As humans, all of us believe in some cause. It can be anything – from animal rights to environmental rights, from stopping corruption to the cleaning of rivers. The list of causes to support is endless. There are brands and companies which align themselves to a cause or they want to generate support for it. They also can be the one leading the cause at the forefront.

Promoting such causes is the essence of various social media campaign ideas.

So, if you are looking for promoting a cause and which should reach out to the world and also want your brand’s presence to increase, then you should aim for a complete social media campaign. To help you design the most suitable social media campaign, here are 20 social media campaign ideas. Now, if your social media campaigning is on point, then it may generate the organic traffic your cause/brand needs.

They say that ‘the more, the merrier’ and this is true. Together we can bring in change. So, let’s see the different types of campaign styles you can undertake to spread the word. But first, we need to understand what social media campaign is.

What is Social Media Campaigning?

If you are looking for a proper definition, then Social Media Campaigning can be described as a coordinated marketing effort to reinforce or assist with a business goal using one or more social media platforms.

These campaigns usually differ from the regular social media postings, because they are aimed at increasing focus, targeting people and the response can be measured.

3 important factors of social media campaign ideas

Image source – Malaafat

For a social media campaigning to work, you need set 3 things straight:

• Goals: These should align with your brand or cause and at the same time appeal to the audience you wish to target.
• Choose your Social Media carefully. It should be noted that different age groups will be present in different social media. So you need to assess your demographics for the campaign.
• Timing is everything. You may want to check the hype around your cause before coming up with a campaign idea unless your idea is so amazing that it becomes the hype.

Having stated the necessary pre-requisites for a social media campaign, let’s see the different types of campaign tactics/styles you can undertake to gather support for a cause.

Social media campaign ideas

Scarcity Game

Starbucks is a worldwide premium coffee chain and knows its marketing game. It pounced on the scarcity trick and gathered many followers and boosted their sales as well.

Image source – Starbucks

As a part of its Frappucino Happy Hour, Starbucks introduced the Unicorn Frappucino for a limited period. The scarcity factor, FOMO and the instagrammability of the drink worked in their favor of targeting the young and savvy audience.

For A Cause Campaign

Align with a cause which may benefit your brand or be in line with your brand ideals. This cause can serve greatly for social media campaign ideas.

When stories related to the Pink Tax began surfacing, shock and rage were among the common reactions garnered in response. Billie, a startup devoted to creating a body hair – positive and budget-friendly shaving experience, launched their Project Body Hair Campaign.

Image source – The Drum

This campaign accepts the fact that women have body hair and it depends upon them to shave it or not. It targeted anyone who identifies themselves as women and felt alienated by ads that depict an ideal body.

It also encouraged women to share pictures showing their real body hair, using the hashtag #ProjectBodyHair.

Create a Hashtag

So your brand is the perfect ‘something’, people have been looking for and they are really happy about it. Why not use this to your advantage?

Be a trendsetter and create a unique hashtag for your brand. Ask people to use it and spread the word. In this way, you can promote your brand without sounding too promotional.

Take the example of Coca Cola starting the viral hashtag #ShareACoke to gather customer results.

Image source – Adespresso

Post Offers and Discounts

Who doesn’t like offers, discounts or promo codes before a purchase? Everybody does! This is another old trick in the book, to gather people around your brand.

Image source – Optinmonster

Organize Contests and Giveaways

People feel good when they, out of thousands, win a contest. They also can’t resist the word ‘free’. It is also an excellent way to drive traffic and engagement to your pages.

Reports suggest that accounts that run contests periodically are noted to grow 70% faster than those who don’t.

You can take the example of Birchbox and apply the tactics accordingly.

Image source – Easy promos

Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything)

This can be used for Instagram stories and on Reddit. AMA series presents you the opportunity to educate and engage with your followers.

These Q&A sessions are where share your knowledge, experiences and insight. You can share success stories and personal challenges for your followers to get insight.

Image source – Later

One can use the AMA session conducted by Barack Obama for insight.

Social Media Takeover

Letting other people or influencers take up your social media can bring in more traffic to your page.

The purpose of a takeover is to get exposure, so make sure you choose someone whose audience demographic is relevant to your own.

Image source – GetResponse

For example, here Airbnb has given multiple customers the chance to showcase their experiences through takeovers.

