Examples of Social Media Tactics
Wondering where to showtime with your social media campaigns?
Social media tin seem daunting. Nonetheless, bigger brands, with more than resources at their disposal tin provide us with ideas for our own campaigns.
About of these brands have a team of dedicated creatives working away on every attribute of their campaigns.
That's not to say what they produce is out of reach of smaller businesses. Many of the ideas in this list are really easy to execute, they but take creativity, organization, and a sometimes a streak of bravery!
Let'due south have a look at these brands' social strategies. We'll consider why what they're doing is working so you lot can apply their lessons to your own campaigns.
While y'all may non take the same resources, you lot tin follow their example relatively easily.
- Taco Bell
- Pop Tarts
- NASA
- Reebok
- GoPro
- Dove
- Nike
- Lego
- Wayfair
- Starbucks
- L'Oreal
- Wendy's
- Innocent
- Deloitte
Why do you need to learn from leading brands?
With three.v billion active social media users worldwide, each visiting at least 4 channels a day for two hours and 23 minutes, there's no denying that doing social correct is good for business.
Being on social media platforms allows you to run into customers where they are. It'southward not just well-nigh attracting new customers, but edifice your brand'due south persona, engaging with your audience, and offer more than a sales pitch.
Let's take a expect at consumer behavior. 76% of American consumers made a purchase in one case they had seen the brand's social mail.
Younger generations are more likely to buy a product online than in-store.
A total 39% of customers actively rely on brand interaction on social media to build trust.
Just using social media finer is much less directly than simply selling what you do. All business benefit comes from building a make, edifice a customs around what you exercise, and creating an ongoing conversation with your customers. A social media plan is fundamental.
Then even if yous're running a small family business concern, you'll notice some overlap betwixt world-chirapsia social media strategies and what works for your concern.
Let's take a look at some of the leading brands on social media, and take a closer look at why they're successful, so y'all feel inspired to assist your own social strategy punch above its weight.
one. Taco Bell
Taco Bell knew what they were doing when they lobbied for the taco to exist turned into an emojiin 2015. They used the buzz effectually the campaign to engage their audience by getting followers to text them the emoji plus another emoji of their choice, to get unique taco inspired photos, gifs or sound.
Sense of humor is everywhere on the Taco Bong account. The social media managers employ humour to increment their following, and by sharing other posts and relating information technology dorsum to the humble taco:
They take a different approach on Instagram, using the platform to showcase their food with consistently vivid colors and splendid uncluttered imagery:
However, you won't find Taco Bell pushing their LinkedIn account for consumers. It'south at that place, but information technology'due south dedicated to the professional and jobs side of their business, with a very singled-out feel from everything on their other social media platforms.
Put your audience first. Taco Bell has worked out that their audience wants to view funny and vibrant content. Even Linkedin, which shows the professional side of the company, uses the brand's palette and gives off a fun vibe, in a more than muted, less overtly funny manner.
2. Popular Tarts
Kelloggs is a recognizable brand. Pop Tarts is a recognizable brand. Kelloggs owns Popular Tarts, but while Kelloggs has 99.8k followers, Popular Tarts has more than than 217.9k followers.
Why is that? Kelloggs is a more than established make than Pop Tarts, particularly outside of the US. The answer is that Pop Tarts' social media brand is cutting and hilarious.
Dive into Pop-Tarts' Twitter business relationship and y'all come contiguous with their sarcastic tone:
Sarcasm doesn't notice its mode into many brands' tone of voice documents. Most marketing departments would consider that type of humor negative, abrasive, and divisive.
Sarcasm is, peradventure, near at habitation on Twitter. Tweets are all-time equally curt punchy posts, that tin can be a petty controversial. It's not a faux pas to suggest the world isn't a fluffy ball of goodness where everyone gets along.
This appeals to the Pop Tart's young audience demographic. Their tweets sound more like they are coming from your best friend, rather than a brand:
Pop-Tarts' make is confident, it makes fun of itself, its customers, its colleagues, and even their parent brand, Kelloggs.
