- April 18, 2024
- Posted by: Featured
- Category: Expert Roundups
Unleashing Creativity: 14 Marketing Campaigns that Captivate
In the realm of marketing, creativity is king. We gathered insights from Marketing Managers to CEOs on their most innovative campaigns that made waves, from leveraging influencer-generated content to engaging with a Twitter Emoji Contest. Discover the fourteen distinct strategies that captivated audiences and amplified brand engagement.
- Leverage Influencer-Generated Content
- Combine Infographics with Lead Generation
- Capitalize on Cultural Traditions on TikTok
- Innovate with Augmented Reality
- Guerrilla Marketing Spurs Legal Advocacy
- Drive Engagement with Influencer Content Campaigns
- Engage Audiences with a Financial Contest
- Gamify E-Commerce with Puzzle Challenges
- Offer a Cost Calculator to Boost Traffic
- Take a Wi-Fi World Tour
- Create Excitement with a Nationwide Treasure Hunt
- Highlight Movers’ Personal Stories
- Run a Decorative Lighting Contest
- Engage with a Twitter Emoji Contest
Leverage Influencer-Generated Content
An impactful and innovative brand-awareness campaign, which drives astounding brand engagement and recognition, was built on influencer-generated content to soft-sell our software in a more conversational and personal manner. Instead of typical, high-gloss ads, we joined forces with key industry influencers to develop content showing the software in real-world scenarios. These trusted voices shared stories across their social media ecosystem in posts and videos, illuminating how our software solved their snafus and elevated daily operations.
This method benefited from the personalized touch that influential people had, as well as the pre-existing and trusted relationships they already maintained with their potentially overlapping audiences. The success of this campaign underscored the power of humanizing tech products and leveraging personal stories and experiences for marketing in a way that resonates deeply with the target audience.
Blake Smith
Marketing Manager, ClockOn Rostering, Attendance & Payroll
Combine Infographics with Lead Generation
I created an infographic about digital marketing facts, coupled with downloadable, printable cards in exchange for email subscriptions. It’s an effective strategy that combines valuable content with lead generation.
Creating an infographic on a topic like digital marketing facts, my team and I tapped into a trend of presenting information in a visually appealing and easily digestible format. This not only attracts attention but also provides value to our audience by concisely offering insightful information.
Offering downloadable, printable cards as a freebie incentivizes people to subscribe to our email list. This approach not only increases engagement with our content but also helps grow our subscriber base.
The impact on our brand, Milkwhale, as an infographic company, is multifaceted: we’ve increased brand visibility, built a loyal subscriber base, and positioned ourselves as a valuable resource within the digital marketing space.
This campaign demonstrates creativity, resourcefulness, and an understanding of our target audience’s needs, ultimately contributing to the growth and success of our brand.
Diana Royanto
Writer, Milkwhale
Capitalize on Cultural Traditions on TikTok
While leading a social media campaign for a farm in North Carolina, our primary goal was to establish their presence on TikTok. While the farm serves as a wedding venue, market, and event space, our aim was to expand their community beyond local visitors.
Focusing on showcasing Southern culture and traditions, we created captivating TikTok content featuring a couple participating in the Southern tradition of burying bourbon on the farm’s premises. This approach resonated not only with potential wedding clients but also with a wider audience interested in Southern culture.
The video garnered over 1 million views within the first 24 hours, significantly boosting brand visibility and engagement. Subsequently, this success led to the creation of multiple follow-up videos exploring this tradition and others, further solidifying the farm’s presence and engagement on TikTok.
Taylor Caplan
Marketing Manager, Duckpin
Innovate with Augmented Reality
One standout campaign at CrownTV involved leveraging augmented reality (AR) to bring our products to life in the homes of potential customers before purchase. This immersive experience wasn’t just novel; it addressed a real need by helping customers visualize our products in their space.
The buzz created by this campaign significantly boosted engagement on our social platforms and led to a noticeable uptick in sales, demonstrating the power of innovative technology to connect with our audience in meaningful ways.
