[UPDATE, Sepember 2013: Entries for the 2013 Forrester Groundswell Awards are now closed. More than 100 companies entered more than 130 social programs this year, and we're looking forward to reviewing them and recognizing the best at our 2013 eBusiness Forum on November 5.]

Every year since 2007, Forrester has recognized the very best social media programs from around the world — and I’m thrilled to announce we’re now accepting entries for the seventh annual Forrester Groundswell Awards.

The rules are simple: Entries should represent the effective use of social technologies to advance an organizational goal. The more data you can offer to prove this, the better your chances of winning. You can enter using our online form. If you win, you get a nice shiny trophy, a winner’s badge for your website, and lots of recognition from Forrester. And this year’s deadline is August 30, 2013.

There’s just one big change for 2013: We’re introducing new categories for the awards based on Forrester’s marketing RaDaR research. So this year, both our business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) awards will offer four categories:

  • Social reach. This category recognizes social programs that delivered marketing messages to new audiences. (After all, people can’t discover what you’re selling if they’re never exposed to it.) If your social program was designed to create awareness for your brand or product or promotion, it was probably an example of social reach marketing. If you focused your efforts on word-of-mouth marketing, paid social advertising, or thought leadership work, it also probably fits into this category.
  • Social depth. This category recognizes social programs that helped prospects explore your products in detail and make a purchase decision. If your social program was designed to close existing prospects or leads, it was probably an example of social depth marketing. If you focused your efforts on on-site social tools like blogs, ratings and reviews, or communities that help prospects get information from existing customers, it also probably fits into this category.
  • Social relationship. This category recognizes social programs that engaged existing fans and customers in order to increase their lifetime value. If your social program was designed to create loyalty and repeat business, it was probably an example of social relationship marketing. If you focused your efforts on branded Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Pinterest pinboards, or LinkedIn groups, it also probably fits into this category.
  • Mobile. Okay, we admit it: This one’s not necessarily social. But did you use mobile tools to accomplish business and marketing goals? If you did a great job using mobile apps, mobile websites, mobile search, mobile ads, or other mobile tactics — and those tactics generated business value — then you should enter in this category.

We’ve also updated our business-to-employee (B2E) categories to better recognize social programs that companies target to their own workforces:

  • Collaboration. These programs help employees work better together using collaboration and social technology.
  • Mobility. These programs improve employee or partner productivity with mobile apps on smartphones or tablets.
  • Consumerization. These programs deliver measurable business outcomes with BYO device or consumer applications.

Remember: The deadline is August 30. You’ve got eight weeks to prepare and submit your company’s best social work. We look forward to your entries!