Successful marketing campaigns can help drive brand awareness, whether you’re targeting existing customers or new customers. These campaigns include a range of tactics: digital marketing campaigns, social media marketing, influencer marketing, video marketing, email marketing, and more.
When done well, strong ad campaigns can have a long life, often becoming synonymous with a brand long-term. Do you think of anything other than Nike when you hear the phrase, “Just do it”?
Small business owners should focus their efforts on creating an effective marketing strategy that works for their brand. If you’re looking for inspiration, we’ve collected some of the best marketing campaigns to review as you establish your marketing plan. This article will also walk you through the various elements of marketing campaigns and different types to consider so you can develop an effective strategy for your company.
What is a marketing campaign?
A marketing campaign is a strategy adopted by a business to promote its products and services. You can use a diverse range of media to connect with consumers, including TV, radio, print, and digital platforms. The goal is to create messaging that reaches your company’s target audience—including both current customers and potential customers—and drives their interest in your brand.
Top marketing campaign examples
While creating a marketing campaign can be a big undertaking, it can reap tremendous benefits if done effectively. Here are 10 marketing campaign examples that reached their target audiences and convinced customers to take action.
1. Kellogg’s: Data-backed branding
Some of Kellogg’s most successful branded advertising campaigns in recent years have relied heavily on data to reach consumers in personalized and innovative ways. The company analyzes the data that comes from various sources, such as its Family Rewards program, which has more than 33 million Americans enrolled. It also looks at its e-commerce platforms, which monitor what people are looking at online and how long they stay on specific products.
At the same time, the company relies on digital marketing to connect with customers in a more modern way. A great example of this push is Pringles’ first Super Bowl ad, “Wow,” which aired in 2018. The humorous TV commercial starring “Saturday Night Live” alum Bill Hader introduced the world to the concept of “flavor stacking,” or eating different Pringles chip flavors at once to create interesting combinations.
To further boost the campaign’s reach, Kellogg’s used non-skippable, six-second YouTube bumper ads tied to it to increase brand awareness. The result was 60 million unique impressions. Additional research found that one in five Pringles snackers attempted “flavor stacking” in real life.
2. Domino’s: Rewarding customers
The United States has more than 290 million smartphone users. This means that brands need to reach consumers on their phones to be successful.
Through its “Piece of the Pie Rewards” program, Domino’s has been able to engage not only mobile users but also those using tablets or laptops any mobile device where people can download its loyalty rewards program app and create a Pizza Profile. Every time a customer spends $10 or more on an order, they get 10 points. Once they get to 60 points, they can redeem them for a free medium, two-topping pizza.
While pizza lovers are drawn to the possibility of a free meal, the advertising campaign and reward program’s success is about more than freebies. It’s fueled by customer engagement and their repeat usage of the app. In addition to earning pizzas, Domino’s finds other fun ways to connect with consumers.
For instance, in 2019, the company launched its “Points for Pies” campaign, which asked users to upload an image of a pizza (frozen, homemade, or made by Domino’s or another pizzeria) in exchange for loyalty points. This not only continued to build on its relationship with the app’s users in a clever way but the company also collected an incredible amount of useful data.
3. Apple: Shot on iPhone
Apple launched its “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign in 2014 to showcase the phone’s camera. While the campaign highlighted the iPhone’s high-tech features, it turned to an old-school medium to share how photographers around the world were using its advanced camera system: billboards.
Relying on user-generated content, Apple invited its customers to share photos taken with iPhones on social media using the hashtag #ShotoniPhone. Since its launch, the company has received millions of submissions on Instagram and Twitter.
The best photos have been blown up and displayed on billboards, buildings, and other large-scale, outdoor public spaces across the globe to tout iPhone’s technology. The effective concept shows no signs of slowing down, either, with calls for photos to celebrate specific themes, holidays, and movements.
4. Coca-Cola: Share a Coke
The powerful “Share a Coke” marketing campaign, introduced in 2011, initially launched in Australia at a time when the beverage company had updated its packaging to read “Share a Coke with…” Coca-Cola sought to develop more personal relationships with younger consumers and inspire them to share their love for the brand with others.
The 150 most popular names in Australia were printed on Coke bottles and the campaign was so successful that it spread across the globe to other countries. Over the years, the campaign has evolved, with the company offering personalized variations of it by relying on user-generated content.
