How To Create Viral Social Media Campaigns for Business: Guide, Examples, and More

In order to land successful social media campaigns, a lot of thought needs to be put in along with ample research and creativity for the audience to engage with the brand. 

Social Media Platforms have rebranded themselves as marketing platforms ever since their target audience grew rapidly. Even though it is difficult, it is not impossible to create social media campaigns that are engaging!

 Read on to know what a social media campaign is, viral social media campaigns 2022, social media campaigns examples, types, and more! 

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What are social media campaigns?

A social media campaign is using a set of social media platforms and makes consistent marketing efforts across them to attain a certain business goal. In shorter words, it is your strategy for a certain social media platform for a certain period of time.

A campaign is different from everyday hygiene marketing efforts. It is much more focussed, targetted, and has better analysis and measurability than regular efforts. The main goals of social media campaigns are to improve brand awareness, reach certain KPI’s (key performance indicators). 

Some of the different types of social media campaigns include user-generated content, podcasts, sponsored endorsements, and influencer conversations.

Learn More: 20-Hour Online Social Media Marketing Course

Importance of Social Media Campaigns 

Social Media Campaigns have a purpose for a definite period and hence are very different from your regular marketing efforts. For example, when your brand collaborates with a set of influencers to promote a particular product in a week, it is a social media campaign. But when you create a reel wishing your audience/followers a ‘Happy Diwali’, it is a regular marketing effort. 

Social Media Campaigns help in increasing brand awareness. This can be achieved by posting on different social media platforms, using campaign-specific hashtags, and incentivizing your followers to share your content. Increased Brand Awareness helps you reach a larger audience and hence increases the number of conversions. Social Media Campaigns that launch new products/services always help with more leads and conversions.

And the best part about social media campaigns is that you can promote the campaigns with smaller budgets as well. There are many free social media tools that you can employ to make the most of your social media campaign. Check out some of the best digital marketing tools in the industry.

How to Create Viral Social Media Campaigns? 

There are many ways of creating a good, successful social media campaign. Here are a few ways of creating truly impactful social media campaigns – 

Bonus: If you wish to receive personalized mentoring & learn how to create the best social media campaigns – register for IIDE’s 3-month Online Digital Marketing Course which prepares students holistically in digital marketing. 

Step 1: Set Goals 

Setting goals for your social media campaign is the first step of planning. All your social media campaigns must be defined, designed, and executed keeping in mind the GOAL. The goal could be website impressions, followers, leads, etc. 

NOTE: Your goal will decide the CTA in your designs. 

Step 2: Your Research

First things first, market research is extremely important when it comes to creating a successful campaign. Understand what the competitors and doing, especially what they’re doing right! By doing so, you will have some direction for your campaign.

Researching will only enhance the quality of your social media campaigns and also help you filter all the potential mistakes. 

Step 3: Strategize

Work backward– understand what goals need to be achieved and accordingly strategize the campaign. Be creative with your strategy and consider using the latest trends. Instagram stories and live updates have become very popular.

A good strategy for a social media campaign is one that has room for last-minute changes and improvements.

Step 4: Choose Your Social Media Platforms

The next step is to choose your social media platforms. Make sure they are the most compatible with your audience demographics. For example, if you wish to reach out to a younger audience, then make use of Instagram.

Step 5: Content Creation

This is where the graphic designers, content writers, and copywriters step into the picture. There are two types of content in my opinion- one that creates engagement after following someone else’s trend or the one that creates their own trends. Ensure that your social media campaigns maintain a balance between the two. 

Step 6: Promote Your Content

Once you’ve created content, consider promoting it with a small budget. Use PPC campaigns to start with as it has the advantage of having full control over your budgets. Check this article out on how to get 3X ROI with PPC campaigns. 

Step 7: Engage with the Audience

After you’ve published the content, the job is not done. You need to respond to queries and comments. Engaging with the audience is crucial to a campaign’s success.

How to Track Social Media Campaigns?

When it comes to Social Media Campaigns, tracking their performance is crucial for your current and future campaigns. 

