Key Takeaways
- Social media campaigns are highly effective for brand promotion, awareness, and revenue generation.
- By aligning with strategic goals and leveraging specific platforms, campaigns can drive measurable outcomes.
- Successful campaigns demonstrate innovation, humor, community engagement, and creative storytelling to capture attention and generate results.
Social media campaigns are the rocket fuel of marketing—a concentrated burst of energy that propels your brand’s reputation, awareness, and revenue.
Looking for inspiration for your next social media campaign? We’ve rounded up a selection of the best social media campaigns to show you how it’s done.
Bonus: Download a free social media campaign template to help you plan your next breakout campaign—no matter the size or budget. Assign responsibilities, set timelines, list deliverables, and more!
What is a social media campaign?
A social media campaign promotes or supports your social media marketing strategy. It’s a series of coordinated actions that help you achieve strategic goals.
Social media campaigns are characterized by specific outcomes that you can track and measure over a defined period of time (e.g., one month). A campaign should be more focused and targeted than your “regular” social media content.
Your campaign can be confined to a single network or span multiple social media platforms. Often, it’s tied to a particular theme like “Black Friday” or “Fashion Week.”
7 inspiring social media campaigns
Get inspired for your next social media campaign with these seven examples.
1. Cheetos’ “Snap to Steal” Snapchat campaign
Platform: Snapchat
What Cheetos did:
Chester Cheetah—the cartoon cheetah mascot for snack brand Cheetos—is a demanding dude: When the brand wanted to launch a new product—Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix—a Super Bowl ad spot on Sunday just wasn’t enough. So the Cheetos marketing team cooked up a special Snapchat AR experience that let Snapchatters point their camera at a Cheetos TV commercial and virtually “snap” a bag of chips right off the screen.
Snapping this digital experience also unlocked a real-life reward. Participants in the AR experience received a coupon for a free bag of Pop Crunch Mix.
The stunt required a lot of planning (and dollars) for both the Super Bowl ad and the uploading of all 1,440 individual frames of the commercial into Snapchat’s machine-learning software, but it paid off.
More than 50,000 bags were “stolen” from the commercial, and traffic to the Cheetos website increased by 2,500%.
Why it worked:
The campaign offered an innovative blend of “old” and new media, giving Snapchatters two incentives to participate.
For one, the commercial aired for a limited time only, making use of the AR filter an exclusive experience. After all, everyone wants to feel special. For another, there was a tangible reward for participating: free snacks!
What you can learn:
Combining digital experiences with real-world rewards is a powerful way to cut through the social media noise and create lasting memories.
Can you create a “treasure hunt” moment for users—for example, by having them spot a unique TV commercial or find a specific location in the real world? Can you delight and engage them by letting them share their triumphant discovery with others via an exclusive filter or AR effect? Can you make people feel special—or at the very least, give them something tasty—by participating in your campaign?
2. Aldi’s #FreeCuthbert Twitter campaign
Platform: Twitter
What Aldi did:
In 2021, British supermarket chain Marks & Spencer took legal action against rival Aldi, alleging that its caterpillar cake infringed on its copyright. M&S claimed that Aldi’s “Cuthbert the Caterpillar” cake looked too similar to its own “Colin the Caterpillar.” Yes, you read that right—this is a thing that actually happened. Instead of immediately unleashing the lawyers, Aldi took this ridiculous legal spat online with a Twitter campaign that went viral.
“This is not just any court case, this is #freecuthbert,” Aldi tweeted, referencing Marks & Spencer’s slogan.
This is not just any court case, this is
#FreeCuthbert— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 15, 2021
The brand’s official account handlers clearly knew what Twitter users loved, posting punny “courtroom” wordplay and jokes about the fight for Cuthbert’s freedom. Later, they even tweeted a photo of the new Cuthbert packaging: in a box of Swedish curtains.
User-generated content poured in: memes, merch, and parodies using the hashtag racked up more than 60,000 tweets.
@AldiUK I bet Cuthbert wouldn’t do this
#freecuthbert #cuthbertthecaterpillar pic.twitter.com/L8bL6105LV— Helen Bray (@likkleh81) April 24, 2022
— jennymeehan
(@jennymeehanart) April 15, 2021
Why it worked:
Treating a caterpillar cake like a wrongly accused person—now that’s top-notch meme fodder.
The tweets practically wrote themselves!
Hashtagging the ongoing “drama” was a clear call to action for others to join the conversation—and the story was so open-ended and relatable that it was practically begging to become a meme.
What you can learn:
You don’t have to be in the midst of a lawsuit to poke fun at yourself and entertain others. But if your brand finds itself in a minor crisis, there may be an opportunity for a lighthearted, positive spin on the situation.
