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| Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash |
A social media technique or campaign is a coordinated marketing effort that uses at least one social media platform to reinforce facts or attitudes about a product, service, or overall brand.
It is a widely known fact that 3.5 billion individuals use social media every day.
And guess what, Marketers are well aware of this possibility. It's no surprise that by 2024, global investments in social media advertising are estimated to reach $873 billion.
Having campaigns that can help you go viral are an important aspect of your digital content strategy. And you have to learn to get them right through research as well as execution.
5 Social media campaign examples to learn from
1. Hello BC’s #ExploreBCLater
With air travel down 95% and practically everyone canceling their summer holiday plans, the tourism business is experiencing a bad year. It's difficult to turn that into a destination-focused ad, but Hello BC's #ExploreBCLater campaign nails it. They communicated a message of social responsibility in the face of the coronavirus across all social channels, asking everyone to remain home and #ExploreBCLater, a play on their branded hashtag, #ExploreBC. As a result, this hashtag has been used over 9500 times on Instagram by users sharing photos and videos from past travels.
2. Starbucks #WhatsYourName
The #WhatsYourName campaign was created in collaboration with Mermaids, an organization that supports transgender and gender-diverse adolescents. Starbucks' values-driven campaign, which combined TV advertising and social media participation, centered on the company's aim to be inclusive of people of all genders by recognizing their chosen names.The marketing builds on a well-known part of the Starbucks experience—having your name inscribed on the side of your cup—by pledging to honor customers' preferred names.
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With the #WhatsYourName campaign, Starbucks drew a lot of criticism, but they also gained a lot of supporters by sticking up for a good cause. This was especially essential after they were publicly chastised in 2018 for a racist incident at one of their US sites. Starbucks was able to regain trust and respect with their consumers by using #WhatsYourName to share campaign themes of inclusivity and respect, as well as show the world what sort of company they want to be.
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3. #DeliveryDigiorno
Digiorno gave free pizza to clients who tweeted #DeliveryDigiorno during National Pizza Month 2019 (commonly known as "October").Many people admit that they have never had Digiorno pizza, but they remember the phrase from their childhood primetime television viewing: "It's not delivery, it's Digiorno!"
DiGiorno used promoted tweets and promoted trends in addition to organic engagement to draw attention to their campaign. To pique interest, they also held a contest in which customers were asked to vote on which cities should be picked as delivery destinations. DiGiorno delivered 1,100 pizzas in 5 major cities, and received 55.3 million impressions in the process.
Customers on Twitter were tweeting (and thinking) about pizza during National Pizza Month, so Digiorno took advantage of it. They created an authentic buzz around their activities by combining organic interest with promoted tweets and incentivizing participation by offering rewards (pizza!) for using the campaign hashtag.
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4. #CouldUseABeer by Coors Light
Coors Light has recently run some of the funniest efforts, such as the Clone Machine, which allows customers to record a 30-second video loop of themselves looking interested during video conferences so they can sneak away and grab a beer.
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That concept came right after their most recent social media marketing campaign, #CouldUseABeer. Coors Light offered a six-pack to everyone who tweeted at them using the campaign hashtag for a limited time. They continued to give free beers until they had given away 500,000 to delighted customers. They responded to a 93-year-old woman's cries for beer, which went viral when she hung a note in her window requesting beer during her quarantine.
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For one simple reason: everyone loves free stuff. Running a giveaway is a terrific approach to improve brand recognition and create favorable sentiments.
5. #2019Wrapped on Spotify
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Since 2017, Spotify has provided year-end data with its subscribers, generating a personalized "Spotify Wrapped" summary of their most-listened-to songs, albums, and artists.
They went bigger in 2019, with a recap of the previous decade (2010-2019) that showed how consumers' listening habits and preferences had changed. These summary snapshots were provided in shareable picture formats, making them ideal for sharing on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The combination of enticing nostalgia and the fun of personalized data created for a highly shareable campaign, which is why #SpotifyWrapped posts undoubtedly dominated your feeds in December.
Common elements of social media campaigns
All these excellent Social Media Campaigns and initiatives, as you may have noted, were all quite distinct from one another. So, what makes an effective social media marketing campaign? The following are the main ingredients:
- They adhere to the brand's guidelines. Each of these ads effectively communicates the brand's identity and values to its target audience. A campaign that doesn't make sense for your brand will fail, no matter how creative the concept or how large the budget is.
- They're concentrating on what they're doing. At the heart of each campaign is a single, straightforward message: for Spotify, it's "your year in music."
It's "free beer!" for Coors Light. Your clients should never be unsure about the purpose of your campaign or what you are asking them to accomplish. Per campaign, stick to one goal and one key theme. - They can be tracked. Each campaign has its own hashtag or channel, allowing businesses to track important success metrics. That may be mentioned or shared in an awareness campaign, or the number of submissions in a contest. Whatever your campaign's goal, make sure you have a strategy in place to measure its success.
- Each platform has its own set of features. Your social media team will save time by broadcasting the same material across all platforms, but it will look sloppy. Campaigns that work have fundamental messaging that are adapted to each platform and play to that network's strengths.
On Twitter, user expectations are different than on TikTok, and the improper tone or language can be quite off-putting. - They’re timely. Every campaign mentioned above was in response to current events and actions that were on its viewers' minds. Keeping track of annual events like the Super Bowl (or National Pizza Month) using a social media content calendar will help you plan for and seize opportunities to make an impact.
- They’re emotional. Emotion doesn't always imply sentimental or tear-jerking (but you're not alone if you got teary-eyed during the Starbucks campaign!). A great campaign connects with viewers by delivering a compelling and real message. Your campaign should be based on a shared sentiment, whether you want consumers to feel powerful, nostalgic, happy, or understood.
Conclusion
Social Media Marketing is an art that is not that easy to get right. Why? Because it has to be creative with analysis in mind. You can be as creative as you want, but without the right timing you are not going to win.
Author of this content -
Himani Kankaria is the Founder of Missive Digital, an organic marketing agency that focuses on enhancing the brand positioning of the businesses to maximize ROI and brand loyalty through organic marketing channels. She specializes in strategizing, creating, and optimizing content for users and SERP features like Featured Snippets. Being in this industry for the past 12+ years, she has helped SaaS and Technology businesses multiply their organic presence and conversions through organic marketing channels.
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