It can exist difficult to motility to a more personable brand vox when you've been a strong-collared business for years. Information technology may not even be the right thing for your make to practice.
Nevertheless, know that a personable make voice on Twitter is exactly what users want. They want to experience similar they're your friend rather than merely another opportunity to make a sale.
This approach takes guts, but as Pop Tarts proves, it tin can pay off enormously. Simply realize that it's not just about the humor, it'southward as well about the constant and regular appointment with as many fans as they can manage. Having a social media calendar can go you lot organized.
Then call up carefully nigh your social media tone of vocalism, and consider what style reflects your brand in a personable style. Permit this tone be consistent throughout your content marketing agenda.
3. NASA
From a quick look at NASA'due south social media presence, you'd exist forgiven for thinking they've taken the scattergun-in-a-meteor-shower approach:
How tin they consistently populate all of those channels with relevant and high-quality content? Just have ane look at their follower figures and y'all realize that they're merely meeting an incredible demand across a number of channels.
While it would be nearly impossible for a regular-sized brand to even begin to compete with this number of social channels, there are some central lessons from what NASA does.
That's because they use each channel very differently.
For example, on LinkedIn, NASA focuses on its professional person image, its people and its jobs:
On Twitter, they focus on making astronomy attainable to the wider population:
On Instagram, it's all about jaw-dropping imagery:
On YouTube, NASA has over v million followers. That's where they host their ain Goggle box evidence and have constant alive feeds:
We wouldn't recommend going all out and cover every platform like NASA does. There'due south no way you'll be able to produce enough content. However, we can learn two very of import things from NASA:
- Prolific posting on unlike channels in different ways can really pay off. NASA has a huge library of images, educational materials and personal stories to tell. So many, in fact, that they are able to build a huge following on pretty much every social media platform out in that location.
- Making complex simply important information simple, readable, and entertaining will grow your following similar nobody's concern.
4. Reebok
Reebok is a huge visitor, simply it isn't as large as Nike or Adidas. And so how does this relative underdog make a success of their social media platforms?
As y'all'd probably expect, Reebok's Instagram is packed with eye-catching and colorful imagery that'south designed to showcase their products. No surprise in that location.
However, you probably wouldn't expect to see how Reebok uses Linkedin. For Reebok, Linkedin is more than about talent attraction, it'south also an important style of getting professionals backside their make.
Reebok besides uses its Linkedin folio as a place to host inspiring interviews with athletes, fitness tips, and more not-professional content. This makes a lot of sense. Information technology's much easier to earn engagement on Linkedin than on Twitter and Facebook due to a more forgiving algorithm.
So even if your following isn't as big equally your competitors, y'all tin nonetheless make an impact past focusing on a less obvious aqueduct.
What can you learn from Reebok's LinkedIn approach?
Don't be confined by your preconception of what a social media channel should be used for, considering when yous expect closely enough, you'll find many examples of that trend existence bucked.
Instead look for the quickest wins. Are your competitors less active on Twitter? Head there to build your community. Does Linkedin's algorithm bear witness your post to more people? Maybe that should be your priority.
Very few businesses write social media plans and expect to engage hundreds of thousands of followers. What up-front end decisions can you lot make to ensure y'all're making the most of opportunities elsewhere.
five. GoPro
GoPro has 16.nine 1000000 followers on Instagram, 10 one thousand thousand followers on Facebook and ii.2m followers on Twitter.
The hashtag #GoPro pops up beyond social media channels with abandon, non just being used by the make itself, but by their audience too. Information technology's become a by-word for extreme sports and adventure.
Unsurprisingly, Instagram is the main place GoPro showcases its outstanding imagery. It's usually user-generated shots that showcase how their product looks.
This is a very handy, very subtle way of letting united states of america all know what GoPro is capable of, as well every bit associating the brand with the good for you, outdoorsy lifestyle that well-nigh of u.s. wish nosotros did more than of.
