7 of The Best Marketing Campaigns (& Why They Worked): Social Media Edition
Introduction
In a digitally centered world, nothing will get you more results and exposure than a good marketing campaign, especially in social media. Let’s dive into 7 of the best marketing campaign examples that have emerged from the past two decades of social media that were proven to not only be effective for brand awareness but brought about significant and measurable results for them as well.
Table of Contents
What Qualifies As a Successful Marketing Campaign?
A great marketing campaign can be viral and memorable but more importantly steers the attention and conversations onto your brand. Everyone listed below showed the same patterns and layouts when it came to the campaigns including:
- A clear objective
- Creating compelling & relevant content
- An understanding of their target audience
- Creating engagement and interactivity
We will outline why each brand was successful and give specific explanations as to why each of the campaigns and marketing efforts have ranked each of these brands as some of the best marketing and advertising campaigns in social media to date.
7 of The Best Marketing Campaigns In Social Media
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)
The Campaign:
If you were on social media in 2014, you might have participated in or witnessed someone doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Started by 3 young men living with ALS, they sought to bring awareness to the neurodegenerative disease through this challenge. People nationwide challenged their friends and families in front of the world using the hashtag #ALSIceBucketChallenge on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to dump a bucket of ice water over their heads to support the fight against ALS. After the virality of this challenge, the ALS Association was forever impacted in the best possible ways.
Why it worked:
Seasonal Timing: This ad campaign launched in the summer of 2014. Although it is possible to complete the challenge indoors, this decision gives everyone more opportunity to participate in the challenge as people naturally migrate outdoors to enjoy summertime activities with friends and family.
Interactive Engagement: The ice bucket challenge served as a fun way for people of all ages to beat the heat with minimal effort. All you needed was a bucket (which can be anything), ice, water, and a willing participant. This was an easy way for everyone to create entertaining content to share on their social platforms and bring awareness to the foundation. The best part of it all was that those who participated were rewarded by default by challenging another person of their choice to do it as well, bringing in effortless earned media for the organization.
Organic Nature: The main beauty and key to the success of this marketing campaign is the fact that it was not planned, and was made popular in an organic manner. The first 3 participants, Anthony Senerchia, Pete Frates, and Pat Quinn, had a goal to spread awareness and ended up inspiring the masses to participate in this fun challenge and to donate to the organization. The authenticity behind this challenge and the wholesome origin warmed hearts and created hope for millions of people in the country.
Starbucks – Unicorn Frappuccino (2017)
The Campaign:
Everyone loves a frappuccino, and Starbucks shook the coffee lovers’ world when they announced the release of their new frappuccino that had everyone rushing to the stores to the point where baristas dreaded making the once-in-a-lifetime beverage. The Unicorn Frappuccino debuted on April 19th, 2017, and was announced that it would only be available for the next 5 days. From April 19th to April 24th, everyone rushed to Starbucks to be the one to experience this drink and even ended up selling out the product in the process.
Why it worked:
The Visual: Who wouldn’t get mesmerized by a pink and blue frozen coffee treat like this? The drink alone is not only visually appealing to look at, but it worked great for aesthetics which was perfect for the many content creators who love to post selfies with their coffee of the day from the popular store. Additionally, the look of the frappuccino alone brought many questions on what it would taste like, further piquing everyone’s interest and proving to aid in the increase of brand visibility.
The Urgency: Starbucks knew what they were doing making the Unicorn Frappuchno only available for 5 days in 2017. This gave people no time to say “I’ll try it later” because Starbucks said there would be no later! Unfortunately, for those who didn’t believe them, it is now 7 years later and we still have yet to see the return of the infamous drink.
The Exclusivity: Being a short-term limited edition item created an instant feeling of success and exclusivity for those who were actually able to experience it! We saw many people posting photos of themselves with the drinks on social media and even saw influencers creating YouTube videos centered around reviewing the drink for those who didn’t get the chance to try it. Making this a limited edition item gave Starbucks massive and effortless earned media and increased brand visibility.
Spotify Wrapped (2016 – Present)
The campaign:
In 2016, Spotify started its ad campaign for Spotify Wrapped which is now arguably labeled as one of the most successful marketing campaigns for a music streaming app today. Spotify made great use of the data they would collect on their users and created a campaign that allows listeners to look back on their year in music by breaking down their most played songs, artists, podcasts, favorite genres, and more! Spotify releases this information to every user through a fun personalized video every December and creates a playlist ranking your most played songs, allowing everyone to reflect on their favorites before the new year begins.
Why it worked:
The Nostalgia: Spotify Wrapped creates a moment for the user to reflect on their year from the standpoint of music. Having access to a playlist curated with your most played songs from 2016 (or any previous year) can create huge nostalgia for each user and also encourages them to stay subscribed to this platform to be able to keep access to their memories through music.
The Recurrence: Every year there is a discussion on social media centered around the anticipation and curiosity of what one’s year looked like in music. Once Spotify Wrapped is released, users are eager to share their top artists, songs, and stats to the world, especially through screenshots, which also strikes additional conversation throughout the month. This gives Spotify a certified point of position every December on platforms like Instagram and X for users to share and compare their tastes in music & entertainment.
