The Social Media Marketing Awards returned to the Thames on 8 October, recognising social media work across strategy, creativity, community, content and commercial impact.
This year's shortlist showed the range of work happening across the industry: from employee advocacy and creator partnerships to social commerce, community building and purpose-led campaigns. Here is the full results list, including the campaign or entry title for every finalist.
The 2026 award results
Best Use of Data, Analytics & Measurement
- Winner , Ignition Digital: One Ecosystem, Every Touchpoint: Engineering Quality at Scale Across Meta, LinkedIn and YouTube
- Highly commended , Metastat: From Zero to a Cultural Moment: mileoff's Paid Social Growth Engine
- GIFTA: Turning Creator Feedback into Consumer Intelligence for Little Freddie
The judges said: "This entry was built around a genuine measurement philosophy: differentiated KPIs by channel, CRM-verified lead quality, and honest reporting."
B2B Social Strategy
- Winner , noticed.: noticed. | Engineering 3-Part LinkedIn System
- Highly commended , Social Folk: Social Folk Launching HighLevel into the UK B2B Creator Space
- Ignition Digital: One Ecosystem, Every Touchpoint: Engineering Quality at Scale Across Meta, LinkedIn and YouTube
- Reward Gateway | Edenred: Edenred unveils the new positioning of its Benefits and Engagement business line and turns "Blue Monday" into a day of joy
Best Use of a Single Platform
- Winner , Met Office: Subscribed to Science: How Met Office turned weather expertise into a 426K-strong YouTube Community
- Highly commended , OLBG: Unbelievable, Jeff: Building Football's Fastest-Growing Podcast From a Standing Start
- BeReal.: BBC x Havas x BeReal: Connecting with Gen Z
- Forest Feast: Forest Feast Instagram: Building a Premium Snacking Brand Through Creative, Community-First Content
- Manchester Metropolitan University: @manmetuni , Developing Pride Within Our Community
- South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue: From followers to impact: How South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue turned TikTok into a strategic communication channel
- noticed.: noticed. | #1 LinkedIn Marketing Agency
The judges said: "This entry recognised the challenge they were facing and built a clear, solid strategy that drove compelling results. Their exceptional 86.1% returning-viewer rate was a testament to their hard work."
Bold Creative Format
- Winner , Met Office: GIPHY Brings Weather Conversations to Life
- Highly commended , NAMED COLLECTIVE: Disruptive Content: From Stunt Launches to Public Chaos / NAMED COLLECTIVE
- Cramatic: Turning Vehicle Protection Into Entertainment
- MAD//Fest: MAD//Diaries
- National Highways: Singing Animals , TRIP Jingle
The judges said: "This was a super strategic use of social, a bold format chosen specifically based on audience behaviour, executed perfectly, creating a legacy for the brand which delivers real world impact."
Boutique or Independent Agency
- Winner , Favola: Favola
- Highly commended , Antler Social: Antler Social: Proving Boutique Beats Bigger
- Athena Social: Redefining Female-Led Brands Through Search-First Social
- curly media: We're not building content for social. We're building the future of social-first entertainment.
- Down At The Social: Down At The Social
- Nomis Talent: The Power of Staying Boutique
- Oh So Social: Oh So Social - the Cornish agency making waves in Paid Social
- Social Folk Digital: Social Folk | Building a Boutique Agency That Competes Globally
- The Good Egg: The Good Egg effect: Turns Out Being Nice Pays Off
- Torque Agency Group: 74% growth, zero churn: Torque's social media scale-up
Charity / Non-Profit Campaign
- Winner , Luton Council: Hate Won't Win: How 'We Are Luton' reclaimed a town's story
- Highly commended , South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue: Saving lives through storytelling , How South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue changed the conversation around water safety
- Marine Stewardship Council: Behind the ecolabel...
The judges said: "This was a powerful and distinctive campaign that tackled a difficult conversation and subject matter in a delicate and thoughtful manner. It feels like this topic really matters to the team who created it and they aren't just ticking boxes to get things done or to look good."