Yet, their Instagram presence gives the states more than to learn. There is a lot of consumer engagement with frequent competitions, and fifty-fifty unproblematic things such as their 'Photo of the Mean solar day' series can depict 100,000 views.
A disbelieve within their bio, like below, also makes Instagram a great channel for customer acquisition.
Head over to Facebook and you'll meet a more promotional style inside the content of their posts. Here they combine adventurous imagery, influencers and product offers to demonstrate the value of their posts.
On Twitter, GoPro is even more direct. They've taken an Apple-like approach, positioning the release of their cameras equally market-beating works of technological fine art. This builds hype with their audience.
While NASA tends to post the same content to various channels to some degree, you lot won't observe GoPro taking the same approach. Each mail service is unique and appeals to that detail social channel. Each aqueduct represents a different audition and buying journeying, so their content distribution methods are differentiated. They're also on it when information technology comes to social media marketing automation.
NASA doesn't sell a consumer product, so it can paint in broader strokes.
GoPro is one of our favorites for social media strategy and social media posting schedule examples considering it shows how you lot tin utilize different social media platforms in different ways, while still maintaining a coherent brand.
And just because GoPro's imagery is downright gorgeous, that doesn't mean y'all tin can't emulate how they're attracting customers to buy through unlike channels.
half dozen. Dove
Pigeon is ofttimes given as one of the all-time social media strategy examples, and we're listing it again here, with good reason.
Dove does one thing absolutely spot-on: consistency. Their followers know exactly what they are getting on social media: positive messages that reinforce natural beauty and diverseness of pare types.
Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that Dove keeps quiet about things that thing. Indeed, Pigeon has congenital a brand that is consistently caring.
This isn't new to Dove. The skincare visitor has oft been behind loftier-profile, and sometimes controversial, campaigns. Their Self Esteem Project gave nascence to #nolikesneeded - a bravely powerful style of using social media more constructively.
On Dove'southward Facebook page, you lot will yet find some campaign activity, but that approach takes center stage on Twitter more than any other platform. On Facebook, for example, it's not unusual to meet product promotions.
Posting sensitive, controversial and inspiring content from your content calendar can be an effective way to raise the profile of your brand, peculiarly when your company is direct linked to the cause.
Merely you lot don't need to be a huge multinational to make this work for you. Partnering with a local charity or grassroots organization is some other great way to evidence your allegiance to local causes. In most cases it's more than effective because the work washed by smaller charities means more to your local audiences than global-level issues.
7. Nike
Nike has 103 million Instagram followers, 33.7 million Facebook followers, and viii.1 one thousand thousand Twitter followers.
Nike's social media strategy is smart; instead of focusing on their products, they focus on the athletes and teams that utilize them.
This draws in the sports fans, widening Nike'due south audition, and positioning the sports make equally second-to-none. The world-chirapsia athletes Nike cements that perception.
When we wait closely at the visitor's social media strategy, things become interesting.
Nike's Facebook, despite its post-obit, is completely quiet. In that location's been no action at that place since 2018. Information technology'south clear show that they have inverse tack, although the company's Twitter and Instagram are very much alive.
In 2018, Facebook significantly reduced the organic reach of its posts for company pages. Information technology did the same again in 2019 also, so Nike'south absence on the platform may be a reaction to that news.
On Instagram, Nike uses its famous athletes for promotions merely also showcases up-and-coming athletes and athletes from marginalized communities.
Since the Colin Kaepernick ad, Nike is as much a brand associated with backing the underdog, as much as it is most championing the earth'due south greatest. And that shows on its social media platforms.
With the number of followers they have, it's no surprise that Nike is often listed amidst social media strategy examples. It's possible to see that they've taken the confident road of non promoting their products. This sits on the fact that the make is so well known, and they take exceptional hashtags. It may not be possible for nearly brands to emulate this aspect of their approach.
