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Whether your focus is on growing your sales, recruitment, or building brand recognition, embracing your ranking from US News can amplify your messaging.
Add badges and emblems to your:
Your homepage is like your digital front door.
Make a great first impression and set a tone of credibility by incorporating your award throughout your website.
Show off your award where your followers are already scrolling.
Turn recognition into sharable content by incorporating your award into stories, posts, paid ads, and profile banners.
Stand out on crowded web pages with a symbol viewers immediately recognize.
Showcase your badge in digital ads so they’re credible at a glance.
Build trust in a big way.
Showcase your award on billboards, bus wraps, transit ads, and more where your audience lives and works.
Tangible materials can lend a longer shelf life to your award.
Give your recognition authority and longevity by including badges in magazines, flyers, newspapers, and framed awards.
Enhance your reputation with every click.
Include awards in the body or signature of your internal or marketing emails to provide credibility.
Turn every shirt, thermos, or product package into a badge of honor.
Reinforce pride in your organization by putting your award on corporate merchandise, or gain consumer trust by putting your award on packaging they’ll see on shelves.
Attract top talent by providing third-party validation.
Feature your award on LinkedIn posts, job listings, and career fair banners to show prospective employees they’ll be joining an organization they can be proud of.
Turn routine moments into reminders of your excellence.
Display your award in unique ways: lock screens and desktop backgrounds, patient portals, slide decks, signage in waiting rooms, cake toppers, sky banners, and much more.
93% of participants favorably viewed ads with a ranking on a verifiable third-party source, describing the ad as credible.
When viewing an ad for only three seconds, nearly twice as many participants remembered an award when a U.S. News badge was visibly displayed (62.5%) vs. when no badge was displayed (32.6%).
94% of U.S. news survey participants are more likely to choose a hospital because it was rated highly by U.S. News & World Report.
“Inclusion on a respectable third-party list serves as a reputational badge of honor that has been shown to affect consumer decisions, including applications to a law school, visits to a hospital, and even product sales.”
Dr. Mathew Isaac - Chair, Department of Marketing, Seattle University
Sources:
U.S. News has no objection to you issuing an accurate press release about your organization’s award; in fact, U.S. News offers press-release templates for most of its awards. It also has no objection to one-time organic (that is, unpaid) social-media posts, publishing a link to the usnews.com page showing your award, or posting a plain-text (no graphic elements or stylized lettering) announcement on your website.
U.S. News objects to any unlicensed use of its logo, award symbols, graphic elements that act as U.S. News award symbols, or any other uses that violate its trademarks or copyrights. It also objects to any unlicensed reference to U.S. News or its awards in advertisements or other paid promotions.
Only BrandConnex is authorized by U.S. News to provide permissions that allow use of U.S. News award symbols or the U.S. News name. A license from BrandConnex includes permission to display any U.S. News award symbols your organization earned, as well as to promote the awards in ways that do not include use of an award symbol.
Because of such well-known U.S. News rankings as Best Colleges and Best Hospitals, U.S. News badges and emblems are widely recognized as symbols of excellence that are awarded by a trusted, unbiased publisher.
For example, surveys have shown that 94% of people are more likely to choose a hospital because it was ranked or rated highly by U.S. News & World Report versus a hospital that was not. 98% say they are likely to recommend U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings and ratings to their friends and family for their hospital search.
In addition, independent academic research has shown that people who see an ad with a visible badge from U.S. News versus one that did not were more likely to remember the ad with the badge, think of the organization more credibly, and were more likely to choose the organization that showed the badge.
Another study showed that even though consumers today are much more skeptical of advertisements than they were in the past, they actually view some types of advertising positively. Researchers found that mentioning a recent ranking by a third-party source like U.S. News & World Report received the most positive reactions from participants. Consumers described ads that reported a product’s position on a ranked list from a verifiable third-party source as “credible.”
There’s no need to abandon your current messaging in order to promote your award. Many of our clients use U.S. News badges in their posts and promotions without actually mentioning their rankings or ratings. A U.S. News badge provides validation that your organization provides an excellent service or product.
If your organization is not eligible for an award next year or does not license an award, you must remove the badges and emblems from your marketing materials when the new rankings or ratings are published. That said, most organizations continue to license their awards year after year, and many make it a cornerstone of their marketing plan because they find the value speaks for itself. They recognize that a U.S. News badge is a rare gem – a true differentiator in a crowded marketplace.
No. Purchasing a BrandConnex license will have no impact on your current or future U.S. News rankings, ratings, or award eligibility. U.S. News journalists create the rankings and ratings using objective data, without any input from BrandConnex, and they have no role in the licensing of badges or emblems.
“Inclusion on a respectable third-party list serves as a reputational badge of honor that has been shown to affect consumer decisions, including applications to a law school, visits to a hospital, and even product sales.” - Mathew S. Isaac, Ph.D.
Certain advertising tactics, such as ... mentioning a recent ranking by a third-party source like U.S. News & World Report, received the most positive reactions from participants,” wrote Zach Schonbrun in the New York Times.
“Without sufficent attribution, an accolade claim may not even be encoded as a legitimate honor from a third-party entity, and may therefore be dismissed as non-credible.” - Mathew S. Isaac, Ph.D.
Start by learning more information: No pressure or obligation to make a purchase.
An agent with experience in your industry can answer your questions and make personalized recommendations.
We provide tailored packages and pricing for your needs.
Download our media kit to receive a free press release template and to see examples of how others have leveraged their U.S. News awards.
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