In the integrated marketing world, social media plays a pivotal role in delivering a brand’s message as well as generating customer and fan interaction. Let’s look at a few examples of ‘out of the box’ social media marketing utilization.
When planning and implementing an integrated marketing campaign, one major component is social media. Along with public relations and search engine optimization, incorporating a social media strategy is important in order to reach customers and fans directly. Now, let’s take a look at three particularly interesting and creative uses of social media.
3 Creative Social Media Marketing Campaigns
Honda jumps into Pinterest with ‘Pintermission’ campaign. Honda’s goal when diving into Pinterest was to leverage their new CR-V and push the message of getting out to ‘live your life’. Honda reached out to five influential pinners and challenged them to take a 24-hour Pinterest hiatus to create something from one of their boards. Honda gave them each $500 to complete the task. As a result, over 4 million people were exposed to the #Pintermission boards, Honda received 5,000 repins and gained 2,000 likes. Honda also achieved nearly 16 million media impressions as a result of the campaign. Check out Honda on Pinterest.
Calgary Zoo uses Instagram to release its annual report. This is believed to be the first ever-annual report released through Instagram. The Zoo beautifully conveyed report topics through images on Instagram with additional, important information in the comments. The organization described the move as “going where the people already are.” Follow the Calgary Zoo on Instagram: @calgaryzoo2012ar
Budweiser Brazil introduces ‘Buddy Cup’. It seems that there has always been some disconnect between Facebook and reality. Budweiser is boldly bridging that gap with their new invention called the Buddy Cup. The Buddy Cup is a device built into a cup that syncs with your Facebook account. When one Buddy Cup is touched to another Buddy Cup (as two people ‘cheers’) the two users automatically become Facebook friends. The ‘Buddy Cup’ is a creative way to fuse Facebook with real-life.
Social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy has evolved far beyond ‘Likes’ and Retweets. With a little creativity, there is really no limit to what marketing agencies and brands can do with social media. What are your favorite brands on social media?