All the same, we tin can learn that nosotros shouldn't be afraid to not use a social media scheduler, no matter how popular, if it isn't working for our business organization. We can also learn the importance of separating out client service and follower engagement. Nosotros tin can also see the importance of a powerful hashtag.
8. Lego
As you've probably already noticed, Lego's social strategy is pretty darn good. Let'south focus on their 'Lego Ideas' social profile and social media marketing plan.
Out of the box, Lego is just a couple of hundred plastic blocks. It'south what you do with the blocks that count near. Nothing recognizes the potential of Lego more than Lego's Ideas Twitter profile, which showcases its makers' projects.
Similar Star Wars or Marvel enthusiasts, Lego has a user base of operations that is worth tapping into. This user base is the springboard for a large number of its social media efforts, with a powerful source of seemingly limitless user-generated content.
You'll find the most Lego product promotion on Facebook. However, these are often part of fun partner promotions and always exists amid plenty of other types of posts as well.
If you tin go admission to user-generated content then yous should use it. People trust other users and customers more than than they trust a make, so y'all should let your advanced users do the talking.
Whether that'south sharing photos or videos of what they've achieved with your production, or even some positive feedback, you should give information technology a platform.
9. Wayfair
Wayfair is a social media success story, especially when it comes to Instagram. With the quick link through from images to shopping, it's clear that Wayfair are using the platform as an acquisition channel.
Information technology makes sense that Instagram is the social media home for Wayfair. It'due south brilliant for showcasing their product imagery, with multiple products making up one room set up:
If a user likes a particular product in the room set, they can comment on the photo. Wayfair quickly gives them extra information nigh that particular product and points them in the direction of the Wayfair store.
It's this combination of non-in-your-face product imagery and excellent customer service date that'southward made Instagram a successful tool for Wayfair.
Wayfair doesn't just hit the product promotions difficult. The brand intersperses this with other types of user-friendly content likewise, similar this partnership with Kelly Clarkson.
What can you learn from Wayfair'due south utilise of Instagram?
If you're an ecommerce store that sells aesthetically pleasing products, then Instagram is a great channel to drive sales.
Just exist sure to highlight the production's feature set up, and use catalog-ready imagery. And merely like a catalog, your customer service team should be highly responsive to users request product-related questions, should engage them chop-chop, and ensure that they secure a conversion. Also, try investing in a social media monitoring tool.
x. Starbucks
Starbucks can teach the states all a bully deal about using social media tactically.
Despite boasting 36 one thousand thousand followers on Facebook, Starbucks isn't a prolific affiche. However, the make is clearly very thoughtful about what it does post. do mail service at that place. Its Facebook page is conspicuously set up equally a 'company profile' equally opposed to an ongoing feed.
Instead of viewing regular posts, users that visit the page see a well-curated flow of data that shows the company's values, and the lives of the people that work at the java giants' stores.
However, Starbucks does use Twitter more than frequently, mostly to engage with its followers and build customs.
On Twitter, the same Facebook mail service in a higher place is broken downward into far more than detail over multiple posts that tell the story of dissimilar women that piece of work at its cafes. They as well utilize user-generated content (UGC) to share the love:
They also use fun interactive content to provoke interaction. The deject theme they're using is to promote a line of drinks chosen the 'Cloud Macchiato'.
And they speak to their followers in a very personable and frequent way.
When you head over to Starbucks' Instagram account, information technology'southward different again. Hither you'll find far more that focuses on showcasing the products themselves.
However, despite the focus existence on videos and photos of their products, Starbucks always interacts with its audition. It'south one of the leading brands on social media where users are almost guaranteed to get a response when they comment on a mail. Being fix with the right social media tools can assist yous go along on top of replies and monitoring.
11. 50'Oreal
Many businesses insist that employees don't mention their business on social media platforms. This is written into policies and tin can be a disciplinary criminal offense. Nonetheless, equally L'Oreal shows, information technology pays to take a completely different approach as well.