Here are 5 effective steps to tracking your social media campaign success –

1. Identify your goals as mentioned in the guide to create viral social media campaigns. 
2. Decide what metrics do you wish to measure- retweets, likes, or comments.
3. Measure these metrics till the end of the campaign.
4. Analyze the metrics and create a report for the same. 
5. Select the top conclusions that can help you improve your next move in the campaign or your future social media campaigns. 

Social Media Campaigns Tools 

Social Media Campaigns

Social Media Campaigns Tools	Uses
Canva	Create and edit designs with the team
Adobe Premiere Pro	Edit video and podcast content
Google Sheets	To create a campaign schedule along with tasks for the team
SproutSocial	Tracking social media campaigns
Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, Quora Ads	To promote your content

Using the appropriate tools that help you create and track your social media campaigns is a must. 

Here’s a list of popular social media campaign tools and how they help you during the process- 

 

Best Social Media Campaigns: Examples & Ideas

If you’re tired of looking for inspiration for your next social media campaign, don’t fret! We have some of the best social media campaigns that you can learn from. 

1. Kitkat’s #HaveABreakHaveAKitkat

One of the longest and best social media campaigns running in India, Kitkat has a quirky way of conveying a message. During the pandemic, the brand tweaked the campaign to put out the message that it is okay to take a break and that they are healthy.

Takeaways and ideas – Long-term campaigns can be used for years together. One can use these hashtags and slogans to become a part of the brand identity. 

2. OnePlus India, #YourBestShot

The OnePlus India #YourBestShot campaign is a social media campaign that went viral. The brand encouraged its users to showcase pictures captured from phone. Every week they would announce a theme and users were expected to submit photographs as contest entries.

This was a good idea for user-generated content. 

Takeaways and ideas – Users these days prefer authentic content and user-generated content is especially preferred by younger generations. Hence, one can use UGC content in their strategy to develop a bond with the target audience. Check out how to market to Gen Zers.

3. British Airways – Fuelled by Love

British Airways Fuelled by Love campaign is an example of a viral social media campaign. The brand appealed to the emotional aspect of users which also lent the airline a humanistic side to it. It was very well received amongst audiences and got 4 million views on Youtube itself.

Takeaways and ideas – Appealing to the emotional side of an audience will help you form a bond. It is an age-old technique in advertising. However, it needs to be done with sensitivity and not hurt the sentiments of anybody. 

4. Zomato- It’s her choice, not her duty

Can you imagine a list of top social media campaigns where Zomato isn’t mentioned? Well, we all have to say that Zomato’s quirky tweets have all of us laughing but we cannot give their women tempering campaigns a miss. 

For women’s day, Zomato’s social media campaign highlighted how it’s a woman’s choice to be what she wants to be a housewife or a doctor or nothing. It really hit a chord with the audience. 

Takeaways and ideas – Always plan campaigns around these special days such as Women’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. Emotional campaigns stay longer and have more relatability. 

5. Spotify – NYE 2020 Wrapped

With over 350 million users worldwide, Spotify has a customized summary of the music that the user listened to during the course of the year.

This summary is visually appealing and can be shared on social media. For 2020, they had quizzes, slides, and videos along with a personalized playlist. Pretty cool, isn’t it? This kept the audience engaged and also made them feel valued. Spotify continued this campaign for 2021 as well.

Takeaways and ideas – Personalization goes a long way when it comes to a social media campaign and Spotify nailed it. Make sure to make your communication customizable and shareable so users can share with their networks and create awareness. 

If you found these social media campaign examples interesting, we have some of the top brand case studies for you. 

FAQs

Q. Which social media campaigns went viral?

Here are some campaigns that went viral – 

• Ariel #ShareTheLoad Campaign
• Apple #ShotoniPhone
• Dove Real Beauty Campaign

Q. Which social media campaigns backfired? 

Some of the social media campaigns that backfired include –

• Surf Excel’s friendship Holi campaign backfired as it hurt the sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims
• Red Label’s Kumbh Mela campaign is another example that backfired as it hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus
• PharmEasy’s Ramayana campaign backfired as they used Hindu mythological characters for their communication

Conclusion

This was our take on the best social media campaigns! Tell us in the comments below which ones were your favorite and how did you create successful social media campaigns. 

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