Alex Taylor
Head of Marketing, CrownTV
Guerrilla Marketing Spurs Legal Advocacy
Our team devised a guerrilla marketing stunt where we placed ‘caution’ tape around various landmarks, streets, and even public transit with the message ‘Beware: Negligence Ahead.’ This attention-grabbing tactic sparked conversations about personal injury prevention and our brand’s commitment to justice.
Social media exploded with shares of the mysterious sightings, leading to a surge in website traffic and inquiries. Beyond garnering attention, the campaign positioned us as advocates for safety and reinforced our reputation as a leading voice in legal advocacy. It was unconventional but undeniably effective.
Jacob Maslow
CEO, Injured.ca
Drive Engagement with Influencer Content Campaigns
We’ve recently launched content campaigns to drive engagement with influencers in our industry, including healthcare talent leaders and nursing executives. For example, we created a round-up article of healthcare recruitment influencers, reached out to each influencer individually, and posted the piece on LinkedIn.
The post garnered 70+ likes, 35+ comments, and 8K impressions. Plus, it was shared over a dozen times by industry influencers with tens of thousands of followers. As a result of our efforts, the article got 1,950+ views, an 8,500+ event count (clicks, form fills, etc.), and an average engagement time of 37 seconds.
Zev Newman
Marketing Director, Adfire Health
Engage Audiences with a Financial Contest
Creative marketing has always been a passion of mine at Noble Gold Investments. One campaign that garnered significant attention was our “Golden Future” contest.
We invited participants to share their financial goals and dreams, emphasizing the role of precious metals in securing a stable future. This interactive approach not only boosted engagement but also reinforced our brand’s commitment to helping clients achieve their financial aspirations.
Collin Plume
CEO, Noble Gold Investments
Gamify E-Commerce with Puzzle Challenges
The one truly innovative campaign we executed was the “Unlock the Secret Discount” initiative for our e-commerce platform. We created a series of engaging, puzzle-like challenges that were seamlessly integrated with our product pages.
Customers would solve these puzzles to unlock personalized discounts, turning the shopping experience into a fun and interactive game. This unique approach not only significantly increased our user engagement rates but also created a buzz on social media as customers shared their experiences and challenges with others.
The impact on our brand was profound, with a noticeable upsurge in both traffic and conversion rates, proving that blending entertainment with e-commerce could yield remarkable results. This campaign underscored our belief in thinking differently and leveraging the power of gamification to connect with our customers.
Valentin Radu
CEO & Founder, Blogger, Speaker, Podcaster, Omniconvert
Offer a Cost Calculator to Boost Traffic
We created a “Salesforce Implementation Cost” calculator on our website. It has significantly helped boost traffic to our website—and while people are calculating their cost estimate, they can view our consulting services as well. This is an approach that can be used and adjusted in different industries as well!
Corey Schwitz
CEO & Founder, Skydog Ops
Take a Wi-Fi World Tour
One of my favorite campaigns is our “Wi-Fi World Tour.”
Taking our brand literally on the road, we held pop-ups in major cities worldwide. Each pop-up was an opportunity to share TP-Link’s unique and unexpected strength and reliability.
From setting up hotspots in parks and beaches to running interactive demos showcasing our newest products, we wanted to leave a lasting impact wherever we went.
I can’t tell you how impactful it was. We created buzz and excitement among consumers and built brand awareness in key market segments.
Our social media channels were flooded with posts and shares from attendees. We also saw a significant increase in online engagement and product inquiries.
Perhaps the best part of the experience was seeing people’s faces light up when they heard about TP-Link’s Wi-Fi.
Moments like this remind us of why we’re here—to bring people closer together and make the world a better place through technology.
Laviet Joaquin
Marketing Head, TP-Link
Create Excitement with a Nationwide Treasure Hunt
Our PR stories for one of our (UK-based) clients in the automotive industry focus predominantly on topics of car care and driving. With the cost of living crisis affecting drivers up and down the nation, we wanted to give drivers a helping hand by eliminating the cost of buying a vehicle altogether—and giving them a new car for free.
To do this, we launched a nationwide treasure hunt—where one lucky winner could drive home in a brand-new Fiat 500—if only they could find the keys, buried somewhere in the UK. The campaign spread excitement up and down the country and secured coverage spanning media and social, placing the relatively unknown brand in front of a global audience.
