entry (Yes, You Should)

Many people skip this step—but setting a goal can radically improve the way you choose categories.

So, what does it mean to set a goal for entering?

It means defining why you're submitting in the first place. Are you:

  • Looking to celebrate your team and boost morale internally?
  • Hoping to build credibility in your industry or attract new clients?
  • Wanting to prove the success of a campaign through external validation?
  • Trying to benchmark your work against others in the field?

Your goals shape which categories will serve you best. For instance, if internal celebration is the aim, you might prioritize storytelling-heavy categories. If it’s about credibility, aligning with a specific industry or cause could make your brand more discoverable and respected.

Set your intention first—then build your category strategy around it.

Browse Categories with Strategy, Not Panic

Now that you’ve defined your project and set your goal, it’s time to match your work with the categories that fit best.

Here’s how we break things down at the Shorty Impact Awards:

  • By Cause: Mental Health, Gender Equality, Civic Engagement, Climate Change, and more
  • By Industry: From Finance and Health to Education and Travel
  • By Strategy, Media, or Design: Think Partnerships, Community Engagement, Generative AI, Podcasts, Use of Data, and more

A strong strategy is to layer your categories—choose one from each of the three types. For example:

  • A cause that aligns with the mission of your project (e.g., Racial Equality)
  • An industry that your brand or campaign operates in (e.g., Tech)
  • A strategy/media/design category that highlights how you executed the work (e.g., Integrated Campaign, TikTok, Use of Data)

This not only increases your visibility with judges across specialties—it also aligns with different facets of your entry goal.

Case Study: The Wild – Algorithm Reset

Let’s check out a case study: The Wild: Algorithm Reset, a winning project that used satire and social commentary to spark a conversation about biased content moderation on Instagram, particularly how it affects animal rights creators.

Here’s how their category picks made strategic sense:

  • They submitted to Animal Rights & Welfare, aligning their mission with a clear cause that underscored the deeper purpose of the campaign.
  • They also entered the Instagram category, emphasizing the platform where the conversation—and their impact—happened.

By pairing a cause-based category with a platform one, they told a sharp story about why the campaign mattered and where it made a difference. It gave judges context while showing measurable relevance in a very specific space.

This approach reinforces the power of choosing categories that not only reflect what the project is about, but also how it played out in the real world.

Highlight the Strongest Element of Your Project

What’s the standout? What part of your campaign would you brag about in an elevator?

  • If it's your messaging: go for storytelling or content categories.
  • If it’s your reach: look at platform or engagement categories.
  • If it's a first-of-its-kind collaboration: partnerships or innovation might be your move.
  • If you’ve got numbers to back it up: enter Use of Data or Insights.

Let your strongest angle guide your category selection. You don’t have to tell the entire story in every category—just the most relevant one.

More Categories = More Chances (But Keep It Strategic)

There’s no cap on how many categories you can enter—but we recommend a curated approach. Generally:

  • One cause
  • One industry
  • One media/strategy/design

This structure hits different judging panels and increases your odds of being recognized across goals (from credibility to awareness to internal pride).

Also: submitting to 3 or more categories makes you eligible for the People of the Year category. That’s your chance to spotlight the people behind the work—the strategists, creatives, and changemakers—who made the magic happen.

Still Feeling Unsure? We're Here for That.

Picking the right category shouldn’t be a shot in the dark. If you’re unsure where your project fits, book time with our team. We’ll help you match your work to the categories that align best with your goals.

👉 Book a free strategy chat here

TL;DR

  • Define what you’re entering
  • Set a clear goal for submitting
  • Choose one category each from cause, industry, and strategy/media
  • Highlight your project’s strongest angle
  • Layer smartly = more visibility
  • Don’t overthink it—we can help

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