Great Social Media Campaigns

What makes Social Media campaigns great?

Tagging your friends, family or colleagues in a funny or topical post is one thing but does that equate to ‘great’?

A lot of the time, posts work because marketers take a multi-platform approach to ensure their audience see the content at least once but with a high chance of seeing it multiple times.

The more we see something, the longer it resonates with us. For instance, we all know we ‘should have gone to Specsavers’ or ‘you’re not you when you’re hungry’.

Social Media campaigns – most likely due to their lower costs and quicker lifespan – have the scope to be a bit more playful and ‘off the wall’.

Successful Social Media campaigns tend to be memorable because they are typically more risqué.

What Is A Social Media Campaign?

A Social Media Campaign is when a company utilises platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to reach their existing customers and target audience.

Social Media channels can help increase brand awareness, engagement and ultimately, sales.

The beauty of digital campaigns on Social Media is the ability to track insights and ROI (Return On Investment).

Why Are Social Media Campaigns Important?

Social Media is where a large portion of your existing and potential customers will likely spend their time.

If you’re looking to reach a specific target audience, Social Media platforms enable brands to create memorable and informative campaigns to increase exposure and raise awareness of a company.

Guerrilla marketing is a marketing strategy that brands use to stand out from the crowd when promoting their product or service.

Guerrilla marketing is typically more unconventional and where better to share something creative than across your Social Media channels – for free! 

Effective Social Media Marketing Campaign Examples

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your Social Media strategy, here are six successful Social Media Campaign examples.

1. Apple: Shot On iPhone

Apple’s #ShotoniPhone campaign is a great example of utilising user-generated content to showcase the impressive ability of an iPhone camera while building its social media presence across the Instagram platform.

Why It Works: Bring the ‘Social’ back to ‘Social Media’.

Looking for a unique (and free) way to create content? User-Generated Content is a fantastic way to share key messages, promote a brand and get your audience actively engaged in the Social Media Campaign.

The strategy itself is relatively simple to execute and has no expiration date. Furthermore, who better to promote the features of an iPhone than the users themselves? 

2. IKEA: Bringing It Home

Although it often is the case, Social Media campaigns don’t need to be a series of posts over a long period of time. For example, this single post from IKEA referencing the UEFA European Football Championship was perfectly timed, relevant and 100% on brand.

Why It Works: Timing is everything.

It can be risky for established brands to jump on the latest trend and come across as trying too hard but IKEA took advantage of current events and pulled it off.

Furthermore, IKEA wasn’t the only brand to join the hype – other brands such as Royal Mail also shared topical and on-brand posts across their Social Media…

3. Guinness: Looks Like Guinness

Speaking of topical campaigns, Guinness smashed it out of the park with their posts leading up to the reopening of Pubs following lockdown.

Neil Shah, Head of Guinness, turned to LinkedIn to share: ‘Ahead of the long-awaited reopening of hospitality indoors, we’re proud to unveil our ode to pubs which reminds us all that ‘Good Things Come to Those Who Wait’.

We’re marking this momentous occasion with our #LooksLikeGuinness campaign, inspired by that all too familiar experience of seeing something we miss everywhere we look – in this case, a pint of Guinness, in a pub, with our mates’.

Why It Works: So simple, yet effective.

A brand doesn’t need to spend big bucks on creating content. Sometimes a simple video is enough to get the message across and feel authentic.

In fact, Guinness turned to Social Media several times during the pandemic to share important messages. Using subtle imagery to recreate the classic black and white pint, Guinness encouraged their audience to ‘stay home’.

4. John Lewis: Merry Christmas To All

The classic John Lewis adverts – of course.

John Lewis is so well known for its annual adverts, they need to do very little each year to generate a buzz.

Although these are famously TV Adverts, Social Media plays an equally important role each year. For instance, you’ll find the full advert streamed on demand (rather than hoping to catch it on the telly) on YouTube.

What’s more, John Lewis will play on that year’s theme throughout the festive period across their other platforms to form their social media campaign.

Why It Works: Tradition.

Although they change every year, the John Lewis Christmas campaign is very much part of our annual festivities. Other brands such as Aldi and Sainsburys have joined in the trend and now it seems to officially mark the start of the festive season.

5: Twitter: From Tweets To The Streets

Social Media Marketing Campaigns don’t always have to be exclusively active on Social Media. Twitter has taken the online-offline several times now and shared users tweets (user-generated content once again) across city billboards.

Social Media Management is all about creating a buzz about the brand on Social and by taking funny tweets offline, Twitter were likely to reach a new and different target audience and encourage people to use Social Media – especially if they think there’s a chance for their own tweet to feature!

Why It Works: Engages Existing Users.

Social Listening also plays a key role in this Social Media campaign as Twitter were able to identify funny, engaging tweets without the use of a trending hashtag.

This means existing Twitter users feel like an active part of the campaign and brand promotion, as well as encouraging new users to join the platform.

There’s also very little resource needed by the brand for a campaign like this. In fact, someone else does the hardest part by thinking of something funny to tweet!

6. National Geographic: Your Shot

National Geographic has taken their campaign one step further and even created a new Instagram account @natgeoyourshot to feature their audiences photographs using the hashtag ‘#yourshotphotographer’.

This account wasn’t so much to build the brand directly, it was designed to create a community and telling stories together through the content shared.

However, in a very subtle way, the National Geographic business will receive recognition.

Why It Works: It feels genuine.

Some businesses are here to make money and some just love what they do. Building a community will help the likes of Instagram become a better social space. 

Creating A Social Media Campaign

Each of the examples above highlight how little resources the Social Media team need to make your future Social Media campaigns a success.
Now, when you’re thinking about creating your next Social Media Campaign to promote your brand, consider the above Social Media Campaign examples and anything you’ve noticed that has stuck with you.

One sure way to stand out against your competitors and increase followers across your social networks is to think outside of the box (while staying as on-brand as possible) and consider what will encourage your audience to engage.

It’s best to create a Social Media campaign based on a key objective, such as brand exposure or driving more traffic to a website. Consumers behave differently across each platform and are more likely to engage with content that mirrors this.

It may be that one Social Media campaign works better on one social network than another. For instance, Facebook posts will likely reach your existing followers while Tweets or a post on Instagram – with a good hashtag – could help a business target new customers.

The beauty of Social Media is how easy it is to create and share content. Posting organically to Facebook and other platforms is completely free and the right hashtag could get you some killer exposure. You just need to get your message right – consumers talk about memorable brands.