It was our eagerly awaited annual PRide awards yesterday evening in Leeds and we scooped the top accolade and added the gold award to our list of 27 industry trophies!

We’ve supported Ilkley Carnival since 2010, creating its most effective campaign in 2018 where social media reach hit more than 40,000 Twitter impressions during the carnival month of May.

We exceeded our objective of reaching 1,000 Facebook likes by a further 13% and created a 186% increase in Facebook post engagements.

We were thrilled to be praised by the judges for our clear strategy and effective research. Our social media activity was complimented with a traditional media awareness campaign which helped drive crowds of just over 10,000 people to the May bank holiday Monday event.

Our managing director Suzanne Watson said: “We are delivering high impact social media campaigns for more than 55% of our clients so it made perfect sense to make social a pivotal part of our 2018 Ilkley Carnival communications campaign. 

“All of the work we do for Ilkley Carnival forms part of our corporate social responsibility – we consider it our responsibility to give something back to our local community by using our expertise to inform, educate and engage the local community which increases interest and footfall which in turn helps raise invaluable funds that are all ploughed back into local good causes.”

She added: “To have this work recognised by the best of the best in our industry – and in one of the most sought-after communications arenas that PR now offers – is the ultimate accolade for this hard-working team. And of course, work has now already begun on Ilkley Carnival 2019…!”

At Approach Towers, we’re in our 17th year in business and deliver traditional PR and social media campaigns for clients including Airedale Chemical, Acorn Stairlifts, Gripple, United Carpets & Beds, Sparkling Bradford and Whitakers Chocolate.

This year’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide award for Best use of Social Media is the 28th award to be won by our team since 2005. Based on The Grove in Ilkley, our team boasts former journalists, retail specialists, digital consultants and b2b practitioners.