1. Best Integrated Social Media Campaign
This category recognises campaigns that masterfully combine multiple social media channels and strategies into a seamless, unified brand experience. Judges will assess the creativity, consistency, and coordination of the campaign across different platforms, as well as how each channel was leveraged to amplify the overall message. Winning entries should demonstrate measurable success, cohesive storytelling, and an impactful presence that resonated strongly with the target audience.
2. Best Multi-Platform Campaign *NEW*
This category honours campaigns that seamlessly integrated multiple social media platforms to deliver a unified and impactful brand message. Judges will assess the creativity, consistency, and effectiveness of cross-platform storytelling, as well as how each channel was optimised to achieve campaign objectives and drive meaningful results.
3. Best Real Time Response / Newsjacking
This category celebrates campaigns that displayed exceptional agility and creativity in responding to trending topics, cultural moments, or breaking news. Judges will evaluate how effectively the campaign leveraged timeliness to capture attention, spark engagement, and stay authentic to the brand’s voice. Entries should showcase strategic execution, cultural relevance, and meaningful impact in connecting with audiences in the moment.
4. Best Social Amplification Campaign
This category recognises campaigns that successfully expanded their reach and influence through smart amplification tactics. Judges will assess the creative use of user-generated content, influencer partnerships, and brand collaborations to extend visibility and deepen audience engagement. Winning entries will highlight how amplification strategies not only drove awareness but also created authentic connections and measurable impact.
5. Best Social Brand Launch / Relaunch
This category honours campaigns that made a powerful first impression or a memorable comeback on social media. Judges will look for launches or relaunches that built excitement, generated buzz, and sparked meaningful conversations. Entries should demonstrate innovative use of social channels to create anticipation, drive awareness, and achieve positive audience reception, leaving a lasting mark on the brand’s digital journey.
6. Best Social Commerce Campaign
This category celebrates campaigns that successfully turned social media engagement into sales and conversions. Judges will evaluate how effectively the campaign integrated shoppable content, live commerce, or innovative platform features to drive e-commerce results. Winning entries should showcase creativity in execution, seamless customer experience, and strong measurable outcomes in meeting commercial objectives.
7. Best Social Media Advertising Campaign
This category recognises outstanding use of paid social media advertising to achieve marketing goals. Judges will consider the creativity of ad formats, precision of audience targeting, and overall effectiveness in driving awareness, engagement, or conversion. Entries should demonstrate how paid campaigns were strategically crafted to maximise ROI and deliver tangible results.
8. Best Social Media Analytics and Insights
This category honours the smart use of data and insights to shape successful social media strategies. Judges will assess the quality and depth of analysis, as well as how data-driven decision-making informed campaign planning, optimisation, and performance. Winning entries should show clear evidence of how insights translated into impactful actions that elevated results.
9. Best Social Media Campaign for a Specific Audience
This category recognises campaigns that demonstrated deep audience understanding and tailored engagement strategies for a clearly defined target group. Judges will evaluate the use of audience insights, customised messaging, and strategic channel selection to create relevant and resonant experiences. Entries should highlight how the campaign successfully connected with the intended audience and drove measurable impact.
10. Best Social Media Campaign: Facebook
This category celebrates campaigns that excelled on the Facebook platform by creating engaging, purposeful, and impactful content. Judges will assess creativity, execution, and results, with particular focus on how the campaign leveraged Facebook’s unique features to achieve objectives and foster meaningful community interaction.
11. Best Social Media Campaign: Instagram
This category honours campaigns that thrived on Instagram through visually compelling and creatively executed content. Judges will consider how effectively the campaign used the platform’s strengths—including Reels, Stories, and interactive features—to engage audiences and deliver measurable impact. Winning entries will demonstrate standout creativity and strong alignment with campaign goals.
12. Best Social Media Campaign: TikTok / Douyin
This category recognises campaigns that tapped into the dynamic, trend-driven nature of TikTok or Douyin to achieve extraordinary engagement. Judges will assess the creativity, cultural relevance, and resonance of the campaign with the platform’s youthful, energetic community. Entries should highlight how the campaign leveraged virality, authenticity, and short-form storytelling to drive impact.
