She was considered though and I'd see your point if Chrom and Owain weren't included as things relating to popularity always include them. We also have Cordy, Gaius, and Lon'qu.The only one that made it in solely on being an important character was Validar.
They gave Awakening quite a bit of trophies. Mainly for the fan favorites and key characters.
http://i.imgur.com/FmZiylW.jpg
Here is an image showing all the new trophies for Smash 3DS. You can get a closer look at the Awakening ones on the Smash Bros Miiverse sight.
I personally think Owain's, Lon'qu's, and Tiki's look the best crafted. Glad they all got new models.
They don't do anything directly, but they do make companies aware of certain things being very popular so they can put them to more use. This has been seen many times.