The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Hastings Hotels, the Irish Football Association (IFA) and a miniature dachshund from Belfast picked up prestigious accolades at the first ever Northern Ireland Social Media Awards.
The awards aimed to shine a light on the local businesses, organisations and individuals excelling in social media marketing.
There were 27 categories with the winners announced at a gala event in the Europa Hotel, hosted by local social media influencers Annette Kelly of Little Penny Thoughts and Shauna Rafferty.
It was attended by 400 representatives from a host of industries including finance, tourism, education, government, retail, healthcare and fitness.
Winning awards in the Best Use of Social Media Channel category were the Belfast Giantsfor Best Use of Twitter, Cool FM for Best Use of Facebook and the Bearded Candle Makersfor Best Use of Instagram.
The PSNI picked up two awards – Social Media In-house Team of the Year and Best Social Media Campaign in Public Sector for its #NoGreyZone initiative, which aimed to raise awareness of what sexual assault and sexual consent.
Northern Ireland’s largest independent hotel group, Hastings Hotels also won two awards for its 2018 Christmas Gift Card campaign - Best Social Media in Hospitality and Best Use of Social Media in Hospitality over a 10k following.
Hannah Corbett, Laura McIntosh and Donna Barton from Hastings Hotels accept the award for Best Social Media Campaign in Hospitality from Naomi Bingham of Moira Cosmetic Dental.
Local tailor, Chris Suitor of Suitor Brothers won the award for Best Use of Social Media in Retail in the over 10k following with his close friends at Halo Healthy Kitchen winning the award in the under 10k following category.
Social Media Personality of the Year went to Harlso the Balancing Hound, an Official Guinness World Record Amazing Animal, whose skills have earned him over 50 million views on his social media channels. The IFA picked up the Best Overall Use of Social Media award.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Mark Wright, BBC Apprentice Winner and director of the UK’s fastest growing digital marketing agency, Climb Online, said: “Congratulations to all the finalists for getting shortlisted and to the winners of each category. We had a very hard job selecting the overall winners as there are so many businesses, organisations and individuals across Northern Ireland excelling in social media to achieve their goals.
We were very impressed by the clear strategies in place to engage with audiences to keep them coming back; the impactful social messages to achieve standout in a crowded marketplace and those individuals delivering excellent results for their clients. Unfortunately, there could only be one overall winner in each category, but every person here tonight is definitely winning at their social media.”
Founders of the inaugural NI Social Media Awards, Niamh Taylor of Digital 24 and Caroline O’Neill, owner of DIGG For Success and DIGG Childrenswear added: “We were truly overwhelmed by the response to the first year of the awards and would like to extend our congratulations to the winners and finalists.
"Thank you to our fabulous sponsors as the awards wouldn’t have happened without their support and to our expert panel of independent judges for giving up their time to go through over 300 entries and selecting the stars of Northern Ireland’s social media marketing.”
Individual category sponsors include Bellamianta Luxury Tan, Tayto, Boost Drinks, Íon Distillery and BNL Productions.
Fiona Williamson and Lee McArdle from the Police Service of Northern Ireland accept the award for Social Media In-House Team of the Year from Emma Miller of Dollybird Interiors.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN RETAIL (Under 10k following)
Sponsored by Schweppes
Winner: Halo Healthy Kitchen
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN RETAIL (Over 10k following)
Sponsored by Mid Ulster Auctions
Winner: Suitor Brothers
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN FITNESS
Sponsored by Body Fit Mums
Winner: Sam Conley Fitness
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTHCARE (Under 10k following)
Sponsored by Absolute Protection
Winner: Zen Orthodontics
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTHCARE (Over 10k following)
Sponsored by Flower Walls NI
Winner: The Academy Masterplan
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HAIR / BEAUTY (Under 10k following)
Sponsored by C&C Boutique
Winner: Surgery Hair
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HAIR / BEAUTY (Over 10k following)
Sponored by The Skin Health Clinic
Winner: Olivia Muldoon Hair & Makeup
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SERVICE / B2B (Under 10k following)
Sponsored by Bradley Henderson Photography
Winner: Fathom
Runner-up: Niamh McAuley (Purple Dot)
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SERVICE / B2B (Over 10k following)
Sponsored by Insta Belfast
Winner: News 360 – Leona O’Neill
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HOSPITALITY (Under 10k following)
Sponsored by Changing Events
Winner: AJS Promotions – The Blind Cobbler
Runner-up: White Horse Saintfield
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HOSPITALITY (Over 10k following)
Sponsored by ION Distillery
Winner: Hastings Hotels
Runner-up: Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CHARITY
Sponsored by DIGG Childrenswear
Winner: Christian Fellowship Church
Runner-up: Centred South-Health & Wellbeing for all the Family
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN PUBLIC SECTOR
Sponsored by Beautiful Balloons Cookstown
Winner: PSNI - #NoGreyZone
Runner-up: Department of Finance
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN RETAIL
Sponsored by Cloughbane Farm
Winner: Jack Murphy Jewellers
Runner-up: KES Group
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN HOSPITALITY / EVENTS
Sponsored by Moira Cosmetic Dental
Winner: Hastings Hotels
Runner-up: David Meade (Run DMG)
BEST USE OF A SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL
BEST USE OF TWITTER
Winner: Belfast Giants
BEST USE OF FACEBOOK
Winner: Cool FM
Runner-up: Property Pal
BEST USE OF INSTAGRAM
Winner: Bearded Candle Makers
Runner-up: Style Edit
INFLUENCER / BLOGGER
BEST INFLUENCER / BLOGGER CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Winner: Jack Murphy Jewellers
Runner-up: Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
HAIR / BEAUTY INFLUENCER/BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by International Beauty Ireland
Winner: Louise McDonnell (LMD)
FITNESS INFLUENCER/BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Cuba Clothing
Winner: Maeve Madden
FASHION INFLUENCER/BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Room 7
Winner: Oh So Femme
Lifestyle Influencer/Blogger of the Year
Sponsored by Jack Murphy Jewellers
Winner: Anna Corry (Blossomingbirds)
PARENTING INFLUENCER/BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Bumble and Bee
Winner: Sara Holland Co
HOME INFLUENCER/BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Creative Stone & Tile
Winner: Inside Number 16
SOCIAL MEDIA PERSON / TEAM OF THE YEAR
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Bellamianta Luxury Tan
Winner: Lana Richardson – Property Pal
Runner-up: Sinead McKeever – SM Marketing
SOCIAL MEDIA FREELANCER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Run DMG
Runner-up: Paul Malone
SOCIAL MEDIA IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Dollybird Interiors
Winner: Police Service of Northern Ireland
Runner-up: Galgorm Resort & Spa
SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY TEAM OF THE YEAR
Winner: MXB
OVERALL SOCIAL MEDIA EXCELLENCE
SOCIAL MEDIA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Tayto
Winner: Harlso The Balancing Hound
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Sponsored by BNL Productions
Winner: Hover Hubs
BEST OVERALL USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Sponsored by Boost Drinks
Winner: Irish Football Association
Andy McComb and John Gillespie from the Irish Football Association accept the award for Best Overall Use of Social Media from Lucy Manby of Boost Drinks.
