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SEVEN MAGIC GUIDES TO A REWARDING SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

by Jeffery Opoku August 15, 2023

To get their target audience talking many brands embark on social media campaigns. Successful social media campaigns set’s your brand apart from the crowd. Today, Sidekick is partnering you with seven magic ways to have a rewarding social media campaign.

What is a social media campaign?

A social media campaign is a contemporary marketing strategy that focuses on reaching out to an audience in order to create awareness of a brand. This kind of strategy usually capitalizes on trending social behaviour, as well as what the target audience is looking for.

So, how can you execute an effective social media campaign especially in the Ghanaian field of business? Sidekick will show you how, using seven different case studies to guide you.

  1. Knorr’s Love at First Taste Campaign

Knorr, a Unilever food and beverage brand, extended its brand online creatively, using a unique campaign it dubbed #LoveAtFirstTaste. This campaign captured the attention of its target audience by asking single adults what their favourite flavours were, then setting up these adults on blind dinner dates using their common tastes.

The extra touch was that the matched couple would then have to feed each other the meal that was prepared. This campaign got the audience engaged, and was captured in a video of less than three minutes! Feeding each other blind was, of course, a sight to behold….a feat which no doubt got the target audience talking; exactly what Knorr sought to achieve.

  1. TOMS’ One Day Without shoe Campaign

With the mantra “With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One”, TOMS highlights its focal point of giving, through its #OneDayWithoutShoes campaign. The aim of this campaign is to get people to post pictures of their bare feet on social media, not forgetting to attach #OneDayWithoutShoes. This gets the audience involved as they have a few seconds feel of how it is to live life barefooted. For every post, the company donates an additional pair of shoes.

This strategy has helped build a consistent image for the TOMS brand over the years, as instead of starting right from scratch every year, it simply builds on the good cause it already has.

One Day Without Shoes 2015 proved to be TOMS most engaged campaign yet. Participation from people in over 30 countries resulted in 296,243 children in need each receiving a new pair of TOMS Giving Shoes.

Throughout the course of the campaign, more than 338,280 barefoot photos were tagged #withoutshoes showing the community’s eagerness to continue spreading the word and help as many kids as possible.

  1. H&M’s Come Together Campaign

Describing itself as “Your shopping destination for fashion online”, H&M made this slogan come alive with a short Christmas-themed commercial, “Come Together”, directed by Wes Anderson, a popular screenwriter and producer. This video trended all over the world, as it tells a touching holiday story in a fun and unique way Wes Anderson is popularly known for

.

The H&M Come Together commercial is set on the H&M Winter Express, an art deco train travelling through Massachusetts, USA, on Christmas Eve. Brody’s character, Conductor Ralph, announces to passengers on Coach 14 that travel has been delayed by eleven and a half hours, due to heavy snow. With the help of assistant porter Fritz (Garth Jennings) and Station Master Fred, Ralph manages to throw a Christmas party in the cafeteria at the back of the carriage, attended by passengers dressed in H&M’s holiday clothing collection. Scissors, construction paper, aluminium foil, an extension cord and something tall enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDinoNRC49c

Come Together film is connected with shopping and interactive experiences online, where viewers are encouraged to come together. This campaign stood out because it succeeded in eliciting emotions from the audience, causing them to think and feel inspired. More importantly, it leaves a lasting impression in the minds of whoever watches it, exactly what H&M wanted to achieve!

  1. Disney’s Share Your Ears Campaign

The mass media and entertainment giant, Disney, warmed its way further into the hearts of its audience through its #ShareYourEars campaign, a partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So this campaign invited people to post pictures of them wearing Mickey Mouse ears on Instagram and Twitter, with the hashtag ‘#ShareYourEars’.

Each post generated a $5 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Therefore enabling them to in turn grant the wishes of children with serious and life-threatening illnesses.

This campaign was successful because it capitalized on user-generated content. And made the audience know they had a major role to play in making someone’s life better.