Creator & Personal Brand
- Winner , Beatrice Teodora Vladut: The Signal Strategy: Building a Personal Brand Built on Depth, Not Virality
- Highly commended , Omobolaji Mary Ajibare: How I Built a Creator-Led Education Brand for Social Media Professionals
- Alicia Lueerssen-Medina: From Posting to Learn to a Personal Brand That Built a Business
- Aneena Elza Binod: Making LinkedIn a More Fun Place
- Brett Orchard: Brett Orchard: Turning British Family Life Into a Multi-Million-View Creator Brand
- Holly Wake: Chronicles of a Social Media Gremlin
- Jelena Burcer: The No-Gatekeeping Creator: Building Community Through Education
- José Diogo Niza Rolão: Abelha 7 Trevos: Turning Home Gardening into a Digital Movement
- Kamya Marwah: The personal brand that turned into a business
- Oluwagbemisola Glory Ojikutu: Building an Authentic Personal Brand Through Lifestyle Content and Storytelling
Employee Advocacy or Social Selling Programme
- Winner , BBC: LifeAtTheBBC , Employee Advocacy
- Highly commended , Springer Nature: Employer Brand Ambassador Programme
- Adovira: The AI That Says "Don't Post": Reinventing Employee Advocacy Through Responsible AI
- fatjoe.: Built From Scratch: fatjoe's Employee Advocacy Programme
The judges said: "This entry shows what employee advocacy should look like when it actually works: apprentices with real editorial control, a clearly targeted audience, and results that are specific and third party verified rather than self reported alone."
Freelance Professional
- Winner , Claire Clark: How Social Strategy Turned Around Elderflower Fields' 2025/26 Season
- Highly commended , Indie Lilyella Stowell: From Student to Freelance Marketer: Building a Business Through Personal Brand and Organic Social Media
- Natalia Dubynska: From Invisible to Unmissable: A Personal Brand Practice Built on Real Client Transformations
- Vi Nguyen: Building Impact From Global Brand Strategist to Independent Social Media Freelancer
In-House Team
- Winner , F&M: A business over 300 years old takes social!
- Highly commended , Arts University Bournemouth (AUB): Getting the Brand Back Together: How AUB's In-house Team Created Authentic Moments to Launch a New Visual Identity, Logo and Strategy
- Marine Stewardship Council: This trio has been making waves: campaigns to year-round impact
- National Deaf Children's Society: The National Deaf Children's Society Social Media Team
- National Highways: Team of the year
- South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue: Small team, strategic impact: How South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue uses social media to deliver public safety, recruitment and culture change
The judges said: "This was a brilliant example of a heritage brand behaving like a social brand."
Industry Educator
- Winner , Beckii Flint: Beckii Flint: From One of the World's First Child Creators to the Industry's Leading Advocate for Responsible Social Media
- Highly commended , Helen Reynolds: Progress, not perfection: a creativity mission
- Flick Hamnett-Day: Teach the World to Use Social Media Positively
- Katherine George: Katherine George , Social Media Expert, Speaker, Trainer, Business Coach and Chronic Illness Advocate
- Malena Roche & Mike Baggs: Industry Podcast "Good Morning Algorithm" and the journey to sharing knowledge among our community
- Melissa Ariganello: The Practitioner in the Classroom: Raising the Standard in Social
- Natalie Luckham: The Educator Making Ethical AI Accessible: How Natalie Luckham Is Helping the Social Media Industry Adopt AI Without Losing Its Humanity
- Olga Logunova: Social Intelligence Educator & Advocate
- Oluchi Imoh: Building Businesses Through Education, Not Algorithms
- Will Francis: Will Francis: Making AI Make Sense
The judges said: "This person is genuinely doing something that is above just platforming themselves, but making a change that is positive for the community and some of the most vulnerable people in society, in a space that has long been neglected."
Influencer Marketing Campaign
- Winner , Spin: 200 Years of Stories
- Highly commended , We Generate: Lewis Capaldi x AggyTheGift's 43 Million-View Influencer Partnership
- CNS Media: Finding The Right Voice for Healthy Living With Grape Tree
- Coolr: Coolr x Deliveroo: Proud to be a Tosser
- Crystal Ski Holidays: Why Banff & Lake Louise?
- Forest Feast: Nuts for Matcha!
- Influenced: Reframing Croydon: How Influencer Marketing Changed the Conversation for NHG
- The Good Egg: TGE for the Silverstone British Grand Prix
- Wonderland Comms: Wild Pint
The judges said: "This entry did what we want all brands to do, remember that audiences don't want to be sold to when they open social media, they want to be moved and entertained and this did just that."