The Analysis: As people, we don’t realize our patterns or have an exact idea of how much we may be consuming something, especially regarding entertainment. That being said, when people can learn more about themselves and their habits, it is always an intriguing topic for the individual. You may know that you’ve listened to Beyonce a lot this year, but knowing that you’ve listened to 8,000 minutes of Beyonce brings a whole new perspective for you (or me since that was my data). These small details that Spotify has tracked and chosen to share have created a next-level personalized experience for their customers.
Hilton Hotels – #HiltonStayFor10 (2023)
The Campaign:
I know we all looked at the 10-minute video feature on TikTok and thought “Now who would make a 10-minute TikTok…” or better yet, “Who would WATCH a 10-minute TikTok?”.
Well, Hilton Hotels made the TikTok (and they killed it might I add), and we stuck around for 10 minutes to watch it. Paris Hilton and various popular content creators teamed up to create the most entertaining ad campaign for their #HiltonStayFor10 promotion and judging by some of the comments, the response to the Hilton campaign method of using content creation was great!
Why it worked:
The UGC (User Generated Content) Inclusion: Although this is still an ad campaign, the inclusion of familiar faces who have created their own name in the content creation world and allowing them to add their personal flare to this TikTok proved to be an effective strategy to increase audiences appeal. Content creation, user-generated content specifically, in marketing efforts are extremely impactful for building brand trust in this digitally driven age and Hilton Hotel did a great job in implementing this strategy to encourage and shape the viewer’s purchase decisions for their next hotel stay.
The Disbelief: Realistically, none of us thought we would be watching a 10-minute Hilton Hotel TikTok but somehow we all were sucked in? The pure disbelief and curiosity of how they would pull this off got us to the video, and the constant switching of creators throughout this “short form” video gave us the same feeling that we would get as we were scrolling through TikTok watching short videos.
The Core Message: Although each creator had their own storyline, each one tied back into the concept of what the stay at the Hilton would be like for the consumer, giving everyone a glimpse of what the customer journey would be like when choosing the Hilton. Although it seems like the video was everywhere and random, the message throughout the 10-minute TikTok was clear, consistent, and entertaining all at the same time.
Apple – #ShotOnIphone (2015 – Present)
The Campaign:
Apples #ShotOnIphone campaign began in 2015 with the release of their iPhone 6 and has only continued with each new release including the recent iPhone 15. This marketing campaign focuses on highlighting the high-quality aspects of the camera and showcasing the maximum capability of what your phone can do for you beyond texting and calling.
Why it worked:
The Quality of Product: Apple has always marketed itself as the brand you need to have if you’re looking for quality and luxury. The #ShotOnIphone campaign’s clear motive is to send their customers the message along the lines of “Why get a professional camera AND have a phone when your iPhone can do everything a professional camera can and more?”
The Creative Inspiration: As big as content creation is today, #ShotOnIphone gives those who may not feel like they have the equipment or means to produce high-quality videos or images the reassurance that it is possible to do so… if you have an iPhone! With this ad campaign, we’ve seen millions of entries under the hashtag of people sharing the art that they’ve created from their phones, and Apple has also leveraged this by featuring stand-outs in their marketing campaigns through print ads and billboards.
The UGC Method: Apple encouraged users to share their best content using #ShotOnIPhone to create engagement through their campaign and also show their consumers proof of their claims without them having to do the work. This created an underlying strategy to include their customers in their marketing efforts and created an environment focused on content creation in the form of user-generated content from around the world. This has allowed the standard iPhone users to become unofficial brand ambassadors for the product in a way as there are currently 29.7 million posts under the hashtag on Instagram alone.
OfficeMax/Office Depot – Elf Yourself (2006)
The Campaign:
This one is an oldie, but a goodie! Office Max launched #ElfYourself as a holiday promotional campaign in 2006 and had people of all ages in an uproar over the hilarious videos being shared. This campaign allowed individuals to upload photos of their faces onto the OfficeMax website, where the platform would then attach the facial photos onto dancing elves for you to send to friends or family via email or to share on social media.
I mean, who wouldn’t want the opportunity to see themselves as Santa’s breakdancing helper?
Why it worked:
Seasonal Timing: Relevance is one of the easiest strategies to implement if you’re looking to run a successful marketing campaign. Clearly, #ElfYourself would only be impactful for Christmas time but since it is a recurring season, every year someone has the opportunity to send an e-card of them as a dancing elf for the holidays! It also gave families the opportunity to do something fun as they came together for the Christmas season.
Engagement and Sharing: Although possible, the use of AI so early on was still a relatively new concept that entertained many people, and making yourself, friends, and family members into breakdancing elves only added to the fun of the entire campaign. The automated videos were shared everywhere on social media platforms spreading Christmas joy to people all over the country.
Data Collection: #ElfYourself wasn’t just a fun video for you to enjoy, it began an e-card for people to send out during the holidays fostering more engagement and brand awareness. Since it was required to enter your email to receive the video file, OfficeMax was also able to gather information from all who participated in this trend, allowing a massive increase in consumer data gained from this marketing campaign.
Dove – The Reverse Selfie (2021 – Present)
The Campaign:
As a beauty brand, Dove took a beautiful route for their marketing strategy for the reverse selfie campaign. The Reverse Selfie and #TheSelfieTalk highlight the unrealistic and artificial standard of beauty that young girls feel subjected to due to the popularity of social media and AI facial editing. I would argue that this is a great example of one of the best marketing campaigns of Dove’s efforts solely due to the relevance of the topic and its perfect alignment with their brand.
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