Israel saw interactive billboards that greeted people by name. In China, the company allowed people to print nicknames on bottles, making the marketing campaign even more personal for soda drinkers. In 2016, Coca-Cola took the message a step further with its “Share a Coke and a Song” campaign, which featured printed song lyrics on soda bottles.
5. Airbnb: Made Possible by Hosts
In early 2021, Airbnb launched its first global ad campaign in five years. At the time, there was still a lot of uncertainty in the world because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the vacation rental platform used the campaign to tap into people’s pent-up desire to travel and see new places.
This brand development campaign, called “Made Possible by Hosts,” reminded people of the magic of travel and the unique experiences to be had when staying with Airbnb hosts. People are ready to explore the world again, the company said.
Airbnb expected the campaign to get more than 300 million views around the world. The company also anticipated that 75% of the adults in the five countries where it aired on TV—Australia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada—will see the campaign.
6. Dove’s: Real Beauty
The goal of this worldwide marketing campaign from Dove is to instill confidence in women and to share the company’s vision of beauty equality—that women’s unique differences should be celebrated.
The company adopted this awareness campaign in 2004. Not only did it share the company’s social movement and goal of improving women’s self-esteem across the globe but it also boosted Dove’s sales. In its first 10 years, Dove’s sales increased from $2.5 billion to $4 billion and it became the top preferred soap brand in the United States.
7. Always: Like a Girl
This empowering awareness campaign, launched in 2014, turned a common childhood insult on its head. Always took the phrase “like a girl” and made it something to be proud of, using the marketing campaign to instill confidence in women of all ages, but especially young women. The goal of this content-driven campaign was to promote Always products while showing girls that there are no limits to what they can do.
In a short video created by a documentary filmmaker, Always asked girls what it means to do something “like a girl.” To accompany the video, the company pushed the social media hashtag #LikeAGirl. The video has more than 85 million views globally on YouTube.
It also changed the perception of young girls. In a survey, only 19% of 16- to 24-year-olds had a positive association with the phrase “like a girl.” This number jumped to 76% after watching the Always video.
8. Red Bull: Stratos
With its marketing stunt, the Stratos Mission, Red Bull sought to raise brand awareness while inspiring viewers worldwide to transcend limitations. In this 2012 campaign, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner flew 128,000 feet into the stratosphere over New Mexico in a helium balloon. Then, he free-fell while wearing a pressure suit and parachuted the remaining distance to Earth. (Watch his free-fall jump here.)
This staggering feat, shared across social media, generated more than 61 million impressions for Red Bull. About 82% of these interactions with the company expressed a positive sentiment about Baumgartner’s record-breaking jump.
9. The Pepsi Challenge
This ongoing marketing campaign started in the 1970s with Pepsi going into malls and other public spaces and asking them to do a blind taste test between Coke and Pepsi. (Watch a vintage 1983 Pepsi Challenge commercial here.) The soda giant raised brand awareness through this fun, offbeat marketing campaign and also obtained important user feedback along the way.
Since then, the product marketing campaign has been revamped for a digital world. It’s been redeveloped into a user-generated content campaign using the social media hashtag #PespiChallenge. It’s also an awareness campaign; Pepsi donated $1 to the Liter of Light organization every time the hashtag was used over the course of one year.
10. American Express: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday, which launched in 2010, usually takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. As an answer to Black Friday, this awareness campaign from American Express supports the nationwide “Shop Small” movement and empowers independently owned businesses across the U.S. during the holiday shopping season. The campaign was inspired by the Great Recession of 2008, which severely impacted small business owners across the country.
In 2021, American Express saw Small Business Saturday reach a record high with about $23.3 billion in consumer spending reported that day—up 18% from the previous year—thanks to the company’s marketing efforts. About $163 billion has been spent on Small Business Saturday since it started.
The company also surveyed shoppers and found that its Small Business Saturday campaign inspired 64% of respondents to shop with small and underrepresented businesses.
Key elements of a marketing campaign
As you build a marketing strategy for your business, here are some key elements to consider—from the planning stage to the execution of your campaign to evaluating your results and metrics.
Goals
Before launching a campaign, your team needs to discuss the company’s marketing goals. By establishing objectives in advance, you can help keep your marketing campaign focused and moving in the right direction. Ultimately, your marketing strategy will be more effective and more successful if you have goals in place.
Just remember to use the SMART system as your framework for setting goals. That acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound—which is what your goals should be.
