Let’s take a look at 5 great examples of social media ad campaigns.
Most businesses understand the importance of creating successful social media campaigns.
However, despite the widespread adoption of social media advertising, many campaigns falter due to the lack of a comprehensive campaign plan. This often results in poorly crafted ads that fail to garner engagement and deplete marketing budgets.
Despite these challenges, many businesses have successfully cracked the code of social media advertising, leveraging it to drive revenue, boost profits, increase sales, and expand their operations.
In this blog, we will highlight five strong examples of social media ad campaigns, diving into each case to explain the factors contributing to their success.
What is a Social Media ad campaign?
A social media ad campaign is a focused effort to achieve specific business goals using social media platforms. It involves planning, creating content, and engaging with audiences to increase brand visibility, drive website traffic, generate leads, or boost sales. The process includes setting goals, targeting the right audience, creating content, executing the campaign, and analyzing results to improve performance. Let’s take a look at some of the campaigns we’ve liked and talk about why we liked them.
1. The Oodie
The Oodie, known for its oversized wearable blankets offering warmth and comfort, is a popular brand. Its hallmark features include soft and cozy materials, an oversized design, and a variety of fun and quirky patterns.
The Oodie sets a great example of running successful social media ad campaigns, often achieving high engagement on their ads.
Watch the full advertisement here.
What Type of Social Media Ad is it?
This social media ad is quick yet effective, showcasing their product while promoting an upcoming sale. However, what truly makes this campaign successful is its relatability to the target audience.
Why We Love This Social Media Ad Example
1. Relatable + Casual
The Oodie’s ad adopts a casual, unpolished aesthetic, resembling content users that might encounter it naturally on social media. This approach often resonates better with audiences.
The ad maintains relatability by depicting average individuals using the product in everyday settings throughout their homes, whether lounging on a couch, snacking in bed, or simply relaxing.
Recognizing their audience as primarily Gen Z and Millennials, The Oodie wisely presents the product in scenarios relevant to these demographics. Additionally, incorporating dancing in the Oodie aligns with the popularity of such videos on platforms like TikTok, allowing them to tap into that user community.
2. Voiceover + POV Shots
This social media ad campaign example effectively incorporates voiceover into its ad, providing a dynamic approach to showcasing multiple shots. Voiceovers offer opportunities for storytelling and direct communication with the audience.
In this instance, the primary offer communicated is a buy-one-get-one-free deal. This offer is introduced immediately in the video and reiterated later to reinforce its importance.
To enhance relatability, the ad predominantly features POV (point-of-view) shots. These shots allow viewers to imagine themselves in similar situations, fostering a stronger connection with the content.
3. Video Editing
Effective video editing can significantly impact the success of a social media advertisement. Fortunately, you don’t need advanced editing skills to create compelling content. In this ad, simple transitions are used between shots, maintaining a clean and engaging visual flow. So, while not advanced, they are smart choices.
Each time the narrator mentions something in the voiceover, the video seamlessly transitions to showcase the related content, ensuring viewers can follow along easily.
A notable aspect of this ad is the inclusion of captions. Captions are widely appreciated by social media users, allowing them to read the dialogue while watching the video. Placing captions strategically in the middle of the video ensures accessibility for all viewers.
2. Papaya Reusable
Papaya Reusable is a brand renowned for offering eco-friendly, sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic products. Their product line typically includes reusable bags, containers, utensils, straws, and various household items designed to reduce waste and promote environmentally conscious living.
The ad creative we’ve chosen to highlight exemplifies successful social media ad campaigns, focusing on reusable towels. Let’s talk about why it’s among our favourites.
Watch the full advertisement here.
What Type of Social Media Ad is it?
This social media ad represents the ultimate combination of various ad formats. It seamlessly integrates showcasing the product’s benefits, highlighting key features, addressing pain points, and more.
Although slightly longer than typical social media ads at just over 2 minutes, every second of this ad exemplifies how to maintain engagement from start to finish.
Why We Love This Social Media Ad Example
1. Speaks to their Target Audience
Effectively connecting with the target audience is fundamental to a successful social media campaign. Identifying the target audience helps advertisers craft messages that resonate with potential customers.
In this social media advertisement, the target audience comprises women from the Gen Z or Millennial demographic. The ad adeptly addresses this audience by immediately acknowledging them in the video, highlighting their interests and pain points.
By aligning with the interests of the target audience, the ad builds a strong connection between the viewer and the brand. Relatable content encourages viewers to continue watching and take action. For instance, scenarios like receiving a call from mom about life updates resonate with young adults transitioning into adulthood. Similarly, struggles with partners who neglect cleaning chores evoke familiarity among the audience.
Moreover, the ad skillfully addresses common pain points experienced by the target audience. These pain points, such as dealing with dirty sponges or struggling to clean pet paws, are relatable challenges that the audience likely faces regularly.
By understanding and empathizing with these pain points, the advertisement becomes even more compelling to the target audience. It positions the product as a solution to their everyday struggles, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
2. Entertaining > Selling
In this social media campaign example, Papaya Reusable prioritizes entertainment over direct selling. Rather than solely focusing on promoting an upcoming offer, they decided to create a highly engaging and entertaining video experience.
