So what exactly is it about these campaigns that leaves such a strong impression on us?
As a copywriter and content marketer who has been in the marketing world for years, I’ve seen plenty of social media campaigns.
And in this post, I want to share a few that stand out in my memory as highly effective, and break down what makes them so remarkable.
Ready to see some genius-level social media marketing at work?
Let’s dig in.
1. Old Spice: Using Humor to Make a Splash on Social Media
We can’t talk about social media campaigns without mentioning Old Spice.
In 2010, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” made his debut on TV and YouTube, and got everyone buzzing about men’s body wash.
Within the first 3 months of it airing, this hilarious ad increased Old Spice’s website traffic by 300%.
And the funny thing about it is the ad targets women.
The handsome, shirtless man in the ad speaks directly to women, encouraging them to “stop buying lady-scented body wash” for their man.
Even Oprah chimed in saying, “I love this commercial so much, I might buy me some Old Spice!”
Old Spice went on to create more videos with the “Old Spice Man”, even going as far as having him respond directly to social media comments with hilarious, personalized video clips.
A year after the first video aired, Old Spice’s sales had increased over 100%.
With this successful campaign, Old Spice leveraged the power of surprise and humor, showing us that even an everyday product like a body wash could be wildly entertaining.
What Can You Take Away From Old Spice?
A key takeaway from Old Spice’s success is that laughter is a powerful tool in social marketing.
But it goes beyond just laughter — they had to think outside the box to target women for a men’s product (which was a risk!), and they also put in the time and effort to interact with individual social media users.
So the lesson here is: be creative, take risks, and don’t be afraid to speak directly to your target audience.
2. Nike: User-Generated Content to Boost Brand Awareness
In 2014, Nike’s #ChooseYourWinter social media campaign turned the brand’s followers into influencers.
It started with the hilarious commercial posted above, featuring top athletes practicing as usual amidst the dreaded “polar vortex” that had the nation shivering that winter.
The message? These athletes are still warm and cozy in their thermal Nike gear.
The deeper message? Real athletes practice hard, no matter what the forecast.
But Nike didn’t stop there. They asked social media users to capture the essence of the #ChooseYourWinter campaign by posting their own stories of athletic resilience during winter weather.
Users on X/Twitter and Instagram used the hashtag as a rallying cry, posting photos and videos with bold captions like “Runners don’t have snow days”.
What Can You Take Away From Nike?
There were a few techniques at work with Nike’s successful social media campaign.
The campaign kicked off with a humorous and inspiring video ad, drawing audience attention and highlighting the durability and thermal protection of their gear.
But it was the #chooseyourwinter hashtag that really resonated with Nike’s target audience.
Nike knew what type of people use their products and they also knew who those people aspire to be: athletes with unbreakable discipline.
Nike created a social campaign that shot straight into the hearts of their target audience, getting their customers to do all their advertising for them. What more could you ask for?
3. Tesla: Leveraging the Power of Social Media Presence
Tesla is famous for its shocking marketing budget of…$0.
Unlike other auto companies, Tesla does not use paid adverting. Yet it still sells more electric vehicles than all the other auto brands combined.
So how do they do it?
I’d attribute their success to two methods: cultivating community and capturing attention.
On YouTube, they have more than twice the number of subscribers of other popular car brands — and they don’t post ads.
They post educational videos featuring their engineering team explaining how the technology works, and test-driving the vehicles in shockingly rough environments.
It’s really cool to see — especially for Tesla owners and enthusiasts.
Other times, they’ll post something funny (but still geeky and on-brand), like this video they uploaded on Valentine’s Day:
And of course, a big part of Tesla’s social media marketing is their CEO, Elon Musk.
Elon is a high-profile billionaire with an eccentric personality. And whether you like him or not, he gets a ton of media attention.
Elon is well-known for his recent acquisition of Twitter, which he rebranded to X, causing a media frenzy in 2023 (Bringing even more attention to Tesla).
