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"Best of Montana" is a Trademark
Best of Montana™ and Distinctly Montana™ are trademarks of Thunderstruck Media LLC, registered with the Montana Secretary of State. The Best of Montana name, logos, badges and artwork may be used only by businesses that were nominated for, placed as a finalist in, or won the contest, only to promote their own participation, only for the year and category they earned, and only in the form we provide. They may not be altered, redrawn, or reproduced on plaques, signage, apparel or any other physical product without our written permission. We reserve the right to require any business to discontinue use of our marks if we determine they are being used inaccurately or in a way we have not authorized.
What is the Best of Montana Contest?
Best of Montana is a statewide contest where our audience (and your customers) nominate and vote on the best businesses across a range of groups and categories. It runs in three phases: nomination, voting and winners.
During the nomination phase, people nominate their favorite businesses. Each participant may nominate one business in each category every day. The five businesses in each category with the most nominations advance to the voting phase. One random participant will receive a $500 cash prize at the end of the nomination phase, with the winner announced via our email list.
During the voting phase, participants vote for their favorite businesses, once per category each day. Another random participant will receive a $500 cash prize at the end of the voting phase, with the winner announced via our email list.
During the winners phase, after voting closes, the votes are tallied. The winner and two finalists in each category, the Elite Top Three, are permanently listed on our Best of Montana page. Throughout all three phases we promote the contest across our entire marketing platform to drive participation, and we give you the tools to ask your own customers to nominate and vote for you. Details are below.
How can I advertise my business on the ballot?
Advertising partners can sponsor the ballot with several types of ads. Running your ads on the ballot puts your business in front of everyone who nominates and votes, and it is the most effective way to increase your own totals.
Each phase of the Best of Montana contest aligns with the publication schedule of our print magazine to allow for print ads promoting your business. Marketing packages for each phase of the contest are sold and purchased separately. Please contact sales@distinctlymontana.com if you would like to sponsor this year's ballot!
Where can I find ad specifications?
- For Nomination Phase Ads, Click Here.
- For Voting Phase Ads, Click Here.
- See a sample Voting Ballot: https://distinctlymontana.com/sampleballot
What is the schedule?
- Nomination Phase: March 15 through April 20
- Voting Phase: June 15 through July 20
- Winners are announced online on August 1 and featured in a special section of our Fall issue, published September 15.
How are winners determined?
By the voters. Results come directly from the voting platform: the entrant with the most votes in each category wins, and the top three earn Elite Top Three status. If there is a tie, everyone tied shares the honor.
Who can be nominated?
Businesses, organizations, people and events that operate in Montana. We reserve the right to remove any entry that does not meet the contest rules.
Who runs the contest?
Best of Montana is run by Distinctly Montana on Upland Second Street, a professional contest platform used by media companies across the country.
How do you keep the voting fair?
Voting is limited to once per category per day, and the platform uses fraud-detection technology to identify and remove invalid, duplicate and automated votes. To protect the integrity of the contest, we do not share details about these measures or about votes that are removed.
Do you release vote counts?
No. We do not release vote totals, margins or other voting data for any entrant. That is common practice for reader’s choice contests.
Does advertising affect the results?
No. Advertising never adds, removes or changes a single vote. Marketing packages give your business more visibility on the ballot and with our readers, but every vote is counted the same way, for advertisers and non-advertisers alike.
Who do I contact with a technical question about the ballot?
The ballot runs on the Upland Second Street platform. Technical questions about how the platform itself works are best directed to Upland Second Street at uplandsoftware.com/secondstreet. Questions about the contest, the categories or the schedule can come to us at info@distinctlymontana.com.
How do I get more nominations and votes?
- The single best way to get more nominations and votes is one of our Best of Montana marketing packages. Email sales@distinctlymontana.com or call Christopher at 406-602-0241.
- Ask for them. Download our free business toolkit below for graphics to use on your website, in your email newsletters and in your email signature, and put a link to your category, using the short links below, everywhere you can.
- Use your social posts. Add the #BestOfMontana and #DistinctlyMontana hashtags when you ask for nominations and votes, and on Instagram tag @distinctlymontana so your post reaches our followers too.
- Send reminders. Post regularly, ask your followers to nominate your business, and include this link: https://distinctlymontana.com/bom2026
- Repeat. Email your customer list on these dates:
- March 15: Nominations are open!
- April 1: Friendly Reminder to nominate.
- April 18: Last call to nominate - nominations end on 4/20.
- June 15: Voting is Open!
- June 30: Friendly Reminder to Vote
- July 17: Last Call - Voting Ends on July 20.
- Speak up. Tell your customers which categories you want votes in. Put the toolkit posters up where your customers will see them, add our logo and your category link to your email signature, and ask for votes everywhere you can.
- Let us help. We promote the contest all season, and the free resources in the business toolkit below are yours to use in your own print and digital campaigns.
Where can I find short links to the categories?
Here is a short link to each category. You can also turn any of them into a QR code for your promotional materials.
Food & Dining: https://distinctlymontana.com/fd
Drinks & Nightlife: https://distinctlymontana.com/dnn
Sports & Fitness: https://distinctlymontana.com/snf
Shopping: https://distinctlymontana.com/sho
Arts & Entertainment: https://distinctlymontana.com/ane
Services: https://distinctlymontana.com/srv
Travel & Adventure: https://distinctlymontana.com/tna
Home & Garden: https://distinctlymontana.com/hng
Pets & Animals: https://distinctlymontana.com/pna
Health & Wellness: https://distinctlymontana.com/hnw
Events & Shindigs: https://distinctlymontana.com/ens
People & Community: https://distinctlymontana.com/pnc
Business marketing toolkit
Our business marketing toolkit includes PDF posters with QR codes for your register, your tables and anywhere else your customers gather, plus web banners and social media graphics in a range of sizes.
Download your free business marketing toolkit
Note: © 2026 Thunderstruck Media LLC. All rights reserved. Best of Montana™ and Distinctly Montana™ are trademarks of Thunderstruck Media LLC, registered with the Montana Secretary of State. Distinctly Montana owns all copyright and other intellectual property rights in materials created by Distinctly Montana, including all Best of Montana images. Reproduction of those materials without our express consent is a violation of copyright law. All Best of Montana images must include the "Nominate Us" or "Vote for Us" verbiage; use of the blank contest logo is prohibited. We reserve the right to require any business to discontinue use of our marks if we determine they are being used inaccurately or in a way we have not authorized. If you have any questions, please contact Christopher Muhlenfeld at 406-602-0241.
