(Newswire.net — December 7, 2016) –Getting social media exposure for your brand is no easy feat. Over the past decade, social platforms have exploded, and digital advertising streams make competition even more fierce. These agencies are creating campaigns that entice consumers around the world to share their content.
These campaigns, all produced with thorough planning and social media management, don’t always require a huge marketing budget or global brand awareness to achieve success. Each company had campaigns that went viral for good reason: they all touched on some kind of emotion. Whether the goal was to make consumers laugh or cry, they managed to find a way to appeal to enough people and make a difference.
HelloFlo
Marketing women’s hygiene products is no easy feat. Promotion for these products have notoriously featured women in gardens, laying out on the beach, or competing in competitive sports. The HelloFlo video shows a young, quiet girl at summer camp getting her “red badge of courage” for the first time is given the title of “Camp Gyno.” A power trip ensues as she goes around camp giving out advice and doling out tampons. Her reign comes to a halt when HelloFlo care packages – complete with panty liners, tampons, and candy – begin showing up timed to the campers’ menstrual cycles.
They then came out with the “First Moon Party” video and amassed over 38 million views. Like the first video, this one tells the story of a young girl who lied about getting her period for the first time to fit in with her friends — and got an embarrassing party from her mom in return. The level of difficulty is steep for creating campaigns around health-related issues, taboo, or sensitive products, which is why HelloFlo gets credit for demonstrating how it’s done.
TOMs
Every year, TOMs’ Footwear promotes their social cause with a viral campaign that urges customers to go shoeless for a day. For every post with the #withoutshoes hashtag, the company donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. The brand already emphasizes the “buy a pair, give a pair” goodwill, but the social media campaign takes it a step further. Celebrities like Bella Thorne and Chelsea Handler have participated and promoted the contest, creating even more buzz for TOMs. Contests are already popular method for attracting the masses, but adding a social element to a for-profit business can be a game-changer.
Poo-Pourri
Growing digital marketing agencies like C1 Partners make it easier for businesses to hand over the reigns to dedicated teams with the expertise and know-how to take companies to the next level.
This allows smaller businesses with a lack of corporate budget to publish viral-worthy material while still running day to day operations.
“It’s a different world with digital technologies. We provide small innovative companies with great ideas and limited resources the ability to promote themselves, drive new businesses, and compete with much larger competitors”, said Dan Smink, President of C1 Partners
Poo-Pourri, a bathroom spray deodorizer, is an example of business with limited funds who used a third-party agency to help launch their “Girls Don’t Poop” campaign to sweet success. They did so by playing into humor — and it worked. This short, catchy video catapulted the company from a small company with a novelty item to a mainstream brand. The viral video shows an elegantly-dressed woman using a public bathroom as she poetically details the trials and tribulations of hiding the scent of poop. Unlike other air fresheners that attempt to mask the smell, Poo-Pourri is sprayed in the toilet bowl and creates a barrier on the surface of toilet bowl water. This prevents odors from making contact with the air. This is a fine example of how companies with unique products can appeal to the masses by making light of its intended use.
Starbucks Red Cups
The Starbucks Red Cup contest continues to go viral each year. The contest motivates Starbucks customers to post photos of their holiday red cups with the hashtag “RedCupContest” for a chance to win one of five $500 prizes. In 2015, the contest garnered over 40,000 entries. One of the most unique aspects of this social media campaign is that it wouldn’t be difficult to duplicate for businesses with less brand awareness. Customers love contests, and creating contests that make is simple and beneficial to participate increase the chances of creating a viral campaign.
GoldieBlox
GoldieBox set records when it became the first small business to air a commercial during the Super Bowl. The company sells science and engineering-based toys for young girls. It gained social media awareness from its Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $300,000. Several of their well-produced videos have went viral, including one that received over $8 million of a group of girls playing with GoldieBox toys and singing along to an altered version of Beastie Boys’ “Girls.” Even the Beastie Boys, who do not license their music for advertising, made an exception for GoldieBox.