The Best Social Media Campaign Ideas to Inspire You

Social media is everywhere. It’s a part of our daily lives, and businesses are constantly trying to find new ways to use it. Yet, no matter the size of your business, you can benefit from social media marketing. However, it’s important to remember that there are many different ways to approach it — so you must find the ones that fit best for your business!

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best social media campaign ideas and how to implement them into your strategy.

1. Promote a Cause

If you’re looking for ways to engage with your audience meaningfully, consider promoting a cause instead of a product or service. Social media users are constantly bombarded with ads encouraging them to buy whatever the company offers. By promoting what you have to offer, it can be a challenge to truly stand out unless you know what your audience’s needs are exactly.

In contrast, a cause that resonates with your audience allows you to gain traction because you’re bringing more awareness to something that resonates with them. This gives you a chance to connect with your audience because you’re showcasing the emotional side of your business.

Therefore, consider promoting something that will make your audience feel good. For example, Dove recently focused on a social cause that exposed toxic beauty advice on social networks. The #DetoxYourFeed campaign encourages mothers to communicate with their daughters about healthy social media habits to enhance their self-esteem.

After the campaign, social media users started unfollowing creators that feature beauty stereotypes, which led Dove to spread awareness about its brand and strengthen its connection with its audience.

2. Post User-Generated Content

One of the best social media campaign ideas you can use is to promote user-generated content (UGC) by letting users create and share their content!

UGC campaigns are a great way to promote content that resonates with your audience. They’re especially effective because you’re getting more mileage out of your content. Plus, it saves your business money if you have a limited budget for creating new content.

UGC is about encouraging users to share content promoting your products or services. Yet, it’s also an excellent way to build trust with your audience because the content originates from users making authentic posts.

A perfect example of this comes from Aerie. The lingerie and swim brand promoted UGC by inviting its customers of all ages and sizes to post on social media wearing their designs. Aerie aimed to promote its brand that encourages body positivity to celebrate inclusivity — consumers were all for it. 

Users shared real, unedited photos of themselves, allowing Aerie to tag those users and donate $1 to the National Eating Disorders Association for every post that Instagram users shared.

When promoting UGC, encourage your users to share their stories or experiences with your product or service. Then ask them for permission to share the content on your account and use hashtags related to what your company does.

3. Promote Giveaways

Who doesn’t love free products? Giveaways are a perfect way to drive engagement and get your audience involved in your campaign. They allow you to increase brand awareness and give your audience a chance to test your offers.

When promoting a new giveaway from your brand, consider partnering with an influencer. Social media creators have the power to spread the word about your brand because they have a strong connection with their audience.

Yet, before you partner with any influencer, be sure they align with your audience and your brand’s values. The more alike you are, the higher your chances will be of having a successful campaign.

One example is Ipsy partnering with a micro-influencer to promote their giveaway. Though Ipsy has millions of followers, collaborating with a smaller creator allowed them to showcase their authenticity.

The beauty brand kept it simple by having smaller creators instruct users on how to enter and what they’ll win. It’s a win-win for you and the collaborator because you’re reaching each other’s audiences, significantly increasing visibility on social media.

4. Utilize Storytelling

Capture the hearts and minds of consumers with the use of storytelling. This strategy works because it engages audiences and allows people to feel something — whether it makes them laugh, cry or feel happy.

By utilizing storytelling within your social media campaign, you’re connecting with users on a deeper level. However, a story doesn’t have to be a full-length novel. It can be a snippet that showcases who you are as a person or a business.

Dawn dish soap provides a great example of this. Its social media marketing often showcases how its product keeps wildlife clean from the impacts of oil spills. Undeniably, the adorable animals it uses for campaigns pull at your heartstrings. After all, Dawn is taking an emotion-centered approach that makes followers want to help save wildlife.

Either way, storytelling is a great way to increase a fondness for your product and push loyalty to your brand.

When sharing stories, consider how it’s relatable to your audience so you can grab users’ attention and keep them returning for more.

5. Go Behind the Scenes

While it might seem like social media is about showing off the glamor of your brand, there’s always a better way to connect with your audience. Consider going behind the scenes to show users what your company is about.

Giving a glimpse into the reality of your company is what makes a campaign so successful. By going behind the scenes, you show off your company’s values and another side that your audience doesn’t always get to see.

A great example of this relates to Airbnb. The vacation rental company uses social media to show off properties to inspire travel. By doing a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most popular vacation rentals — users feel motivated to plan and book their vacations on the spot.

As a result of this success, Airbnb can drive traffic to its site and generate sales.

If you consider going behind the scenes, try accomplishing this by creating a series of short videos that gives users an inside look at what goes on at your company. You could show off employees enjoying their jobs or how you package products before shipping them to happy customers.

6. Share Live-Stream Events

Do you have a big launch or event coming up? Consider live streaming it to share it with the world. Live streams are excellent for setting yourself apart from other brands and keeping people engaged.

Walmart achieved success with this by live-streaming its first shopping event on TikTok. Its “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular” event gave customers a first-hand look at its holiday specials — allowing shoppers to see which products were taking center stage on the platform.

Since its first live-stream event, Walmart has continued promoting products live on TikTok for all its loyal customers.

If you live-stream a launch or an event, consider interacting with viewers by answering questions and asking them what they’d like to see next. Giving viewers a chance to engage with your brand will help them feel closely connected. Plus, they see real humans behind the brand, highlighting your authentic self even more.

Grab Inspiration From These Social Media Campaign Ideas

Social media comes in handy when looking to promote your brand. Whether you’re looking to build awareness, increase engagement or make sales, you have numerous ways to make your company stand out online. Be sure to use these ideas for your next social media campaign and take the examples above to inspire you.