12 standout social media success stories

Ice buckets and IKEA catalogs. Girl power and friendships cemented over soft drinks. The resurrection of a cancelled TV show, and an adorable Pomeranian. These were the stuff of successful social media campaigns from major brands and organizations since the summer of 2014, as selected by the group of social media experts we queried.

The following campaigns succeeded on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and other sites because of the fresh thinking and, in some cases, big money and audacious spirit that created them. Without further ado, here are 12 of the most successful social media initiatives of the past year, in alphabetical order. (For examples of earlier successful examples, read “14 must-see social media marketing success stories.” For the flip side, check out “12 shockingly stupid social media misfires.”)

Procter & Gamble’s Always brand of feminine hygiene products kicked off an effective social media campaign using the hashtag #LikeAGirl in June 2014, and it followed up with a Super Bowl 2015 initiative.

“Always was able to take the phrase ‘like a girl,’ which is typically used as an insult, and transform it into a positive statement,” says Holly Pavlika, senior vice president of brand strategy, Collective Bias. “It’s a shining example of how a brand can affect social change.”

“The first time that TV commercial came on, or you saw the video in your Facebook feed, you sat silent and watched the piece with your full attention,” says Bill Fish, president, ReputationManagement.com. “There aren’t many campaigns any longer with that power.”

A&E cancelled the series “Longmire” after its third season. The show apparently was not profitable because it catered to an older audience, and advertisers generally want to reach younger viewers. Following its cancellation, cast members began a #LongLiveLongmire social media campaign to encourage fan action, according to Travis Balinas, product marketing manager, OutboundEngine. The campaign helped the series get picked up for a fourth season, by Netflix, in November 2014.

“You might expect this sort of online petitioning from a younger demographic,” Balinas says. “But in this case, an older age group embraced social media to fight for something they love. This dedication will ultimately benefit Netflix, too, as it will boost their membership numbers for a demographic A&E deemed ‘too old.'”

Newcastle’s summer 2014 “Follow The Money” Twitter campaign was “audacious” in that the beer brewer offered to pay one dollar to anyone who followed them, according to Lily Croll, senior search strategist, Wire Stone.

“The campaign turned a situation that many brands face — trying to build up a larger social readership — into something transparent,” she says. “Instead of paying for fan acquisition ads, Newcastle offered to pay fans to opt-in to their tweets.”

Newcastle’s brazen campaign worked; it eventually hit its goal of acquiring 50,000 new Twitter followers, according to Davy Kestens, CEO, Sparkcentral.

Fast-food chain Taco Bell launched a mobile payment and ordering app in late October 2014. One day later, the company “blacked out” its Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages with a post that promoted the hashtag #onlyintheapp. The goal was to increase awareness of its new app. Taco Bell said that within the 24 hours following the app’s launch, 75 percent of its stores processed a mobile order.

Francesco Gallo, social media community manager at AppDynamics asks, “How many social media experts would tell you to delete every single one of your tweets and go dark on social media?

“If you stay traditional, you’ll never be unique,” Gallo says. “Make the audience a part of the experience, and in turn they’ll contribute to the viral nature of your campaign.”