The offer
Once you’ve set your goals, consider what your offer—also known as your call to action (CTA)—will be. This offer should be enticing and grab the attention of consumers.
Your offer might be focused on driving sales through special discounts and deals. However, marketing campaigns are also often about engaging customers in some way (e.g., capturing their emails, driving traffic to landing pages, forming some kind of relationship with them) rather than hard sales.
Before crafting your campaign, decide what your CTA will be. Ask yourself, “What do I want my customer to do after engaging with this marketing campaign?” This can help determine the direction of your marketing strategy.
Audience
Now that you understand your business’s marketing goals and your CTA, define your target audience. Truly understanding your customer (such as what drives them to make a purchase or inspires their loyalty to a brand) can help you create purposeful messaging. If you know what problems they want to solve, their needs, and their interests, you can better realize how your brand might speak to them.
The best way to understand your consumers is through market research. Look at the customer data you have available to determine the demographics you want to target. Also, take a good look at your competitors to better understand your audience. You can also get information directly from consumers, either by monitoring their feedback on social media or by asking them directly through surveys.
Message
With your offer and audience in mind, you can now start crafting your message. The content you create tells consumers why they need your brand.
You might be the best in your field, but if your message doesn’t convey this to customers, your superiority won’t matter. Consider the beauty company Lush Cosmetics. It’s known for its handmade body products, and its “Go Naked” campaign reminds consumers of what it does best by offering products with minimal packaging and natural ingredients.
Design
The design of your marketing campaign is how you communicate and promote your brand. It’s an essential component of your company’s advertising strategy.
You might offer an amazing product and have a brilliant message to share with the world, but if it isn’t done in an appealing and easily understood way then your campaign could fail.
Your campaign’s design is essential to the success of your business’s marketing strategy. Depending on the medium you’re using—such as print, radio, and podcasts, TV, or online platforms—some design elements to consider include:
- Colors
- Tone
- Specific people and items
- Sounds
- Fonts
- Perspective
Budget
Finally, make sure to set a marketing budget for your company. Small businesses may have much smaller budgets than large corporations. Determine how much you can afford to spend on marketing. You can set a budget annually, monthly, or for specific campaigns.
Once you know how much you can spend on marketing, determine where your dollars will be most effectively used. If your customers are more likely to use Facebook than listen to the radio, for example, you’re better off focusing your funds on a social media campaign than taking out a radio ad.
Types of marketing campaigns
As you create a marketing strategy for your company, here are 10 popular types of campaigns to consider. In certain cases, marketing campaigns might embody several types. For instance, a product campaign could rely heavily on both email and social media advertising.
- Product marketing campaign: Product marketing focuses on promoting specific products to a company’s existing customer base.
- Brand development campaign: A company that’s rebranding or just starting might launch a brand campaign as a strategic effort to build its image, raise brand awareness, and evolve into a household name.
- Email marketing campaign: Email marketing campaigns rely on coordinated emails sent with the purpose to a company’s email subscribers at a specific time. Each email could have any number of desired effects—from promoting a new product to encouraging customers to sign up for rewards programs to addressing cart abandonment—and may feature uniquely crafted content with that specific outcome in mind.
- Content marketing campaign: With an advertising approach that relies on a content marketing strategy, a company creates and distributes interesting, useful, consistent, and high-quality content designed with a specific goal in mind.
- User-generated content campaign: This engaging marketing approach builds trust and relationships with consumers as companies ask them to submit user-generated content—anything from personal photos to testimonials—usually on social media or apps.
- Advertising campaign: Advertising campaigns focus on a series of messages that share a single idea, each one targeting different demographics and audience segments, and using various media (e.g., print, TV, radio, or digital). The primary goal is conversions or sales.
- Awareness campaign: This marketing strategy is less about hard sales and more about boosting public awareness of a company’s mission. These are typically used by nonprofit organizations.
- Affiliate marketing campaign: Performance-driven affiliate marketing strategies rely on others to boost the brand. Affiliates who promote products or services may earn a commission for every sale made through their links or promotions.
- Social media campaign: Social media marketing uses social media apps and websites to promote products and services to members of these platforms.
- Acquisition marketing campaign: This type of marketing promotes products and services to new customers, building brand awareness with a new audience.
Start building a successful marketing campaign
If you want to develop a successful advertising campaign for your business, consider hiring an expert who can help you determine your company’s goals and audience to then craft a message that makes a real impact. Upwork can help you find a talented, independent marketing strategist who can take your company to the next level.
