Lessons from 7 Successful Social Media Campaigns

A social media campaign is a concerted marketing effort that uses at least one social media channel to reinforce facts or feelings about a product, service, or overall brand. 

A social media campaign is a set of structured events to achieve a particular target within a specific period, with measurable outcomes. It can be restricted to a single social media site or spread through many. Your marketing practices’ engine is social media campaigns: a focused burst of energy that pays off in a massive boost to your brand’s popularity, visibility, or sales.

Are you searching for motivation for your upcoming social media campaign? We have specifically picked a list of the most successful social media campaigns for you. 

Starbucks #WhatsYourName

Used platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and conventional advertising. 

What they practiced: Starbucks UK launched the #WhatsYourName initiative in February in collaboration with Mermaids, an organization that supports transgender and gender-diverse youth. Starbucks’ values-driven initiative, which combined TV ads and social media interaction, centered on its intention to be inclusive of people of all genders by honoring their chosen names.

Why it was successful: To generate buzz on social media, this campaign used one of the most common advertisement tools, a TV spot. They came up with a straightforward marketing hashtag. They also led with their ideals, allowing this campaign to have a genuine emotional impact.

What can be learned: Many companies avoid politicized issues, but your staff and consumers eventually want you to make the world a better place. They want businesses to take the lead on topics like diversity and community.

#DistanceDance with Proctor & Gamble

Used platforms: TikTok

What they practiced: In March 2020, Proctor & Gamble, the consumer goods behemoth responsible for your toilet paper and toothpaste, teamed up with TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio to warn people to stay at home and stop the outbreak of coronavirus.

Why it was successful: TikTok is mainly successful thanks to the dance challenges. Users post easy, original choreography set to familiar songs for other users to copy or riff on. Teens are now enlisting their parents in dance competitions.

What can be learned: A well-executed influencer relationship will propel the campaign to new heights. With over 59 million followers, D’Amelio is the most popular influencer on the network, but you don’t have to work with the biggest influencer you can afford. The most crucial aspect is fit: finding an influencer who shares your brand’s values and appeals to your target audience.

#DeliveryDigiorno

Used platforms: Twitter

What they practiced: Digiorno gave free pizza to customers who tweeted #DeliveryDigiorno during National Pizza Month 2019 (also known as “October”).

Why it was successful: Buyers 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 and endorsed tweets and incentivizing participation by providing incentives (pizza!) for using the campaign hashtag.

What can be learned: Benefitting from a well-known social media phenomenon (such as National Pizza Month) can also assist you in riding the wave of public interest. However, you won’t be the only brand vying for attention, which is why, like DiGiorno, you’ll need to combine an enticing deal with an attention-grabbing idea.

Coors Light #CouldUseABeer

Used platforms: Twitter

What they practiced: Coors Light has recently run some of the funniest campaigns, such as the Clone Machine, which allows users to capture a 30-second video loop of themselves looking intrigued during video calls so that they can sneak away and grab a beer.

That concept came right after their most recent social media marketing campaign, #CouldUseABeer. Coors Light offered a six-pack to anyone who tweeted at them with the campaign hashtag for a limited time.

Why it was successful: After the strong public response to their quarantine giveaway, Coors Light already had a leg up. This acted as a springboard for them to begin their campaign and gain even more exposure.

What can be learned: It’s all about the timing. Coors Light not only used their new 15 minutes of fame to promote a promotion that discussed the tension and fatigue of a global epidemic. Don’t squander the brand’s moment in the spotlight!

Pantone Color Commentary

Used platforms: Twitter

What they practiced: Pantone’s Twitter account posted a live play-by-play named #BigGameColorCommentary during a one-day promotion that coincided with the 2020 Super Bowl.

The campaign was motivated by a colorful coincidence: the two teams wore the same primary uniform color for the first time in Super Bowl history. 

Why was it successful: Pantone’s brand name as a color expert was used creatively in this campaign, fun, and original. It served as a link between sports fans and design enthusiasts, with easily digestible posts that everyone might enjoy.

What can be learned: If you don’t have the money to launch a resource-intensive campaign, start with something simple and enjoyable to see how your audience reacts. Even don’t restrict yourself when it comes to finding a good time to start a campaign!

Spotify #2019Wrapped

Used platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify

What they practiced: Since 2017, Spotify has exchanged year-end data with its users, compiling a personalized “Spotify Wrapped” rundown of their most-listened to tracks, albums, and artists. They went bigger in 2019, with a recap of the previous decade (2010-2019) that showed how users’ listening patterns and tastes had changed.

Why was it successful: Spotify essentially built a winning ad campaign and let its users promote it by providing users with enjoyable and informative data visualizations to share. It’s challenging to beat that kind of social evidence. The Spotify Wrapped format has become so well-known that it has also become a meme.

What can be learned: If you add some insightful updates to keep things fun, you can recycle a successful campaign year after year.

Hello BC’s #ExploreBCLater

Used platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

What they practiced: Hello BC posted a message of social responsibility in the face of the coronavirus across all social media, urging everyone to stay home and #ExploreBCLater. The campaign was a spin-off of their branded hashtag, #ExploreBC, and it capitalized on the brand’s established popularity and use.

Why was it successful: Why did it work? User-generated content (UGC) fuels this initiative, which helps the brand develop its credibility by leveraging prominent users’ audiences and social media platforms. UGC also assists brands in expanding their content collection by allowing them to gather high-quality visual assets from other users and resharing them with their approval.

What can be learned: This campaign is an excellent example of turning lemons into lemonade, as it created a feel-good campaign that held viewers interested in BC as a travel destination while also conveying a respectful and trustworthy message.