13. Best Social Media Campaign: YouTube
This category celebrates campaigns that maximised the power of video storytelling on YouTube. Judges will evaluate content quality, creativity, audience engagement, and overall effectiveness in achieving campaign objectives. Winning entries should showcase how YouTube was strategically used to deliver compelling narratives, build communities, and drive measurable results.
14. Best Social Media Community Management
This category honours campaigns or strategies that demonstrated excellence in building and nurturing online communities. Judges will assess how brands or individuals fostered meaningful dialogue, cultivated loyalty, and created safe, engaging spaces for their audiences. Entries should show clear evidence of strong community relationships and measurable improvements in brand trust and advocacy.
15. Best Social Media Crisis Management
This category recognises campaigns that effectively navigated challenges or crises through timely and strategic use of social media. Judges will evaluate the brand’s responsiveness, transparency, and ability to maintain reputation under pressure. Winning entries should demonstrate strong communication strategies, thoughtful audience engagement, and successful outcomes in crisis resolution.
16. Best Social Media Customer Service
This category celebrates exceptional use of social media channels to deliver timely, effective, and customer-centric support. Judges will assess responsiveness, problem-solving efficiency, and the quality of customer interactions. Entries should highlight how social customer service improved satisfaction, strengthened relationships, and contributed to brand reputation.
17. Best Social Media Education or Awareness Campaign
This category honours campaigns that leveraged social media to raise awareness or educate audiences on important issues. Judges will consider creativity, clarity of message, and the campaign’s ability to drive understanding, spark conversations, and inspire positive action. Winning entries should demonstrate meaningful impact and strong audience engagement.
18. Best Social Media Engagement Strategy
This category recognises innovative approaches designed to capture attention and encourage audience interaction. Judges will evaluate how effectively the campaign fostered active participation through creative tactics, platform features, or interactive content. Entries should showcase measurable growth in engagement and highlight how it contributed to overall campaign success.
19. Best Social Media Innovation
This category celebrates campaigns that pushed the boundaries of creativity and technology in social media marketing. Judges will assess originality, boldness, and effectiveness in introducing new formats, tools, or approaches. Winning entries should exemplify how innovation redefined possibilities in the social media space and drove significant impact.
20. Best Social Media Loyalty Program *NEW*
This category recognises campaigns that successfully leveraged social media to build, enhance, or reinvent customer loyalty programmes. Judges will look for innovative use of platforms to reward, engage, and retain customers, showcasing how social interactions and incentives translated into stronger brand affinity and measurable loyalty outcomes.
21. Best Social Media Partnerships: Art, Culture, Brand, or Entertainment
This category honours exceptional collaborations that bring together brands, individuals, and partners from the worlds of art, culture, brands, or entertainment to create impactful social media campaigns. Judges will assess how creatively and authentically these partnerships were executed, and the extent to which they elevated brand visibility, drove meaningful engagement, and resonated within the chosen domain. Winning entries should demonstrate cultural relevance, originality, and measurable results.
22. Best Social Media Partnerships: Celebrities
This category celebrates collaborations between brands and celebrities that successfully harnessed star power to drive social media engagement. Judges will evaluate the creativity, authenticity, and alignment of the partnership with the brand message, as well as how effectively the celebrity’s influence was leveraged to resonate with audiences and deliver measurable impact.
23. Best Social Media Partnerships: Influencers
This category acknowledges campaigns that effectively collaborated with influencers to build credibility, extend reach, and engage target audiences. Judges will consider the authenticity and creativity of the partnership, the influencer’s relevance and alignment with the brand, and the campaign’s ability to generate meaningful conversations, engagement, and results within its intended community.
24. Best Social Media Use of Emerging Technologies
This category celebrates campaigns that have embraced cutting-edge technologies—such as augmented reality, virtual reality, AI, or other emerging tools—to transform their social media strategies. Judges will assess how these technologies were creatively integrated to enhance user experiences, drive engagement, and achieve campaign objectives. Winning entries should showcase innovation, bold execution, and measurable success.
