30 pictures: Who were the winners at the 2024 Northern Ireland Social Media Awards?

A Belfast-based cosmetics company has picked up seven prestigious accolades at the 2024 Northern Ireland Social Media Awards.

BPerfect Cosmetics was started by Co Down entrepreneur Brendan McDowell in 2012 with just £500 and is now a £9 million beauty empire.

The company won a record number of awards including Best Overall Use of Social Media, Best Overall Use of Social Media in Hair/Beauty, Social Media In-House Team of the Year, Best Influencer Campaign, Best Use of TikTok in Business and Best Use of Instagram. The company’s Ciara Decarteret, picked up the award for Social Media Marketer of the Year.

The theme of this year’s awards, which are now in their fifth year and aim to shine a spotlight on the achievements of local individuals, businesses and organisations, is ‘This Is Me’ and celebrates authenticity and resilience in the face of adversity.

Other winners included the Public Health Agency for Best Use of Social Media in Healthcare, CastleCourt Shopping Centre for Best Use of Social Media in Retail, Game of Thrones Studio Tour for Best Social Media Campaign in Tourism/Hospitality, Police Service of Northern Ireland and Safeguarding Board Northern Ireland for Best Social Media Campaign in Public Sector and Larne Football Club for Best Use of Facebook.

Individual award winners included cooking sensation Nathan Anthony of Bored of Lunch who was named Food Influencer of the Year and TikTok star Annalivia Hynds who picked up two awards for Social Media Personality of the Year and Fashion/Lifestyle Influencer of the Year.

Popular make-up artist Emma Kearney was named Hair/Beauty Influencer of the Year and Alan Wallace of the online platform sharing the warmth of Belfast, Inspiring Belfast, was named Best Content Creator.

For the first time ever, the four influencer categories – Hair/Beauty Influencer of the Year, Food Influencer of the Year, Fashion/Lifestyle Influencer of the Year and Social Media Personality of the Year were decided by the public, with over 83,000 votes cast.

Awards organiser, Niamh Taylor, one of Northern Ireland’s leading award-winning digital marketers and industry mentors, said: “A huge congratulations to the winners of the 2024 NI Social Media Awards!

"Every single entry showcased how organisations and individuals across Northern Ireland are excelling at social media marketing and demonstrating excellence in their work. We have winners from a huge cross section of industries including public sector, hospitality, tourism, health, fitness, charity, retail and home décor – which showcases the important role social media plays in today’s society.

“BPerfect Cosmetics is a hugely deserving winner of a record number of seven accolades. The brand encapsulates everything the awards aim to celebrate – its success has been built on social media and Brendan and his team have worked exceptionally hard on their platforms over the last 12 years to transform it into a global business. The company is also a shining example of this year’s ‘This is Me’ theme as it uses its platform to celebrate individuals, to empower, champion diversity, inclusivity and equal rights.”

The independent panel of global expert judges, who each work with some of the world’s biggest brands, include Sophie Ellis, Large Agency Partner at Meta, Katie Philo, Head of Social at GQ Magazine in New York; Nimah Kuzbari White, Head of Brand at leading Irish lifestyle brand 4TH ARQ; Lachlan Stewart, Global Social Media at Canva and Sophie Miller, Founder of the global marketing company, Pretty Little Marketer and Beth Thomas, Content and Campaigns at leading social media consultancy Frankly.

Individual category partners include AC Connects, Bellamianta, BNL Productions, BodyFit Mums, Digital Twenty Four, Fiona Brown Communications, Keylite, Kobault, La Bohème Hub, MAD Colour, Mourne Stars Speech and Drama, Perfetto Balloons & Designs NI, SD Create, Ted & Stitch, Todd’s Leap, Vermillion Cosmetic Clinic and West Coast Cooler. Media Partners are Q Radio and Belfast Live. Charity Partner is PIPS Suicide Prevention.