The phrase “Oops, we messed up!” or “We’re in a pickle!” is relatable to just about everyone. Inviting your audience to laugh at you during this “trying time” can only boost your brand sentiment and likeability.
Maybe you’re dealing with a supply chain disruption right now. Can you playfully apologize for the delays while blaming them on an adorable stuffed animal who becomes your brand’s mascot for the problem—or your future go-to scapegoat for future crises?
Just spitballing here. After all, it’s hard to think straight when you’ve got a sudden craving for caterpillar cake…
3. UN Women’s “Empower Moves” TikTok campaign
Platform: TikTok
What UN Women did:
That’s right—the United Nations is on TikTok. And we’re here for it. The UN Women’s arm launched a TikTok dance trend to raise awareness for self-defense techniques. “In a year when women’s safety dominated the conversation, UN Women looked for a way to make girls feel safer again,” the organization’s Webby Award entry reads.
Working with a self-defense expert and a choreographer, the UN developed and filmed an #EmpowerMoves dance routine featuring four simple, easy-to-learn self-defense techniques.
The campaign initially launched organically as a TikTok dance trend. After that initial success, UN Women revealed the techniques hidden within the dance, sharing tutorials for each move in their TikToks (yes, this campaign has *layers*!).
From there, even more influencers and media personalities jumped on the trend.
In addition to 130 million video views, the resulting media coverage netted an ROI of 4,924%! (Although I’m guessing the campaign was more about empowering women than making money.)
@
Why it worked:
UN Women identified a specific audience (young women) they wanted to reach and wisely learned where that audience spends their time online and what they like to do there.
By packaging educational material in a fun, interactive, and trendy format, UN Women seamlessly integrated their campaign into the TikTok world.
What worked so well here was the collaboration with a professional choreographer and the production of original videos that were shot in an authentic TikTok style. The result looked nothing like an awkward attempt by an office worker to convince their coworkers to attend a lunchtime safety seminar.
What you can learn:
Go where your audience is—and then have fun doing what they do. If you don’t have in-house experts on their activities, style, and lingo, don’t be afraid to bring in someone who does. This could take the form of a collaboration with a knowledgeable influencer, or outsourcing your graphic design or video production to someone who “gets” your audience’s aesthetic.
4. Smirnoff’s “24/7” Instagram campaign
Platform: Instagram (and others)
What Smirnoff did:
The vodka brand took trending headlines and mixed up a cocktail recipe to match. When Britney Spears’ conservatorship was lifted, they shared the hashtag #FreeBritney; when the show Squid Game took over the internet, they introduced a traffic light drink. How’d this “campaign-a-day” go over?
Smirnoff tapped into the buzziest of the day’s online conversations and racked up 11 million impressions with this 100-day campaign. Cheers to that!
Why it worked:
Smirnoff spent 100 days creating cocktails that not only featured their product, but also perfectly captured the zeitgeist. The brand wasn’t trying to set trends or invent the next big thing—they were simply riding the wave and offering their own take on the cultural conversation. Marketing the series of ads as a campaign was also a smart move on Smirnoff’s part—although topical cocktail puns deserve a place in any content calendar.
What you can learn:
Do more than repost or comment on trending hashtags. Instead, bring your own unique POV. What’s your unique angle on current events or trends? Can you create a product, service, dance, song, or one-off reaction that people will want to come back to again and again? Package your hot takes under a hashtag or campaign name to brand them as your own and give people a consistent stream of content to return to.
As a sparkling water brand, maybe you could start a TikTok series where a coworker briefs you on the day’s weirdest trends while you sip your bubbly product and dramatically spit-take. Of course, this campaign would have to be called #SpitTake and of course it would get a ton of views. You’re welcome!
5. Fi’s “Chief Broke Officer” campaign
Platform: LinkedIn and Instagram
What Fi did:
New Indian online bank Fi wanted to get users to try their app. So naturally, their marketing team posted a LinkedIn job ad—for a “Chief Broke Officer.”
“We decided to take the biggest pain point of every millennial and turn it into something they could play with,” the company’s Shorty Awards entry reads.
The Fi job posting included detailed descriptions of the desired experience and professional strengths, while also playfully acknowledging how many people have a fraught relationship with money.
This concept struck a chord: the LinkedIn post was shared widely across the platform and even spilled over to Instagram. In total, it motivated a whopping three million people to apply for the job. The brand’s total social media following increased by 5,000% across channels. Not bad for a single little post.
Why it worked:
This job posting was definitely an unconventional way to get attention for a new brand—but it got people talking. Three point three million people, to be exact. Connecting with your audience is both an art and a science. Fi nailed it by turning a common pain point into a strength. And of course, there’s something inherently funny about posting a silly job ad in the midst of serious job postings; it makes the brand stand out from the crowd right away.