25. Best Use of Account Based Marketing
This category recognises outstanding application of account-based marketing (ABM) on social media platforms. Judges will evaluate the precision of audience targeting, the creativity of tailored content, and the effectiveness of personalised strategies in strengthening relationships with key accounts. Winning entries should demonstrate how social-driven ABM contributed directly to business growth and measurable results.
26. Best Use of AI
This category celebrates the innovative and impactful application of artificial intelligence in social media campaigns. Entries may highlight AI-driven efforts in content creation, predictive audience targeting, campaign optimisation, social listening, or automation. Judges will assess originality, effectiveness, and measurable results, while also considering ethical considerations in how AI was applied. Winning entries should illustrate how AI elevated performance and created value for both brands and audiences.
27. Best Use of Cause Marketing in a Social Media Campaign
This category honours campaigns that authentically championed social or environmental causes through the power of social media. Judges will evaluate the creativity and sincerity of the messaging, the effectiveness in engaging audiences, and the tangible impact achieved for the cause. Winning entries should showcase how brands went beyond promotion to inspire action, foster meaningful conversations, and create lasting positive change.
28. Best Use of Gamification *NEW*
This category celebrates campaigns that creatively applied gamification elements—such as challenges, rewards, interactivity, or competition—to engage audiences on social media. Judges will look for entries that demonstrate how gamified experiences boosted participation, deepened brand connection, and encouraged repeat engagement.
29. Best Use of Interactive Elements in a Social Media Campaign
This category celebrates campaigns that creatively use interactive features—such as polls, challenges, quizzes, or contests—to capture audience attention and encourage participation. Judges will assess the originality, engagement, and effectiveness of these interactive elements, as well as how they enhanced the overall campaign experience. Winning entries should demonstrate measurable impact, audience delight, and the ability to foster meaningful connections between the brand and its community.
30. Best Use of Live Streaming
This category recognises campaigns that harnessed the power of live streaming to connect with audiences in real-time. Judges will evaluate creativity, audience engagement, and the overall impact of the live streaming experience. Winning entries should showcase how live broadcasts were used strategically to build excitement, deepen relationships, drive participation, and deliver measurable results for the campaign.
31. Best Use of Long-Form Video for a Campaign*
This category recognises the effective use of long-form video content (typically over 3 minutes in duration)—such as YouTube series, branded documentaries, or episodic storytelling—as a central pillar of a social media campaign. Judges will assess how entries used in-depth narratives, high-quality production, and sustained storytelling to build emotional connections, strengthen brand positioning, and deliver meaningful impact over time. Duration guidelines are indicative, not strict cut-offs.
*Was previously ‘Best Video in a Social Media Campaign’
32. Best Use of Short-Form Video for a Campaign *NEW*
This category celebrates the most impactful use of short-form video content (typically under 60–90 seconds in duration)—such as TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts—within a social media campaign. Judges will look for entries that demonstrate platform-native creativity, trend-savvy execution, and the ability to capture attention within seconds. Winning campaigns will showcase how short-form storytelling drove high engagement, virality, and resonance with the intended audience. Duration guidelines are indicative, not strict cut-offs.
33. Best Use of Social Media for a Campaign
This category celebrates campaigns that demonstrate outstanding use of social media to achieve specific marketing objectives. Judges will evaluate creativity, strategic execution, and measurable results, focusing on how the campaign itself engaged audiences and delivered impact. Entries can be on one or multiple platforms, but the emphasis is on the overall effectiveness and execution of the campaign.
Not to be confused with Best Use of Social Media Platforms, which focuses on multi-platform strategy and optimisation.
34. Best Use of Social Media Platforms
This category recognises campaigns that strategically leverage multiple social media platforms to maximise reach and engagement. Judges will assess how content is tailored for each platform, how the channels work together to reinforce the brand message, and how this multi-platform approach drives measurable results. The focus is on cross-platform strategy, optimisation, and cohesion, rather than the campaign’s overall performance alone.
Not to be confused with Best Use of Social Media for a Campaign, which evaluates the overall campaign impact regardless of platform strategy.
35. Best Use of Storytelling in a Social Media Campaign
This category honours campaigns that excel in using compelling storytelling to engage and connect with audiences. Judges will assess the creativity, narrative quality, and emotional resonance of the storytelling, as well as how effectively it conveyed the brand message. Winning entries should demonstrate the power of narrative to captivate audiences, spark conversations, and drive meaningful engagement.