The campaign was rolled out in two parts. First, we launched the competition to the press, encouraging applicants to keep an eye on our client’s website, where the clues to the location of the keys to a brand-new car, hidden somewhere in the UK, would be released to the world.
Each clue referred to a unique combination of three words, allowing those taking part to pinpoint the exact location of the keys, using the popular What3Words app. This initial outreach created an air of excitement around the brand and campaign, with a high level of social media shares, and the likes of UK regional news covering the story, anticipating that the keys were buried in their surrounding areas.
Following the publishing of the clues, people from across the UK took part, with thousands trying to find the keys, and an unlikely winner bringing about even more press attention.
Our winner’s story was something we never could have anticipated and ended up winning the keys thanks to a mysterious phone call and random act of kindness from two strangers—providing us with the perfect story for our second phase of media outreach. The two strangers had teamed up to figure out the answers to our hunt, only to discover that the location was 100 miles from them. Realizing they’d never make it in time, they passed on the details to a local tradesman that they found listed nearby on Google Maps. This surprising side of the story went down a storm, with coverage spanning Fox News, The New York Post, and more.
Abi Bennetts
Digital PR Director, Propellernet
Highlight Movers’ Personal Stories
One of our most successful marketing campaigns was our “Meet a Mover” campaign. These pieces focused on the people who actually do the heavy lifting for us, going into their personalities, backstories, and individual style.
We hire our movers for their charisma and communication skills as well as their physical fitness, since they serve as the main point of contact with our customers once they’ve booked a move, so it really was a natural fit. This was something we tried early on since our marketing budget was tight and we already had the talent on staff, but it was so successful that we’ve stuck with it and made it a key facet of our branding.
Thank you for the chance to contribute to this piece! If you do choose to quote me, please refer to me as Nick Valentino, VP of Market Operations at Bellhop.
Nick Valentino
VP of Market Operations, Bellhop
Run a Decorative Lighting Contest
A noteworthy campaign we ran a few years back was our “Light Up Your Dreams” contest, in which we urged consumers to upload images of their outdoor areas decorated with our LED fairy lights for a chance to win a grand prize.
To make it distinctive, we used social media sites such as Facebook to encourage participation and demonstrate how our lights might enhance outdoor environments. The result was incredible: we had an avalanche of engaging entries, creating awareness around our brand and products while also instilling a sense of community among our customers.
The campaign not only increased interaction and brand visibility, but it also demonstrated the variety and attraction of Festoon House’s LED fairy lights. It maintained our brand identity as a producer of high-quality outdoor lighting systems while instilling excitement and inspiration in our target demographic.
Matt Little
Director & Entrepreneur, Festoon House
Engage with a Twitter Emoji Contest
One wildly successful out-of-the-box campaign we ran recently was the “Guess the Emoji” contest on Twitter. We posted a series of cryptic emoji combinations that, when decoded, revealed marketing tips and tricks.
For example: 🎯📈💰 represented “Set clear goals, track your progress, and invest wisely.”
Participants had to crack the code and tweet their answers using our branded hashtag. The first 100 correct responses won free access to our premium marketing course.
The campaign went viral within hours. Thousands of people joined in, eager to show off their emoji-decoding skills and learn valuable marketing insights. Our hashtag trended nationally for two days straight.
The genius of this approach was its perfect blend of gamification, education, and brand-building. By challenging our audience intellectually and rewarding quick-witted winners, we fostered deep engagement and positioned ourselves as industry leaders.
Website traffic surged 250% during the campaign, and course signups jumped 85% in the following week. Plus, the emoji tips kept circulating long after the contest ended, generating ongoing buzz.
The “Guess the Emoji” campaign proved that with a little creativity and a deep understanding of your target audience, you can achieve incredible results on a shoestring budget. It’s all about finding novel ways to capture attention, spark interaction, and deliver real value.
Gustav Nicholson
Editor, Ampifire
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, “What is one creative or out-of-the-box marketing campaign you executed that captured significant attention and engagement? Describe the unique approach you took and the impact it had on your brand or business.”