Looking for social media campaign ideas to take your marketing strategy to the next level?
More than ever, brands are setting themselves apart on social media with creative campaigns — and seeing big results.
In this blog post, we highlight 7 brands with awesome social media campaigns to inspire your content strategy in 2021:
7 Social Media Campaign Ideas to Inspire Your Strategy in 2021:
#1: Knix’s Community-building Campaign
Apparel brand Knix tapped into the power of community for their Swim 2020 social media campaign.
Despite having their photo shoot canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, the company, known for championing body positivity, quickly pivoted their strategy.
Instead of jumping on a plane, they sent swimsuits to 25 members of their community, and asked them to model them from home.
As a result, Knix was able to execute an awesome campaign, powered by their community, with user-generated content (UGC).
UGC is a great way to humanize your brand. Spotlighting customers who love your products not only establishes trust with your audience, but strengthens a sense of community.
Want to easily find and curate user-generated content for your feed? Upgrade to a Growth or Advanced plan to collect content by Tags or Mentions!
#2: Play Digital’s Engaging Bathtub Challenge
Last year had many major social media moments. From the “how it started, how it’s going” meme to the Dolly Parton challenge, there were so many trends to get creative with.
But one Instagram challenge that stood out was the #bathtubchallenge created by Bailey Stanworth — founder of the marketing agency Play Digital.
Stanworth created a unique hashtag, posted a selfie, and then tagged influencers like The Birds Papaya in the post, challenging them to create their own.
By leveraging their communities, this social media campaign was able to reach new audiences, and the hashtag quickly grew to thousands of organic posts.
Gamification on social media is a great way to increase brand awareness, engagement, and reach.
Plus, it adds an element of fun! You don’t need skills in design or meme-making to start a challenge. They can be creative, simple, and easy to participate in.
And using a unique hashtag is key for aggregating the posts and measuring results. By tracking the hashtag you can also engage with participants by liking, commenting or sharing their posts.
TIP: Research your challenge hashtag in advance! Make sure it isn’t already in use, saturated with other content, or difficult to spell.
#3: Nike’s “Dream Crazy” Video
Many brands shy away from supporting social causes on social media, but not Nike.
In 2018, they released a video starring former NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality by kneeling during the pre-game national anthem.
The video celebrated many athletes and featured Kaepernick calling on viewers to “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Nike’s stock rose by 5% and the video even won an Emmy — showing that brands with purpose reign supreme.
Even if you don’t have a major budget like Nike, you can still run a social media campaign idea that will raise awareness, encourage conversation, and drive change about issues you care about.
#4: Supreme x Oreo’s Bold Collaboration
Partnering with other brands is a great way to tap into their audience and also target an audience you’d both like to reach.
For apparel brand Supreme, a partnership with Oreo may seem like an unusual choice. But that’s why it worked so well:
With short copy, and a simple photo of their exclusive Oreo, the brands were able to capitalize on the randomness of the collaboration and engage with Gen Z.
After much anticipation, the limited edition packs of Supreme Oreos quickly sold out online — with some packages then flipped and resold on sites like eBay for $92,000!
There are many benefits to brand partnerships — whether it’s to reach new audiences or drive sales.
And if you’re looking to market to Gen Z, remember they like entertaining content, brands that are bold and show personality, and intriguing partnerships.
TIP: When planning your next exclusive product launch, think of other businesses that you can collaborate with to help promote it — even if they’re outside of your industry or niche!
#5: Spotify’s Data Storytelling
Every year, Spotify releases one of the most well-known social media campaigns by compiling their users’ listening habits into a fun year-end review:
The personalized data includes insights like their top artists, favorite genres, most-listened to podcasts, and even how users rank in the Spotify community.
What makes this campaign great is how the data is packaged perfectly for Instagram Stories with colorful graphics and slides.
It’s a win-win. Users can easily share their music identity with their community on social media, while Spotify benefits from a huge brand awareness boost.
TIP: If you collect data from your customers, consider how you can make it shareable, but be sure to maintain consumer privacy and trust.
#6: Jillian Harris’s Holiday Reels & Giveaways
The holidays are the perfect opportunity to run giveaways on your social media platforms. Not only do they increase engagement, but it’s a fun way to give back to your community.
Influencer Jillian Harris put a clever spin on her giveaways by doing 12 days of giveaways:
By incorporating Instagram Reels into her giveaway strategy, Jillian was able to tap into a feature experiencing a huge engagement boost — reaching a huge number of people as a result.
Jillian’s social media campaign also required viewers to complete engagement steps to enter the giveaway, like subscribing to her newsletter and visiting her website.
By using Reels, she was able to expand her reach, increase engagement and entries, and keep her community highly entertained.
TIP: Instagram Reels offer a new and dynamic way to connect with your audience. Create content that is either educational, entertaining, authentic, or showcases your products.
#7: Brunette the Label x Smash & Tess’s Product Launch
When Brunette the Label and Smash & Tess decided to launch a comfy sweatsuit-inspired romper, the campaign was a natural fit for both brands.
In order to build hype around the romper, they leveraged four different Instagram accounts:
Brunette the Label
Smash & Tess
Ashley Freeborn, founder of Smash & Tess
Miriam Alden Schmidt, founder of Brunette the Label
Each account posted content about the launch including stories, feed posts, giveaways, and countdowns.
The founders of each brand also hosted an Instagram Live where they discussed the new line, their friendship, and answered product questions
The takeaway? If you have an upcoming product launch, build excitement for it with a buzz-worthy social media campaign idea well in advance — and leverage the followings of key players to help build awareness.
There are a lot of ways to reach your audience through social media, and there’s never been a better time to get creative with your strategy.
From community-building UGC campaigns to engaging videos, strong social media campaign ideas can set your brand apart.
Ready to kickstart your social media strategy? Sign up to Later and start planning your content in advance — it’s free!
