PRESS RELEASES

Vancouver- June 17, 2021 – Hootsuite is excited to announce the winner of its first North American social media contest, ‘The Very Big Social Makeover for Small Business,’ which provided small businesses across North America the opportunity to win a once-in-a-lifetime social media makeover with over ten thousand dollars in prizes. The global leader in social media management has selected Canadian-founded Apricotton, a bra brand for tweens, as the contest’s grand prize winner.

For the next month, Apricotton will work closely with Hootsuite to increase its social media presence through comprehensive social media strategy consulting, advertising, and content creation. To get the brand started, Hootsuite is providing Apricotton with free lifetime access to Hootsuite’s Team plan and an all-access pass to Hootsuite Academy, the brand’s industry-leading online learning platform.

"Since starting Apricotton, as first-time entrepreneurs, we've been constrained by limited resources. Hootsuite’s social media makeover will make a dramatic difference in driving us towards our goal of becoming the number one tween bra brand globally,” said Chloe Beaudoin and Jessica Miao, founders at Apricotton**.** “More importantly, we will be able to support more girls around the world who are currently struggling with puberty by creating educational content to lift them up during a sensitive life stage. We are looking forward to meeting the Hootsuite experts who will guide us through our next phase of growth.”

Five weeks ago, Hootsuite shared news of the contest with small businesses across North America and received over 3,000 contest applications that told stories of ingenuity, hope, and regeneration during difficult times.

“On the back of the pandemic, which has had a disproportionate effect on small businesses globally, many SMB’s have lost the resources necessary to establish and maintain a social media strategy or hone in on customer needs through social listening and engagement,” said Henk Campher, VP of Corporate Marketing, Hootsuite. “With this contest, we saw an opportunity to offer our platform and expertise to help them through to the other side.”

With this in mind, a judging panel—Arlene Dickinson (Serial Entrepreneur and CEO, Venturepark), Maneet Ahuja (Senior Editor, Forbes), Steve Strauss (Senior Small Business Columnist, USA Today), and Gabrielle Bienasz (Editorial Assistant, Inc.)—combed through finalist applications from across North America to discern which business would best use the awarded social media overhaul to propel a new phase of growth. After considering factors such as scalability on social, social commerce opportunities, market differentiation and more, the judges landed on Apricotton as the final grand prize winner.

The tween-focused brand is on a mission to ensure that no girl goes through puberty alone. And there's no better place to reach that audience than on social media. Instagram’s advertising reach saw a year-on-year increase of over 59% in individuals aged 13-17, and female teens aged 13-17 continue to dominate the share of Snapchat’s global advertising audience, according to Hootsuite.

Contest runners-up are The French Farm, importers of European gourmet foods and kitchen accessories (Texas, USA); Sock Smith, a novelty sock brand founded on the idea that self-expression is true beauty (California, USA); and Kids Who Explore, a social business working to create an inclusive space for families and kids in the outdoors (Alberta, Canada).

In conjunction with the contest, and the company’s Social for Good mandate, Hootsuite has also released the Small Business Playbook—a curated collection of resources to help SMBs advance their social strategy in 2021. This blueprint for social success is packed with strategy, tools, advice and top examples, a resource that SMBs can’t afford to miss.