Social Media Marketer of the Year
- Winner , Kelsey Fitzgerald: Records Don't Break Themselves: Newmarket Holidays' Organic Reset
- Highly commended , Joy Stefaniszyn-Greenwell: How one creator experiment became a live R&D lab for social creativity, client confidence, and commercial growth
- Simmy Kaur Virdi: Simmy Kaur , Leading PensionBee's social strategy
- Emily Stanford: Increase in monthly impressions from 663 to 1,560 within my first month
- Emma Bauditz Hansen: Building Brands Through People: Turning LinkedIn Into Business Growth
- Hannah Lovejoy: The Hannah Montana of the Social Media Marketing World
- Lily Bell: 11 Years Evolving With Social Media
The judges said: "This person's entry was an outstanding example of social media marketing delivering both audience and commercial value. The deliberate choice to target a certain demographic against conventional platform wisdom, and to break Meta's own best-practice guidance where the data supported it, shows real strategic courage."
Community-Led Campaign
- Winner , Brand Potential: Social First Firefighting: Building a 2.4 Million Impression Community for MSA Safety
- Highly commended , Marine Stewardship Council: A Day in the Life of a Fisher
- Brompton Bicycles: How do you carry/store/fold a Brompton? Show us your #BromptonSuperpower
- fatjoe.: 14 Years, 14% Off: The Campaign That Made a Discount Feel Like a Celebration
- Favola: Favola x The Entertainer , Real or Cake?
- One Minute Briefs: I Want AI To Take My Job
- The Social Dragonfly: The Thrive Tribe's packed LIVE events through Organic Lead Marketing
- The MTM Agency: The nostalgia effect: Turning music memories into community momentum
- Manage.Management: Putting the spotlight on the leasehold conversation
- Naturally Social: Naturally Social X Selwood Housing
Organic Campaign of the Year
- Winner , We Generate: Santan Dave's Powered by the Fans: Dave's 126 Million-View Organic Tour Engine
- Highly commended , Make Agency: Aperol Spritz x Make Agency UK Can launch
- GIFTA: The Return of Britain's Most-Missed Pizza
- Manchester Metropolitan University: Disposable Camera Project
- Breast Cancer Now: This Is Me Now
- Onyx Commerce: Crocs Classic Clog Colours
- Seen Agency: Josie's , Keeping It organic
- The Soulful Marketing Co: The Collaboration Effect: Turning One Giveaway into a Multi-Brand Storytelling Campaign
The judges said: "This was a brilliant organic campaign that delivered fantastic results through a deep understanding of what the audience genuinely consumes on social. They loved the guerrilla approach!"
Paid Social Campaign
- Winner , Findmypast: Putting people first: how searching for yourself made family history relevant to a new generation , and turned Findmypast's paid social into a growth engine in six months
- Highly commended , Havas Media: Havas Media Ireland & Glenilen Farm , Small Budget, Big Thinking: A Paid Social Growth Engine
- Athena Social: Micro Budgets, Maximum Impact: How We Turned £4.7k into £92,000
- Crystal Ski Holidays: Short Break. Epic Escape.
- Mirror Mirror: From £4k Spend to £124k Revenue: A 28x ROAS Social Campaign for a Boutique Hotel
- Overdrive Digital: History Hits Different: How Overdrive Digital Scaled Subscriber Growth Through Creative
- Protect Your Bubble: Love Your Phone? Love Bubble: Turning Live Participation into Paid Social Performance
- Roo Media Marketing: From Zero to Sold Out: How just £287 of Meta Ads Built the whole Foundher Community
- The MTM Agency: The Explorer Effect: How MTM turned audience insight into profitable growth for Mermaid
The judges said: "The combination of original strategic thinking, exceptional execution and measurable impact on both audience acquisition and the wider business makes this the standout campaign."
