You know the drill. Great marketing strategy is all about reaching your audience in the right place, at the right time, with content that resonates. But where are they? No matter their particular persona, your target consumers are hanging out in all corners of the social media sphere. So, let’s meet them there.
It’s an ever-changing world. From Facebook to TikTok, Snapchat to LinkedIn, making your mark on every channel means innovating and adapting branded content to the specific features, audiences and opportunities always evolving in those places.
But what really works in practice? To get us inspired, we’ve gathered six different brands smashing social on six different platforms, each really hitting the spot with targeted content creation for social media. Let’s get social.
Samsung – immerse to impress
Now this is clever content.
As part of their promotional campaign for the new Galaxy Note 10, Samsung created an intricate and interactive gaming experience specific to Instagram story features. It’s a high-stakes, task-driven story, moved forward by the user’s own decisions on where to go next.
The adventure really pushes the limits of the platform by linking 20 different Instagram accounts through 50 branded story slides. Samsung’s content grabs and holds valuable attention by taking the audience on a unique and personalised journey. That’s imaginative marketing.
Audi – use your user
But great content in social media marketing isn’t just about showing off your best technical ideas.
Sure, your content strategy should be innovative and proactive. But it’s just as important to react to the opportunities that come out of interactions with your following. Social platforms are some of the best places for direct contact with your consumer, after all. So, start listening.
Audi got this so right a little while back. When a follower tweeted using #IWantAnR8, the brand recognised them by letting them drive one for a day. User-generated hashtags are a much more authentic way to spread the word than pushing your own. So, Audi revved-up and ran with it, using the tag in promotional tweets and to further connect with consumers.
The campaign reached over 100 million people, and is still one of the most successful campaigns in Twitter’s history. Paying attention really pays off!
Gym Shark – find the fun in features
It’s vital to keep up with the changing features on offer on each social media platform. But it’s even more vital to find inventive, original ways to use them.
We might not think of LinkedIn as a platform for particularly fun or lighthearted social content, but GymShark is proving us wrong.
When LinkedIn followed Facebook by expanding their ‘like’ button to include multiple choices for reacting to posts, GymShark used the feature with a creative and relatable tone, publishing regular humorous voting posts. The interactive posts encourage quick and easy engagement with the brand’s professional audiences, really helping them to stand out on the platform.
elf cosmetics — get real
Surpassing eight million global downloads within the first 18 months of its launch, TikTok is one of the fastest growing platforms right now. And time is ticking on your content strategy to get involved.
As a creative video-production platform powered by catchy content trends, it’s up to brands to set those trends if they want to really stand out among all-important gen-z audiences.
But elf cosmetics took this a step further. Aiming to connect with and empower their young creative audience, the brand produced TikTok’s first ever reality show, #EyesLipsFamous. The show staged the platform’s best beauty talent in a digital competition that amassed an enormous 38 million views.
As a scheduled, on-going series, it kept users coming back to consume branded content for the duration of the campaign. With that level of integration, innovation and authenticity, we’re made-up with inspiration.
National Geographic – staying (a)live
Other platforms may be taking off, but Facebook ain’t dead yet. And with fresh content marketing ideas, some brands are using it to be fresher than ever.
Using Facebook for high-quality live audience engagement, National Geographic is absolutely killing it. With their Safari Live series, the multimedia brand employs experts from photography to science to broadcast their assignments to viewers directly through Facebook live streams.
During the interactive streams, Facebook users can post comments and get answers to questions about the content in real-time. With informative and immersive content creation, the brand connects audiences from around the world in unforgettable, one-time experiences. And you could too ‒ go wild!
adidas – bring your A-game
The image messaging app, Snapchat, has also been around for a little while now. But there’s always room for new ideas, especially when the possibility of reaching new, younger audiences is at stake.
Developed by adidas US in 2019, ‘Baseballs Next Level’ is Snapchat’s first ever video game with e-commerce built-in. When users play through, they reach opportunities to buy the products featured in the game.
As an immersive experience designed to encourage prolonged engagement with adidas branded content, it’s non-traditional content marketing for non-traditional audiences (and their ROAS rocketed as a result).
What are you waiting for? Get creative and snap up those new audiences.
Social media wins when it’s –
Inventive — get creative and push the limits of your platforms. Consumers have seen it all before, so hit them with something exciting and unique that they can’t wait to share.
Human — define an authentic and approachable voice that audiences really want to engage with.
Attention-grabbing — social media channels are fast-moving, competitive environments, and your target audience’s attention is worth fighting for.
So, are you ready to smash social too? We hope so! Get in touch today to see how creative content marketing strategy can help your brand to push boundaries and connect with audiences in truly new and awesome ways.