What you can learn:
What pain points or challenges does your target audience struggle with? If you can pinpoint the answer to that question and develop a campaign that celebrates those struggles, you could be onto something big.
Another key lesson here: get creative with your use of a platform or medium. Here, a marketing campaign was disguised as a job posting. Maybe you could introduce a new mascot by creating a Facebook profile (or Tinder profile?) for them.
6. HBO Max’s “Bada Binge” campaign
Platform: All of them!
What HBO Max did:
To build anticipation for the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, HBO and HBO Max encouraged viewers to binge-watch all six seasons of the original series over six weeks. “Start now!” the marketers urged on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
The marketers created weekly check-ins and prompts; they shared memes and stills relevant to the timeline, so fans could relive the show’s iconic jokes and moments together—much like they probably would have when The Sopranos originally aired week-to-week.
@hbo
Grandma stays winning at the staring contests 👀. #BadaBinge #TheSopranos
original sound HBO
HBO also deployed Twitter polls and Instagram quizzes to give the audience a fun, interactive way to engage.
There were TikTok recaps of first-run episodes, “Best of The Sopranos” clips on YouTube, fan-made mashups, and more. The HBO Twitter account even hosted a “Six degrees of separation” (also known as the “Small world phenomenon”) game, where fans could name any actor (literally any actor) and the Twitter account would try to connect them to the Sopranos universe.
Every possible iteration of Sopranos content was unleashed across every available channel. Consuming it all would require you to carbo-load like Carmela with ziti.
@HBO
Let’s organize a sit-down, eh? Keep this #BadaBinge going. pic.twitter.com/Fbmq1rib8A
Why it worked:
The sheer volume of content across every social media channel made it impossible to ignore that the new movie was coming out. Was the campaign overwhelming? Yes, it was. But it was also wildly successful, resulting in a 200% increase in Sopranos streams and one million streamers on the launch day of The Many Saints of Newark.
What you can learn:
Sometimes, more is more. If you’ve got something big coming up, don’t be afraid to market the heck out of it.
The key to an all-out campaign like this, however, is content variety. You can’t just post the same thing over and over again, or cross-post identical content across channels. Get creative, think big, and present your idea from every possible angle without repeating yourself. If someone follows you on every channel and sees the same GIF seven times a day, they’re bound to get annoyed. Capisce?
7. Havana Club Rum’s “Amparo Experience” Instagram account
Platform: Instagram
What Havana Club Rum did:
While most social media campaigns on Instagram are hashtag-based, Havana Club Rum did something pretty creative with the platform: they created an Instagram account for a historical figure—their founder Amparo Arechabala.
Havana Rum Club is fiercely proud of its history. By sharing that history through an Instagram account, as though Amparo were posting it herself back in 1957, the brand amplifies its humanity, authenticity, and romance.
Why it worked:
Havana Rum Club taps into the familiar Instagram format of documenting one’s life day-by-day and applies it in a novel way. Sharing your company’s history on social media can be dry and boring—or it can be vibrant, visual, and personal. Havana Club Rum did the latter. Plus, the company’s marketing team clearly put some serious production dollars behind this—it looks like there’s a whole movie somewhere that they’re slowly releasing stills and video clips from.
What you can learn:
If you want to package a campaign or one-off story into a neat little bundle, a dedicated Instagram account could be the way to go—especially if it’s centered around a person, whether real, historical, or fictional. This is a particularly good way to liven up dry subject matter. Then again, not every brand is lucky enough to have a “betrayal by the Cuban government” story to look back on.
Bonus: Creating a dedicated Instagram account for a fictional or historical character can be a great way to bring your brand’s story to life. This can be especially effective if you’re targeting a younger audience who is more likely to engage with interactive content.
Conclusion: Social media campaigns are a powerful way to reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals. By getting creative and thinking outside the box, you can create campaigns that are both engaging and effective.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a social media campaign?
A social media campaign is a series of coordinated actions that help you achieve strategic goals. It’s a focused and targeted effort that uses social media platforms to promote your brand, product, or service.
What are some tips for creating a successful social media campaign?
There are a few key things to keep in mind when creating a social media campaign:
- Set clear goals and objectives.
- Choose the right social media platforms.
- Create engaging and shareable content.
- Promote your campaign across all channels.
- Track your results and make adjustments as needed.
What are some examples of successful social media campaigns?
There are many examples of successful social media campaigns, but some of the most notable include:
- The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
- The Dove Real Beauty Sketches
- The Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign
- The Red Bull Stratos space jump
- The Chipotle “Scarecrow” campaign
How can I measure the success of my social media campaign?
There are a number of ways to measure the success of your social media campaign, including:
- Website traffic
- Social media engagement
- Brand awareness
- Sales
- Customer satisfaction
Leave a Reply