Our world has 7.9 billion people, and 4.48 billion of them have social media accounts. In other words, more than half of the world’s population is plugged into social media, making it one of the most powerful digital marketing tools on the planet.

While many brands are having a time breaking through with their social media strategy, there are some that are hitting it out of the park. Not only did their sales increase, but it shifted their entire brand image and positioning in the marketplace - in some instances taking small players and making them a main player (see Casper mattresses below). In others, taking an already established brand and by clever campaign design, getting their audience to create their content for them (see Apple below).

So if you’re still racking your brains for the best social media strategy, here are three great viral social media campaigns to learn from:

CAMPAIGN 1. #ShotOniPhone

Company: Apple

Social Media Platform: Instagram

Campaign in a Nutshell:

Back in March 2015, Apple launched the hashtag #ShotOniPhone on Instagram. Fast forward to today and the campaign, and the hashtag are still going strong with over 21.9 million posts to date.

By creating an action-oriented hashtag, iPhone users are motivated to share their own images for bragging rights. It’s a clever way to grow brand awareness, and in Apple’s instance, keep their brand top-of-mind, but without having to pay their users.

Key Takeaway

Instagram is a photo-centric social media platform. By creating a campaign that made it easy for their users to share their own content, they engaged their audience and turned them into brand ambassadors.

CAMPAIGN 2. Dear Kitty

Company: Friskies (and Buzzfeed)

Social Media Platform: YouTube

Campaign in a Nutshell:

Back in 2013 Friskies did a video campaign in collaboration with Buzzfeed. The video has more than 32 million views on YouTube and has proven to be an invaluable piece of evergreen marketing content for both companies that continue to drive traffic and grow brand awareness for both businesses.

The concept of their commercial video was simple – a conversation between an old cat, and a young kitten with a funny script to hook audiences and hold attention. Both Friskies and buzzfeed went on to create additional social media videos using the same theme, that both went viral.  

Key Takeaway

This video commercial was funny and featured pets – two very powerful ingredients to resonate with audiences and make your social content stand out.

CAMPAIGN 3. Sleep Channel

Company: Casper

Social Media Platform: Spotify and YouTube

Campaign in a Nutshell:

Have you heard of a Casper mattress? It’s a popular mattress brand that has given other staple mattress brands like Sealy, a run for their money.

Casper created a “sleep enhancing” audio playlist they called the “Sleep Channel” and hosted it on Spotify and YouTube.  They then advertised the playlist on all their social media channels to help anyone who had problems getting to sleep. It was a very smart move that quickly became popular elevating the company from a somewhat unknown mattress manufacturer into a sleep company.

Key Takeaway

Being creative by adding a new way for a company to interact with their audience can give you an edge over your competitors.

In Summary

Social media campaigns have the greatest chance of going viral when they incorporate something unique for their audience. Thinking outside the box, use of humor and relating your product or service to a much-loved animal are three strategies that can make your social media campaigns go viral.