L'Oreal staff are actively encouraged to post most the business organization, and how it connects to their lives, on social media using the hashtag #lifeatloreal. Information technology means that their Instagram is full of employees sharing pictures of their pre-hymeneals spa day, after work dinner with colleagues and fifty-fifty taking a new add-on into piece of work:
This is a clever tactic and shows the culture of a business that could otherwise come up beyond as a chip dull. This level of transparency is welcomed by followers, as the responses to the above post shows. Encouraging your employees to accept a voice gives your business more depth.
What should you lot larn from 50'Oreal'southward arroyo?
Don't exist afraid to requite your workers some command. There shouldn't be annihilation to hide. If you respect them as professionals and treat them fairly, then they volition exist happy to share positive things for y'all. Followers like to see inside the business and the make, to see that their marketing messages are authentic. This is a vivid style of doing it.
12. Wendy's
When you take a look at Wendy's Twitter account, you can see that it ticks the boxes for humor and being personable. The Rick & Morty reference below shows the social account speaks to a very clear demographic: millennials and younger. Sorry boomers, only Wendy'south social accounts aren't interested in y'all anymore
Wendy's is also pretty mettlesome when it comes to their Twitter account. They don't seem scared to put the kick in with their competitors! Ouch.
The company'due south Facebook and Twitter pages are a carbon copy of each other, interestingly enough. Wendy'due south knows that the ii platforms accept different audiences, and know their social media marketing content volition state at both at the same fourth dimension.
Although nosotros wouldn't recommend slating your competitors (unless they'll see the funny side), this is a great way to manage resources and ensure you're not duplicating content.
On Instagram, information technology's more of the same. Although the content is even more than meme-focused. Their content team has clearly been briefed to make everything go viral. Wendy's clearly know their efforts when information technology comes to a social media programme.
Yet again, they face up McDonald'due south head-on, plus accept a light-hearted way of dealing with client criticism:
The fast-nutrient concatenation is also actually hot on seasonal activity:
For Wendy'due south, at that place's no avoiding that they have a competitor who, many would say, is in another league. Wendy's doesn't ignore this but takes the bull by the horns. By making a lite-hearted rivalry it shows that they're the underdog. And who doesn't want to back up the underdog?
You exercise get the feeling Wendy'southward is baiting McDonald'due south for a response. Tin you imagine the equivalent return in advertiser dollars for that type of exposure?
What would your concern'south viral moment wait like? Would this be a retweet from a certain influencer, a chat with a brand, or an amusing take on an industry trend? Have a call back about what specific consequence will make you go viral, and reverse engineer a social media strategy to get in that location.
xiii. Innocent
When it comes to branding instance studies, Innocent ofttimes makes the cut. The same is true of how they brand themselves using their social media content calendar.
On Instagram, much of the focus is on fantastic imagery that involves their products, combined with their tongue-in-cheek tone of voice.
This is spiced up with a smattering of posts with insight into what information technology's like working at Innocent, again with that aforementioned natural language-in-cheek tone.
Nevertheless, if you head to Twitter, they take quite a different approach. Hither the focus is on conversation, and they simply rarely talk nearly the products themselves. Engagement and fun take the forepart seat here.
Y'all'll discover in the example that they are piggy-backing on an international day in the calendar. That'due south not unusual. Whether information technology'southward pancakes, Valentine'due south, Easter or Christmas, Innocent has something to say. All are conveyed with a side order of cheekiness, in line with the make'southward persona, which is an effective parody of an overly bureaucratic organization.
Innocent is one of the more accessible social media strategy examples. This is because, if all else fails, you can ever pull up a content marketing agenda of world dates and apply them every bit the footing for your strategy. These events give you a talking point with your followers and encourage a wider audition to appoint with your posts. These dates may even be included in your content calendar, like they are with ContentCal.
