XMA Cross Media Awards Highlight Reader Engagement

Paris, France and Darmstadt, Germany - To tweet or not to tweet – that is not the question facing publishers these days; rather, the issues are what to tweet and when to tweet it. Publishing houses that have mastered the issues and gained large followings on Twitter, Facebook, or on other social media platforms are invited to enter the XMA Cross Media Awards.

“XMA 2012: Social Media Stars” will honour news publishers that are successfully connecting with their communities on the social web, by offering appealing content, engaging readers through word-of-mouth campaigns, and implementing social media tools in innovative ways.

The XMA Cross Media Awards, an annual contest held by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, will honor companies that have:

• built relationships with their audience;
• determined what type of content to offer on different social media platforms;
• pushed content through different social media channels;
• empowered their audience to help create their own content and products;
• fostered customer engagement;
• maximised brand recognition; and
• measured the impact of social media products.

Categories include:

• Best use of Facebook by a newspaper
• Best community engagement – reader/user interaction: Which newspapers excel at involving their readers in the editorial process and content generation via social media?
• Monetization (advertising and social commerce): Which newspapers capitalize best on their presence on social media platforms?
• Special projects: Best integrated social/traditional media campaigns (entertainment, charities, sports, one-off projects)

Full details and registration information can be found at www.wan-ifra.org/xma. The deadline for entries is 15 July. The entry fee per app is EUR 200 plus VAT for WAN-IFRA members, and EUR 300 plus VAT for non-members.

The winners will be announced at the XMA Cross Media Awards Ceremony, 29 October at the World Publishing Expo (IFRA Expo) in Frankfurt, WAN-IFRA’s flagship event for the news publishing industry.