But even before he bought Twitter (X), he was active on the platform, tweeting about Tesla and responding directly to users in the Tesla community, something most CEOs don’t do.
What Can You Take Away From Tesla?
Tesla teaches us that marketing can be less about ad spend and more about knowing your audience.
Rather than try to reach a broad audience, they’ve built their marketing around a community of Tesla owners and aspiring owners.
They know the Tesla community loves technology and innovation, so that’s exactly what they show on their YouTube channel. Their YouTube videos provide education and entertainment, going beyond the capabilities of traditional paid ads.
And Elon? Well, he keeps things interesting. From Space X to owning X/Twitter, he doesn’t seem to be leaving headlines anytime soon.
4. Coca-Cola: Share a Coke Campaign
Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ marketing campaign took personalization to a whole new level.
Starting in 2011 in Australia, Coke started replacing their signature label with the 150 most popular names in the country.
People loved scouring the market for their personalized bottle, taking photos and sharing them in their Instagram story or other social media.
The campaign soon spread to Europe, Asia and the USA.
And if you couldn’t find your name? No worries! The campaign evolved to allow customers to order custom bottles and cans online.
The “Share a Coke” social media campaign increased sales in the USA by 2% after its launch.
And the campaign is still active today — you can now find names, song lyrics and even popular vacation destinations on a Coke bottle.
What Can You Take Away From Coca-Cola?
The personalization of the “Share a Coke” campaign made people feel like they were drinking a beverage created specifically for them.
The personalization also allowed customers to give personalized gifts to people they love, creating moments of connection worthy of selfies and X/Twitter updates.
The campaign evolved brilliantly to allow custom bottles — imagine how many bulk orders Coke gets from events like conferences and weddings!
5. Dove: Real Beauty Sketches — Tapping into Emotions
When I first saw, Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign, it brought tears to my eyes.
The social media campaign started with a 3-minute YouTube film where a a forensic sketch artist drew a sketch of several different women, based on their own descriptions of their faces.
The sketch artist would then draw another version, based on a stranger’s perspective of the woman’s face.
Surprisingly, the stranger’s perspective always resulted in a more beautiful image.
This sparked a conversation about how women see their beauty, and the role the beauty industry has had on our self-perception.
The film won an award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and is one of the most viewed ads of all time, with over 160 million views.
What Can You Take Away From Dove?
The primary source of power behind the “real beauty” marketing campaign is emotion.
Women were tired of the beauty industry profiting from their insecurities, and that’s why the film resonated so strongly.
Dove’s willingness to shine a light on impossible beauty standards also created a sense of transparency and authenticity that other “beauty” brands lacked.
This cultivated a lasting trust in the Dove’s products, as women feel the company has their best interests at heart.
6. GoPro: Harnessing User Generated Content for Viral Marketing
GoPro was made to do user-generated content. Literally!
They make high-quality, durable cameras that can snap clear video and photos from the top of snowy mountains to under the ocean — and they use their product’s functionality to their advantage.
Customers use their cameras while skiing, deep-sea diving, climbing, sky-diving, riding motorcycles and having all sorts of colorful adventures.
So naturally, GoPro features users’ videos and photos across all their social media platforms.
They also incentivize users to post GoPro content by holding contests, like their “photo of the day”.
The user who submitted the above photo won $500, and GoPro got a stunning image for its Instagram page.
GoPro has also tapped into influencer marketing in a major way. YouTube “vloggers” in the travel, adventure or sports niches can serve as affiliate marketers for the brand, earning a commission while promoting the company through their video content.
What Can You Take Away From GoPro?
GoPro was in a unique position to leverage its product’s functionality to create exciting and visually stunning social media campaigns.
But it didn’t just use big influencers or their own marketing team to promote the product, they encouraged their customers to get in on the action.
And the result? An endless supply of breathtaking images across their social platforms, and a community of loyal, adventurous customers.
But GoPro’s user-generated content isn’t just visually pleasing, it also serves as social proof that the product works beautifully.
