Nomination Period: June 8 – July 5, 2023
Voting Period: August 3 – August 30, 2023
Winners will be revealed in our annual Best of Santa Barbara® Issue publishing October 19, 2023
What is Best Of Santa Barbara®?
Best of Santa Barbara® is our annual poll where our readers tell us who is the best across many categories, 211 to be exact! The ballot runs over the course of 3 months on bestof.independent.com, and results in the ultimate list of our readers’ choice of the Best of Santa Barbara®. Readers vote for the best in different subcategories, which are grouped into 11 broader sections: Sporting Life, Looking Good, Eating, Drinking, Out & About, Romance, Little Creatures, Living Well, Housing, Driving, and Media. Don’t see a category that fits your favorite Santa Barbara spot? Let us know!
How does Best Of Santa Barbara® Work?
There are two phases to Best of Santa Barbara®. The first is the Nomination Round starting June 8, ending July 5. During this time, we ask our readers to nominate their favorite businesses, bars, restaurants, etc. Once nominations are closed, we tally the submissions and narrow them to the top finalists who received the most nominations under each category. The number of final nominees in each category will vary based on the number of nominations received in that category. Then from August 3 to August 30, we hold the Voting Round, where readers vote on who truly deserves the Best of Santa Barbara® crown. Each voter is required to vote in at least 20 categories for their votes to be counted. Once the voting period is over we will tally up the winners and publish them in our annual Best Of Santa Barbara® issue hitting stands October 19.
What do I get if I win?
Most importantly, bragging rights. For a whole year, you get to tell everyone that the people of Santa Barbara think you are the best! There are other perks too, like getting a plaque to showcase at your business, having your name in our Best of Santa Barbara® issue (in print and online), and the opportunity to celebrate your win at Best Fest: A Celebration of the Best of Santa Barbara®!
This is great. So how do I get voted Best of Santa Barbara®?
Campaign, campaign, campaign! It’s a readers’ poll so you have to get your fans to first nominate you and then vote for you. We have free assets you can use to post on social to get votes. Download them here. Do not offer incentives to voters of any kind. This is against our rules, and we will disqualify your business if we discover it.
We have plenty of marketing opportunities to better drive nominations and votes for yourself and get people to associate you as the Best of Santa Barbara®. Contact your Advertising Representative or email advertising@independent.com to learn more.