36. Best Use of Tribal Marketing
This category recognises campaigns that successfully build and engage passionate online communities around shared interests, values, or identities. Judges will evaluate how the campaign fostered belonging, encouraged active participation, and leveraged the community’s collective power to achieve objectives. Successful entries will demonstrate authentic engagement, meaningful interactions, and a measurable impact on brand loyalty and advocacy.
37. Best User-Generated Content Campaign
This category celebrates campaigns that effectively harness user-generated content to amplify brand visibility and engagement. Judges will assess the creativity, authenticity, and strategic use of content created by users, as well as its impact on campaign success. Winning entries should show how user contributions enhanced storytelling, strengthened community engagement, and achieved measurable results.
38. Best Viral Social Media Campaign
This category honours campaigns that achieved viral success, capturing widespread attention and engagement on social media. Judges will evaluate the creativity, execution, and factors that drove virality, including audience appeal, shareability, and cultural relevance. Winning entries should demonstrate the campaign’s ability to resonate deeply, generate buzz, and leave a lasting impression across social platforms.
39. Best Campaign by a Nano Influencer
This category acknowledges the remarkable campaigns orchestrated by nano influencers, whose follower count was fewer than 10,000 followers during the campaign. Judges will assess the campaign’s effectiveness, creativity, and authenticity in creating meaningful connections and engagements within the nano influencer’s intimate and dedicated following.
40. Best Campaign by a Micro Influencer
This category honours campaigns led by micro influencers, whose follower count was fewer than 100,000 followers during the campaign period. Judges will evaluate the campaign’s creativity, authenticity, and impact on engagement and conversion within the micro influencer’s dedicated and engaged community.
41. Best Campaign by a Macro Influencer
This category celebrates outstanding campaigns conducted by macro influencers, whose follower count was fewer than 1,000,000 followers during the campaign period. Judges will assess the campaign’s effectiveness, creativity, and resonance with the macro influencer’s audience, considering the influencer’s significant reach.
42. Best Campaign by a Mega Influencer
This category recognises exceptional campaigns executed by mega influencers, whose reach extends to more than 1,000,000 followers. Judges will evaluate the campaign’s creativity, impact, and alignment with the influencer’s brand while considering the extensive reach and influence of the mega influencer.
43. Overall Agency HashMaster (Not for Entry)
This title is not open for direct entry, and is based solely on performance across all categories. It recognises the agency with the most successful performance at the Hashtag Asia Awards, based solely on the number and type of awards won as determined by the Hashtag Asia Awards jury.
Points System:
- Gold: 4 points
- Silver: 2 points
- Bronze: 1 point
Points Allocation for Multiple Agencies:
- Lead Agency: When multiple agencies collaborate on a winning entry and a lead agency is identified, the lead agency receives full points towards the overall awards. Non-lead agencies on that entry will each receive 25% of the points respectively.
- Joint Submission: If two agencies declare an equal partnership on a winning entry, each agency receives 50% of the points towards the overall awards.
Tie-Breakers:
- Most Gold: If total points are tied, the agency with the highest number of Gold awards wins.
- Most Silver: If Gold awards are also tied, the agency with the highest number of Silver awards wins.
- Highest Average Score: If a tie still persists, the agency with the highest average score percentage (as assigned by the judges across all their winning entries) will win.
44. Overall Brand HashMaster (Not for Entry)
This title is not open for direct entry, and is based solely on performance across all categories. It recognises the brand with the most successful performance at the Hashtag Asia Awards, based solely on the number and type of awards won as determined by the Hashtag Asia Awards jury.
Points System:
- Gold: 4 points
- Silver: 2 points
- Bronze: 1 point
Tie-Breakers:
- Most Gold: If total points are tied, the brand with the highest number of Gold awards wins.
- Most Silver: If Gold awards are also tied, the brand with the highest number of Silver awards wins.
- Highest Average Score: If a tie still persists, the brand with the highest average score percentage (as assigned by the judges across all their winning entries) will win.