Short, Bite-Size Video Clips

Short videos are a thumbs up for modern brands to appeal to their audience. It requires minimal editing and can be shot quickly. Plus, it looks cooler on your feed.

Use Instagram Reels feature to your advantage.

Image source – Filmora

Repurpose your stuff

Try using additional ideas to promote your content beyond its original format. Pull out a quote from your content and repurpose it into a share-friendly image.

Or provide sneak-peeks to your video blog through bite-size video reels.

Team Up

Collaborate with another brand who shares the same goals as you do. You can team up and create webinars, e-books or even a special promotion.

Co-marketing campaign ideas are the it-thing because it’s so easy to sync up your efforts and both the company gets exposure to the other’s audience.

The global partnership between GoPro and Red Bull, proved to be beneficial for both the brands and the consumers get something exciting out of it.

Image source – Sporttechie

Vlog Up

Tutorials and how to videos with a touch of time lapse and text editing can work wonders for your vlog channel and social media page.

We can take the example of Buzzfeed and Tasty, who craft videos of mouthwatering dishes with a step by step manual. These are short yet comprehensive and easy to follow.

Image source – Digital value blog blog

Bonus points to you if your Instagram caption can explain all the necessary steps.

Live Videos

How enthralling it is when you watch a live cricket match or a live FIFA Finals Match? Very! One has to agree that there is something captivating about live videos.

You get live feedback on your content which establishes a more personal connection with your followers.

Image source – The verge

Throw Spotlight on your Customers

Appreciate your customers by giving them a shout-out. You can also try going beyond a shout-out by starting a ‘customer of the week program’, highlighting the best customers.

You can hook them up with a freebie or a giveaway.

The more you appreciate your consumers, the more engagement and brand awareness you get. ColorPop Cosmetics has gained thousands of followers by applying this tactic. You should try it too.

Meme Your Way Through

Memes are not going to run out of fashion any time soon. And they are everywhere. Literally. So why not make a meme? As a brand, you shouldn’t be afraid to show off your humour side as well. It can make your page less sales-y.

Pepsi Co., made space to showcase their humour style this way:

Image source – Marketing mind

But of course, memes have a shelf life and if your audience is not inclined to humor, then meme can be cringe-worthy. Understand your demographics and then play the trump card.

Use Trending Topics to Your Advantage

Trending topics can present itself as a content idea for a brand or an influencer to capitalize on it. Although there is a limited time window for such posts to reach numbers, given the right timing and witty writing, this post could work like a charm.

Oreo used the Super Bowl blackout, to quirk-up its twitter game. The result: 15,000 retweets the same day!  Also, try to avoid politically or potentially sensitive topics, unless you are absolutely sure of your wit game.

Create Challenges

How can the world forget about the world famous Ice Bucket Challenge, which remains to be one of the most successful ones so far?

Although the real reason for the challenge was to promote research and donations for rare sclerosis, the challenge brought in some heavy cash.

Check out how Until Tomorrow challenge became trending and come up with your brand’s challenges.

Try Polling your Audience

One of the reasons why social media is a popular platform is that everyone is present there and everyone loves to give an opinion about something.

You can use the Instagram Poll and twitter Poll Feature to set up your own polls about an upcoming post, new collab or pretty much anything.

Involve your audience more and get their opinions, the way Dunkin’ Donuts did here.

Image source – Wyzowl

Sharing Milestones

Brands should be willing to celebrate their success stories with their followers. Whether you got featured in NY Times or moved in to an uber-cool office, share your win.

Sprout Social shared their victory so that everyone can join in on the celebration while promoting the good image of the brand as well.

Don’t always get too promotional on your postings. You may come out as a brand who is here to only up their profits. This may hurt the brand image.

Conclusion

Having a wide range of awesome products is good but aligning yourself to the wider community and their causes can create an amazing brand image for you.

The social media is like a fertile land which if you sow properly, will give you the brand awareness and profits you aim for. Think out of the box, mix and match, up your social media game to reach new heights of success.

Brands keep investing in market research and marketing campaigns, so that they brand sounds more human than a business body. And if both are well done, it pays off well. You should also know this that, not everyone will garner positive feelings towards your marketing strategy. But that shouldn’t let you from experimenting.

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