There is no shortage of content being pushed across social media platforms during the holidays. With 73 percent of consumers saying their holiday purchasing decisions were influenced by what they saw from brands on social media, it’s crucial for brands to think outside the box to stand out to consumers who are inundated with information this time of year.
Many of the most successful holiday social media campaigns in recent years have become annual traditions for brands because of their ability to engage consumers in unique ways. People even look forward to seeing the content again the next year! Here are a few social media campaigns that inspire, engage and excite.
- REI’s #OptOutside
People are used to the tradition of racing to the mall after Thanksgiving dinner to score on Black Friday shopping deals, but in 2015, REI decided to shake up the entire notion of Black Friday by closing its doors for the day and encouraging people to #OptOutside. In the years since, the campaign has evolved from asking people to share photos of them enjoying outdoor recreation to also include brand and nonprofit partnerships that has engaged 15 million people and 700 organizations in the new tradition. This year, REI’s CEO announced that #OptOutside will be a permanent observance for all of its employees.
2. Spotify Wrapped
Spotify took the idea of year-end “best of” lists to the next level with its Wrapped campaign. The feature personalizes listening statistics for every user, giving them all their top songs, artists, genres and more in an interactive infographic. People take to all social media channels to share their results and talk about the year in music. Spotify even offered users a chance to opt-in to share their top songs on a billboard to potentially be used in a marketing campaign, adding yet another way to leverage user-generated content to advertise its service. The multi-layered campaign is a clever way to differentiate themselves from other music streaming platforms with content that is unique, personal and easy to share.
3. Office Depot’s Elf Yourself
Since 2006, Office Depot has been spreading holiday cheer with its creative Elf Yourself campaign. You might recall seeing these videos on your social media timelines or creating them yourself over the years. Essentially, the feature allows people to upload photos of themselves to face cut-outs on a dancing elf, and the resulting videos can be shared on social media platforms or downloaded. To date, over 1.7 billion elves have been created. While the campaign doesn’t have much to do with Office Depot or its products, it’s been incredibly successful in creating brand awareness by splashing the company name on millions of screens across the globe each year – reaching a wide audience that may not be exposed to the Office Depot name otherwise.
While these three are all unique and impressive in their own ways, they all have a few things in common that are key to the recipe for success. First, they all require personalization, allowing consumers to take more ownership of the content. Second, the content is easy to share with options to convert the content so it’s compatible and optimized for social media platforms of the consumer’s choice. Last, they are not blatantly pushing a product or service, but rather subtly creating brand awareness by attaching interactive content to their names. The holiday season is something to look forward to for many reasons, and social media campaigns like these certainly add to the excitement.