There are a very few companies that get social media communications right. Those which fail end up missing out on one of the most powerful tools of the business; but just how powerful is this tool, you ask? Here are the top nine social media campaigns that generated a major buzz in 2013.
#1) Oreo Super Bowl Tweet
When the power outage occurred during the SuperBowl XLVII, Oreo was the fastest to take advantage of this 35-minute blackout. The company sent out a message on Twitter: “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” This spur-of-the-moment message got more than ten thousand shares and retweets in an hour, making it a big success.
Power out? No problem. pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC
— Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013
#2) Dove Real Beauty Sketches
The “Real Beauty Sketches” video (below) by Dove was a brilliant stroke of genius. The video featured a professional artist drawing two images of women: one according to their own description and one according to a stranger’s descriptions. The message of the video was loud and clear – women don’t always see their natural beauty. The video hit home, getting more than 114 million views in a month.
#3) Budweiser Super Bowl Ads
The most popular advertisement during the SuperBowl season came from Budweiser. Focused on their well-known Clydesdale horses, the heartwarming ad showed the tie between a horse and the trainer and was tied in with a competition requesting users to submit the name of their newest Clydesdale foal. The ad got more than 11 million views on YouTube, a record in its own.
The video got pulled down for some odd reason so below is a behind the scene view:
#4) Starbucks’ Hashtags
Only a few companies have the knack for using hashtags right and Starbucks comes out on top of them all. Starbucks’ hashtags became a major way of communication between the company and the audiences on social media, with tags like #strawsome and #sipface becoming extremely popular. Below is an example of #sipface
90 degrees in November? Love it! #desertgirl #freedrink #sipface #sharejoy pic.twitter.com/fqVoJyE37a
— Allie Frazier (@Allilily) November 14, 2013
#5) Tesla’s Swift Clarification
After a negative New York Times review was released about the electric Tesla car, the company wasted no time in responding to it using social media. The review said that the car ran out of power and the writer was left stranded, The CEO, Elon Musk of Tesla tweeted “Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn’t actually charge to max & took a long detour.” After that tweet, the writer was truly left stranded!
NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake. Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn’t actually charge to max & took a long detour.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2013
#6) Tesco’s Customer Service
When it comes to responding to customers in a timely manner over social media, Tesco emerged as the clear winner. Making an industry record, Tesco answered 65% of customer queries on Twitter within a time limit of an hour and 20 minutes, offering positive results swiftly in response.
#7) Beyonce’s Album Release Stunt
Beyonce took the use of social media up a notch, believing in the ultimate power of these platforms. The direct release of an entire album on social media alone without any prior notice or pomp showed that the true power of social media marketing if you have enough people following you.
All it took was an Instagram Video, a Tweet and Beyonce’s album sold 828,773 copies on iTunes.
#8) The BatKid of San Francisco
Demonstrating how powerful positivity in social media is, the BatKid campaign became one of the most popular topics of discussion on social platforms. The campaign was a joint initiative by the government of San Francisco, Make a Wish foundation and thousands of volunteers, aided by a social media agency.
Below is an awesome Official Batkid Video:
#9) MySpace Redesigning
Another social media success this year was the redesigning of MySpace as a music-centric networking site. The initiative was backed by Justin Timberlake and an entirely modern design was adopted for the site along with the new focus of attention.
Consider these nine stories a source of inspiration and start working to make your own social media efforts a success.