Recognizing their target audience as young adults, who typically have a low tolerance for traditional advertisements, Papaya Reusable opts for a more entertaining approach to capture their attention.
The video is infused with pop culture references, seamlessly integrating elements that resonate with their target demographic and fostering reliability. This fits the aesthetic of Instagram as it was a younger user base who kept up to date with pop culture references. A great example of how to run social media ads on Instagram.
Interestingly, Papaya Reusable takes a unique approach by playfully poking fun at its target audience. Instead of adopting a preachy tone, they cleverly highlight common interests or pain points experienced by their audience and inject humour into the situation. For instance, they jokingly depict scenarios like spying on neighbours through windows, turning relatable experiences into lighthearted moments.
This strategy not only entertains the audience but also humanizes the brand, making it more approachable and relatable. By embracing humour and entertainment, Papaya Reusable effectively sidesteps the traditional hard-sell approach and creates a memorable and engaging social media campaign.
3. A/B Testing
The length of a social media advertisement doesn’t dictate its success; rather, it’s the level of engagement it generates. While some ads may be longer, others can be shorter, and both can achieve success—it all depends on how captivating the content is.
Papaya Reusable’s approach to running multiple variants of the same ad exemplifies A/B testing. This practice involves comparing different versions of an ad to determine which performs best.
By leveraging tools like Meta Ad Library, you can see exactly how many different variations of advertisements an advertiser is running at once.
Papaya Reusable tested various iterations of their video, each with different durations, starting points, and structures while maintaining consistent content elements like clips and voiceover. This method allows them to identify the most effective format for engaging their audience.
A/B testing has become a standard practice for digital advertisers, replacing the outdated notion of creating a single, static ad. Instead, advertisers now experiment with multiple variations to uncover what resonates best with their audience. This data-driven approach leads to more effective campaigns and better results.
While Meta Ad Library is a valuable tool for A/B testing, there are numerous other resources available to aid social media campaigns.
Check out our article 7 Free Facebook Ads Tools for additional insights into optimizing your advertising efforts.
3. Headway App
Headway is a subscription-based mobile app that specializes in bite-sized learning, offering concise summaries of nonfiction books to facilitate self-improvement and personal growth.
The app caters primarily to individuals interested in personal and professional development. Busy professionals, in particular, who struggle to carve out time for traditional book reading, may find Headway’s succinct summaries especially appealing.
Watch the full advertisement here.
What Type of Social Media Ad is it?
Headway App serves as a great example of a successful social media campaign by effectively conveying its key features within seconds. The selected social media ad is a promotional video showcasing the app, with a focus on highlighting its primary feature: bite-sized learning.
By emphasizing this feature upfront, Headway effectively communicates its value proposition to potential users before diving into further promotion of the app.
Why We Love This Social Media Ad Example
1. Solves A Problem
The social media ad begins by spotlighting one of the key features of their product: bite-sized learning.
A feature is a distinctive characteristic or attribute of a product or service. The most effective way to present a feature is by understanding the problem it aims to solve. This involves highlighting a pain point that customers may be experiencing and then presenting the feature as a solution.
This can help consumers understand and remember what sets the product or service apart from others on the market, making it more appealing and memorable.
In this example of a social media campaign, the video starts by addressing how users often mindlessly scroll through social media, moving from one video to another. This behaviour is often unproductive and leaves individuals feeling dissatisfied. The ad then offers a solution: consuming bite-sized content daily for self-improvement. Finally, it reveals that there’s an app designed specifically to address this need.
This approach is brilliant because it highlights a common pain point experienced by the target audience and promptly offers a solution, making it highly relevant and engaging.
2. Podcast Generated Content (PGC)
We’re particularly impressed with this social media ad example because it leverages a unique video presentation format that gained popularity in 2023 and continues to thrive in 2024: Podcast Generated Content (PGC). This format mimics a podcast discussion, presenting the social media ad in a conversational style.
Here’s the scoop: the entire podcast is staged. However, since PGC has become a familiar video format on social media, similar to unboxing videos, users instantly connect with the ad.
What sets this format apart is its structured approach. Unlike a traditional podcast where information flows naturally through dialogue, PGC allows advertisers to control how information is presented since it’s scripted. This structure is important when the goal is to promote a product or service effectively within the podcast format.
It’s common practice to provide a script for the video and simulate the podcast discussion. Rest assured, this method is widely accepted and utilized on social media platforms.
3. Experimentation with Video Format
Take note of how they present themselves in the video. They split it in half: the top half features individuals engaged in the podcast discussion, while the bottom half showcases the variety of bite-sized content users can expect on the app.
Additionally, they incorporate captions into the video. Admittedly, this may seem a bit overwhelming, as the captions cover the top half while the speakers are talking into the microphone. However, as we’ve mentioned, we aim to A/B test advertisements rather than strive for perfection in each one. It’s likely they conducted tests with captions and without, seeking to determine which approach resonated best with their audience.
The half-and-half approach exemplifies a unique format for social media ads.