7. Spotify: A Lesson in Personalized Marketing
Nothing signals the end of the year quite like seeing everyone’s Spotify Wrapped stats.
Each year around early December, Spotify generates a personalized video for each user, summarizing their top artists, most listened-to songs and more, based on the data from the person’s listening habits.
The video is truly fun to watch (especially if you’re a music lover like me). And it also includes colorful graphics of your stats that are perfect for sharing on social media.
This type of marketing brings a new meaning to “social listening”, right?
What Can You Take Away From Spotify?
Spotify’s Wrapped campaign is another great example of personalization in marketing.
Watching your “Wrapped” video each year makes you feel like Spotify knows and appreciates your personal tastes.
And of course, if you want everyone else to know about your exquisite taste in music, you share it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, which is free marketing for Spotify.
8. Airbnb: Excelling at Influencer Marketing
Need a lesson in brand engagement? Check out home-sharing app Airbnb‘s “Live There” campaign.
This brilliant marketing campaign was designed around the concept of living like a local rather than merely visiting as a tourist.
To bring this campaign to life, Airbnb didn’t merely rely on traditional promotional methods.
Instead, they collaborated with influencers who embodied their brand’s values of authenticity, community, and adventure.
And these were not just any influencers — these were people with real, engaging stories and followers who trusted them.
These influencers demonstrated the uniqueness of Airbnb’s offerings through their own lens. The content was compelling, relatable, and aspirational, encouraging more people to try Airbnb’s services.
What Can You Take Away From Airbnb?
When done right, Influencer marketing leads to high engagement rates.
But it’s important to look for influencers who align with your brand’s ethos, not just those with large followings. That’s what made “Live there” so effective — the influencers truly lived the brand.
When the influencer’s content is authentic and resonates with their audience, their followers are more likely to take action, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.
9. LinkedIn: InMail for Direct and Effective Communication
LinkedIn has carved a unique niche as the go-to social media platform for professionals.
One of its innovative features, InMail, has proven invaluable for marketers looking to reach their target audience directly.
Unlike standard email marketing emails that can get lost in the crowd, LinkedIn’s InMail delivers messages straight to the recipient’s inbox, ensuring they are seen.
What Can You Take Away From LinkedIn?
LinkedIn’s InMail demonstrates the power of direct and personalized communication.
When you deliver content tailored to the recipient’s interests, needs, or industry, it can lead to higher engagement rates and conversions.
This approach also makes your audience feel valued, creating a deeper connection with your brand.
10. Greggs: A Vegan Sausage Roll for the Win
UK bakery chain Greggs had the internet in stitches when they launched their vegan sausage roll.
If you’ve ever seen an ad for a new Apple product (iPhone, etc), you’ll understand why the video is so funny.
Greggs also timed their launch perfectly with Veganuary — a growing trend where people follow a vegan diet in January. They released these iPhone-style video ads, making people laugh and letting them know about the savory new treat.
But, they didn’t stop there.
Greggs responded hilariously to both positive and negative feedback on social media, further increasing their engagement. As a result, their sales grew, and the vegan sausage roll became one of their top 5 selling products.
What Can You Take Away From Greggs?
Timing is everything in social media marketing. Launching your product or campaign at the right moment can make a huge difference in its success.
Greggs capitalized on the timing of Veganuary, while also capturing audience attention with a hilarious ad.
Then, they went a step further to start responding directly to customer feedback on social media, which kept them trending.
Now that’s effective content marketing!
Which Creative Social Media Campaigns Will Inspire You?
Whew! That was quite a ride.
You laughed, you cried, you saw some incredible social media campaigns at work.
You learned the value of humor with Old Spice and Gregg’s vegan sausage rolls.
And the power of authenticity with Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches.
And you marveled at the colorful, exciting user-generated images for GoPro and and AirBnB.
But now it’s your turn.
So let these marketing geniuses inspire you, and go create a sensational campaign of your own!