  1. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ #BallotBriefcase Campaign

PwC, the auditing giant, could not help but join the social media trend, by making its voice heard through its #BallotBriefcase campaign using Snapchat. In order to raise more awareness on how long the firm had been involved in the annual Academy Awards, PwC developed a story that highlighted the journey of the Oscar ballot briefcase as it travelled around the country in a race against time, with it arriving just in time for the actual awards ceremony. PwC got popular personalities like Neil Patrick Harris involved, which of course caught the attention of the younger target audience, exactly what it sought to do.

This touch of creativity did not only earn PwC the Shorty Award for best use of social media in B2B marketing but also caused their social impressions to skyrocket by a solid 136% on Twitter, as well as a vast improvement in their Snapchat and Instagram presence!

  1. Samsung’s Celebrity Selfie

If there ever was anything like accidental social media marketing. Samsung definitely captured it with a sterling selfie of stars at the 2014 Oscars which attracted a whopping 1 million retweets in 45 minutes! Though it was not Samsung’s intention to campaign socially using this picture. Two birds were virtually (and creatively) killed with one stone!

Samsung’s Celebrity Selfie
  1. ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge

An American nonprofit organization focuses on raising money for research and promoting awareness of a disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS registered itself on the radar with its legendary Ice Bucket Challenge. Where people were required to dunk themselves with ice-cold water and post it on social media. This campaign got a further boost as people were challenging their own friends and celebrities to ‘do better’. A dare most people just could not refuse.

Obama ice bucket challenge Mark Zuckerberg Ice Bucket challenge

This simple yet creative campaign helped to raise over $15 million for a rare disease many people knew nothing about!

These exciting and practical case studies give us an idea of what a social media campaign should look like, and what is expected.

We can safely say therefore that in order to run a successful social media campaign, especially in the Ghanaian context:

  1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

As Beth Comstock puts it,‘Know thyself. Know the customer. Innovate.’ Share on X

Before you can clearly map out what to do, you first need to know more about your target audience. Who are they? What do they like? What do they normally respond to? Where do they usually spend their time when they are online?

  1. PLAN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

So before doing anything else, you need to carefully outline what you intend to achieve through your social media campaign. Outline the message you want to communicate to your audience. Thorough research needs to be made into existing trends, so your campaign can be relevant to your target audience. Effective planning will help you in selecting the appropriate social media channels to use. And also to accurately budget towards your social media strategy.

  1. PUT TOGETHER A FORMIDABLE SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

The best way to get the best out of anyone is to place them where they are the most skilful.

Sidekick social media has professionally trained social media Marketers who have the skills. And understand the tactics to get people engaging with your brand.

  1. ALLOCATE SPECIFIC TIME FOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

An effective social media campaign does not end with generating exciting content. You also need to have a mapped out schedule for when this content is going to be posted and shared. How much time do you need to devote to generating creative and unique content? More importantly, how often is your target audience going to hear from you?

  1. COMBINE WITH YOUR OTHER MARKETING STRATEGIES

Your social media campaign should not be implemented in isolation. How effectively are you combining your campaign with other strategies such as referrals? Chances are, when your target audience notices the extension of your brand online, they will help you spread the word because they already have an idea about it. So this way, you are able to reach different people at different times through different channels.

  1. BROADCAST YOUR BRAND’S STORY USING CREATIVE VIDEOS

Using videos as a way of creating awareness on social media is the new trend. And has fast become a trend that any progressive brand cannot do without. How much life do you breathe into your content and how easily can your audience relate? With just a click, your audience can have an idea of what you are about, in a creative way. Your videos must not be too lengthy, however, in order to avoid boredom. Is your video timely and relevant?

  1. ANALYSIS AND FEEDBACK

One key way of knowing how well you are doing and what next you can do is through constant feedback and analysis.

If you truly listen to your customers they are never satisfied. They will let you know what you are doing wrong and force you to become better. Share on X

What are people saying about your brand and how far have you gone in achieving the goals you set for your campaign? Some metrics such as your reach, shares, brand mentions and time spent on your website are key tools in determining how you are doing so far. If the feedback is positive, you are on the right track!

Therefore, In a Ghanaian setting where people are fast catching the social media fever, you need to catch up and make your brand’s voice heard! How? Through a unique and effective social media campaign.

 

 

 

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