Remember, the most successful social media campaigns are those that continually experiment with new and innovative formats. While experimenting may appear daunting, conducting A/B testing allows us to have some ads that are tried and true, while others serve as experiments.
4. Dr. Squatch
Dr. Squatch is an American personal care company known for its range of natural, manly-scented bar soaps, and other grooming products tailored specifically for men.
Social media advertising serves as a cornerstone of Dr. Squatch’s online marketing strategy, making them an ideal example for this blog.
Watch the full advertisement here.
What Type of Social Media Ad is it?
This ad falls under the category of retargeting ads, strategically aimed at users who have previously engaged with Dr. Squatch’s content on social media. Leveraging Facebook Ads Manager and its advanced features, including retargeting, is a best practice in social media ad campaigns.
Retargeting, specifically for Facebook ads, involves targeting users who have previously interacted with your website, app, or content. By displaying ads on Facebook or Instagram, this approach aims to re-engage users and prompt them to take action, such as making a purchase or completing a form.
Why We Love This Social Media Ad Example
1. Use of AI Voiceover
At first glance, you might not realize that this social media ad utilizes AI, but it does! The voiceover for the advertisement is generated using AI technology. Specifically, it utilizes Eleven Lab, an AI voice generator and text-to-speech software. This innovative use of AI for the voiceover adds an artistic touch to the video presentation, offering a unique and engaging experience for viewers.
Since we’re already delving into the topic of AI, if you’re intrigued and want to learn more about incorporating AI into your digital advertising strategies, be sure to check out our article How to Use ChatGPT for Digital Advertising + 26 Best Prompts to Try.
2. Highlights Free Value
In this social media ad example, Dr. Squatch promptly showcases the free products available. By highlighting the complimentary soap and bag offered with a purchase, the ad entices potential customers with added value. Offering free products is an effective strategy for attracting new customers, as it provides a significant incentive to explore the brand’s offerings.
You might be wondering about the profitability of offering free products, but here’s where the social media campaign truly shines: through strategic retargeting ads. Retargeting ads are shown to users who have already engaged with previous ads, indicating a higher level of interest.
Additionally, specific retargeting ads can be tailored to only appear to users who have watched the entire ad, ensuring that the offer is presented to those who are most interested in the product. This targeted approach maximizes the effectiveness of the ad campaign while minimizing costs.
5. Follow Your Legend
Follow Your Legend specializes in plushies, apparel, and jewelry, with a primary mission to protect the world and its wildlife. With every purchase, they pledge to donate a portion of their sales toward the rescue and rehabilitation of injured sea turtles and support for partner charity organizations.
Follow Your Legend has excelled in its advertising efforts, and we aim to use them as a prime example of an effective social media campaign.
Watch the full advertisement here.
What Type of Social Media Ad is it?
The ad creative is a simple yet impactful promotional ad. It effectively showcases an upcoming promotion while highlighting their key product offerings. The first segment of the ad comprises a promotional video, while the latter half focuses on storytelling and advocating for their social cause.
Why We Love This Social Media Ad Example
Below, we highlight three key factors that make this social media campaign stand out.
1. Highlight the Promotion
The ad immediately highlights the key promotion: “Buy one, get this product free.” Within the first 3 seconds, viewers grasp the ad’s purpose and goal.
Social media ads often face low retention rates, given users’ tendency to quickly scroll through content. To counter this, the advertiser strategically front-loads essential information, similar to the engaging hooks found in organic social media content.
2. Unboxing + Product Showcase
Something we want to highlight in all these social media ad examples is the way the advertiser chose to present the video. In this example of a social media campaign, Follow Your Legend chose to start with an unboxing video. They unbox the product from the box it comes in and then highlight the product, showcasing it from different angles with a nice, clean, minimal background.
They quickly move on to showcase the other free products that will be included in this sale using a similar video presentation, where they showcase the product from different angles.
Sometimes, the most successful social media campaigns are the ones that keep it minimal and simple. Showcasing the product in a unique manner, such as through unboxing videos, is popular with audiences, as unboxing videos are already popular on social media.
3. Utilizing Storytelling to Highlight Competitive Advantage
This social media ad example only utilizes storytelling at the end of the video. They explain how purchasing these products will contribute to the rescue and rehabilitation of injured sea turtles.
Storytelling is one of the most effective methods to keep users engaged with your ad, as it taps into their emotions.
By highlighting the positive social impact that comes from purchasing this product, users are more likely to choose it over a competitor’s. This is commonly known as your competitive advantage.
A competitive advantage in advertising refers to a unique aspect of a product, service, or brand that sets it apart from competitors and provides added value to consumers. It’s important to identify and effectively communicate this to differentiate the offering in the market.
To recap, Follow Your Legend is a great example of a social media advertisement because they truly understand how to utilize storytelling to effectively highlight their product while also promoting its positive impact.
You’re Invited!
With numerous moving pieces in every campaign, determining the right type of social media ad has long been a challenge for businesses. Nevertheless, there are countless ways to explore when seeking examples of successful social media campaigns. We hope this blog has sparked fresh, creative ideas for your campaign planning.
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