It seems as though hashtags have always been an element of our social media culture.
Hashtag is a popular social media tool, but did you realise it was coined in 2007?
Due to the current pandemic, 2007 may seem like a lifetime ago, but the advent of hashtags has sparked a social media revolution.
While it may be challenging to launch a successful social hashtag campaign, the benefits of a well-researched hashtag marketing strategy in terms of increased traffic and engagement can be enormous.
Here are 8 of the best social media hashtag campaigns ever to get your creative juices flowing.
Procter & Gamble’s #DistanceDance
In the early stages of the pandemic, people were understandably alarmed and annoyed. As a result, Procter & Gamble launched the campaign on social media #DistanceDance to promote staying in and having fun.
Charli D’Amelio, a viral star on the video sharing app TikTok, collaborated with P&G to encourage users to create and share dance videos on the platform using the hashtag #DistanceDance.
There was a lot of success with this campaign. Even professional sports teams, major influencers, and celebrities joined the campaign, which saw 4 million iterations and 800 million views in just one week.
Adidas’s #HereToCreate
As much as 87% of respondents to one survey said that branded content that is relevant to them personally has an impact on their opinion of a brand.
Indeed, who doesn’t adore having things tailored specifically to them?
In 2018, Adidas employed similar strategy at the Boston Marathon. They made individual movies for each of the 30,000 athletes that took part. These clips would be shared on social media by the players with hashtag #HereToCreate.
That campaign was brilliant for Adidas because it not only converted 30,000 athletes into brand champions but also gave them access to the fans of those athletes.
The campaign helped Adidas reach more people, especially among their core demographic of athletic consumers.
Hashtag campaigns on social media and personalised content go a long way.
Wrapped by Spotify (#SpotifyWrapped)
At the end of each year, Spotify sends its subscribers a report detailing the music they listened to the most throughout the previous 12 months. It’s packaged in a custom “Spotify Wrapped” synopsis.
It was expanded for the coming year. They didn’t just share one year’s worth of data; rather, they summed up the entire decade to show how users’ tastes and hearing habits had changed.
The summaries were presented in the form of shareable images, with the hashtag #SpotifyWrapped urging people to spread the word.
Spotify went further by creating individualised summaries for artists, detailing the locations from which their music is streamed, the total number of people who liked their music, and other stats.
Apple’s #ShotoniPhone campaign
Using the hashtag #ShotoniPhone, Apple has had considerable success in leveraging user-generated Instagram content as part of their social media marketing strategy.
This hashtag is used to share and promote photos and videos taken with an iPhone.
UGC refers to materials produced by users for which the creators receive no monetary compensation. Clients, admirers, and adherents all qualify as potential donors.
It’s a potent method for attracting your target demographic, stimulating conversation, and leveraging social proof.
About 200 million posts have been made using the hashtag #ShotoniPhone. Furthermore, consider this. Apple did not incur any costs in gaining this publicity for its brand.
Furthermore, that’s not all. Research by Comscore shows that user-generated content shared by brands receives 28% more interaction than regular posts.
Wow, isn’t that fantastic?
Dove’s #ShowUs campaign
The most stunning thing about a social networking hashtag campaign is its potential to do miracles if it establishes a connection with its intended audience.
Dove has run campaigns for many years emphasising principles like self-acceptance, diversity, and natural beauty. It’s the same with this one.
In an effort to dismantle harmful beauty norms, the #ShowUs movement was launched. Seventy percent of women don’t feel they are reflected in media and advertising, thus this initiative was born out of that realisation.
Dove teamed together with Getty Images, Girlgaze, and women all across the world to produce this campaign’s photo library.
Because of the abundance of user-created content for this campaign, it quickly went viral online. More than 650,000 people used the campaign’s hashtag, and the campaign’s photo collection now contains more than 5,000 images, proving that social media efforts that connect with their audience are the most successful.
Coke’s #ShareACoke campaign
The #ShareACoke campaign’s premise was to distribute personalised Coca-Cola bottles to various groups and individuals. This bottle set would make a great present for friends and family. This marketing initiative was so successful that Coca-Cola created a website where consumers could place orders for their own customised bottles.
In addition to the personalised touches, this campaign contributed to the establishment of positive customer relationships. Many works created by ordinary people emerged as a result. Parents-to-be took their pregnancy announcements to the next level by printing “Mom” and “Dad” labels on Coke bottles and posting them online.
Conclusion
Hashtag campaigns on social media are a powerful tool for raising awareness of your business and broadening your online audience. If your campaign is successful, your brand might quickly become a household name.
To that end, why delay? Learn from the examples of these winning initiatives, and do let us know whether there are any that we have overlooked. Read on for more information on marketing with hashtags and the top social media companies.