14. Deloitte
Deloitte won the 3rd spot on the leaderboard of LinkedIn'south Meridian 10 Company Pages in 2019. As with others in the top 10, much of their success comes to the variety of their posts.
These posts also go across direct-forward posting. Deloitte has taken great care to fully populate their profile, such equally the Life tab, using detailed content and video when it comes to their social media marketing campaign scheduler.
They also post a large amount of in-depth vertical-specific content that appeals to their dissimilar audience types. Though this level of content production is intensive, it marks them equally leaders of the digital transformation space.
Interestingly, on Instagram, Deloitte takes a different approach. Much of their content sees employees and experts explain industry trends that come up from the visitor's reports.
Although the data it's putting across is the aforementioned on Twitter also, Deloitte takes a different approach here. The company uses prototype-based seize with teeth-sized pieces of information that's designed to ship the reader elsewhere.
What tin you acquire from Deloitte?
Deloitte produces a huge corporeality of valuable information through its reports. The visitor's main claiming on social media is to ship out this data in an engaging mode that works for each channel.
If your business produces a lot of helpful data equally role of what it does every day information technology'south worth taking a leaf out of Deloitte'southward book. Even if that information is tied up in some of your business concern leaders' heads, video interviews, image quotes, and longer-class stories are all worth exploring on the different channels.
Deloitte'south Linkedin page is also a masterclass in how to structure your own if Linkedin is an important aqueduct for you lot.
Meridian tip: Are you looking to get more involved with video content like Deloitte? Re-use your video content and find out how to upload Youtube videos to IGTV.
Do you have a better idea of what your social media strategy should be? Or are yous still not sure?
As a rule of thumb, the examples above all practice the same things well. They all pitch a consistent brand, beyond different social channels, in different ways, to different audiences.
Understanding the human relationship between your cardinal audience, the audience native to each social platform, and your overall brand is key. A social media marketing plan is primal and we practise recommend using social media tools to help you lot become more efficient and essentially salve time.
To summarise, here are the different types of strategies each make uses. How would you lot describe your own social media strategy?
- Taco Bell: Quirky and light-hearted
- Pop Tarts: Sarcastic and self-deprecating
- NASA: Expansive and educational
- Reebok: Targeted and challenging
- GoPro: Beautiful and motivational
- Dove: Inclusive and upstanding
- Nike: Powerful and inspiring
- Lego: Fun and engaging
- Wayfair: Bright and polite
- Starbucks: Seasonal and interactive
- L'Oreal: Accurate and personal
- Wendy'due south: Memetastic and exhibitionistic
- Innocent: Witty and joyful
- Deloitte: Professional and resourceful
Despite these differences, there are 3 ground rules that all these examples of social media strategies share.
Rule #one They use a natural phonation
While this is naturally easier for 'fun' brands similar Pop Tarts and Innocent, it'southward not impossible for industries more defined past their professionalism. For case, NASA, Deloitte, and Cisco have all developed ways to audio relatable, while staying true to their ain tones of vocalism, such every bit past highlighting their ethics and corporate social responsibility.
Dominion #2 They appeal to emotions
Many brands, such equally Dove, have learned that social media strategy tin be really constructive by using such problems, elevating campaigns through their channels. It's a way of showing their business in a positive light and appealing to their audience, without the conversation leading to a direct sale. Even so, ofttimes the emotional connection they forge does lead to a sale.
Dominion #3 Prioritise user-generated content
Many of the brands in our list of examples use user-generated content as a key part of their social media strategy. In many ways this is 'gratis' content to sit alongside the content that you generate. However, it is also invaluable as users trust other users more readily than they trust brands themselves.
Dominion #four They understand the value of video
Lastly, every brand in our list uses video content regularly. Whether it's videos of your employees, videos of your products, or other related videos, users find these attainable. Information technology'due south worth using video content whenever yous can.
What's next?
That's up to you lot. Though we'd recommend you test a range of strategies from this list where you come across they could piece of work well for your concern.
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