Purpose-Led or Social Impact Campaign
- Winner , National Deaf Children's Society: National Deaf Children's Society: When Daddy Pig Ran the Marathon for George
- Highly commended , Luton Council: We Are Luton: A community's fightback to hate and division
- CNS Media: Youth Trailblazer: Reaching Young Audiences Through Creator-Led Paid Social
- Foundher Social: Ending the Isolation of Building Alone
- Pepper x 23Red: No Second Chances: Turning Creator-Led Storytelling into Life-Saving Behaviour Change
- UK Anti-Doping: Clean Sport Week: Built Not Bought
Rising Star of the Year
- Winner , Ejide Tondu: From Graduate Intern to Building Two of We Generate's Fastest-Growing Divisions
- Highly commended , Alice May Stenson: Alice May Stenson / Organic Social Media Strategy Manager at NAMED COLLECTIVE
- Jess Grayson: Jess Grayson: social media superstar and part-time influencer
- Alfie Robinson: Alfie Robinson: Connecting culture, content and community
- Angela Tafalla: Rising Star 2026 , Angela Tafalla: A Soaring Star, From Intern to Impact
- Ania Holland: Stories of Shared Agency
- Chloe Start: Shaping Style Online: A New Voice in Hair Industry Social Media
- Ella Prosser: Building Out Loud: The Making of a Self-Taught Marketer
- Evelina Dubynska: Built Before Ready: How a Rising Strategist Is Already Shaping the Industry
- Hannah Bough: How I Turned 20 LinkedIn Profiles into a Commercial Asset
- Holly Wake: Social Media Gremlin Domination
- Raina Das: Two Jobs, One Person: How I built binary10's marketing from the ground up while building my own brand
- Rose Nepthys Homayoun: Crocs Classic Clog Colours
- Sophie Clarke: Driving Creative Growth Through Social-First Thinking
The judges said: "This person demonstrates exceptional creative ability, strategic maturity, leadership and commercial impact for this stage of their career. They are not simply delivering excellent social work; they are helping shape the direction and growth of the agency."
Short-Form Video Campaign
- Winner , National Highways: Close Following , Tailgating Campaign
- Highly commended , Spin: Plot Twist: Changing the Perception of Accountancy
- Brompton Bicycles: Tell us about your #LifeUnfolded with Brompton
- PensionBee: The yellow coat series , PensionBee vox pops
- Pepper: Brushing Up Performance: Short-Form Video That Made Wisdom Unmissable
- SHC Digital: Building a Scalable Short-Form Video Engine Across Four European Markets
- We Generate: Supreme Du Ranch , Slim Chickens Art Exhibition
The judges said: "It was a really unique concept and creativity. It was great to see such an original idea not just based on trends."
Small Business Social Media
- Winner , Comms Creatives: The joyful yellow brand brightening up social media for comms professionals
- Highly commended , develop: The Human Recruitment Brand , How I Grew develop Through Employee Advocacy and Thought Leadership
- DaysLikeThis.Life: DaysLikeThis.Life: The Bristol Family Brand Turning Real Life Into Multi-Million-View Social Media
- The Social Dragonfly: Growing Fiona's Financial Adviser Business Online
- Your Personal Secretary: Supporting Small Businesses With Heart
Social Commerce Campaign
- Winner , SHC Digital: How we made TikTok Gemporia's most efficient sales channel
- Highly commended , GIFTA: Turning Social Proof into Product Sales for Hoover
- Element 5: From Scroll to Sale: How Element 5 Built a Social Commerce Machine on Honesty
Social Media Agency
- Winner , Pepper: Pepper Agency: Turning Brands into Influencers
- Highly commended , Somerce Ltd: Zero to 55: Scaling a Social Commerce Agency to £3m+ Turnover and TikTok Shop's Biggest Ever LIVE in Under Two Years
- Social Allies: The Ally you deserve <3
- Coolr: Coolr: Defining the Next Chapter
- Havas Media: Social Media Agency of the Year , Havas Media Ireland
- Spin: Spin If You Want to Go Faster
Social-First Brand
- Winner , NAMED COLLECTIVE: Key Strategy Wins Through the Year / NAMED COLLECTIVE
- Highly commended , KOKO: 125 years of KOKO
- Element 5: Transparency as a Strategy: The Element 5 Story
- Johnsons Coaches: Johnsons Coaches: Building a Social First Travel Brand Through Community, Content and Customer Experience
- The Gym Kitchen: The Gym Kitchen's 'Fuel Better, Feel Better' Campaign
The judges said: "This is a brand that clearly knows social, understands their audience and understands how platforms work, as well as bringing creativity and originality to the output."
Industry Choice Awards
The Industry Choice Awards recognised tools and platforms selected by the social media community.
- Social Media Management: Sprout Social
- Content & Design: Canva
- AI & Generative Content: Claude
- Video Creation: CapCut
- Social Listening & Analytics: Socialinsider
- Creator & Influencer: Favikon
Congratulations to every winner and highly commended entry, and to all the finalists whose work made this year's awards a strong showcase of the social media industry.