The Anatomy of

9 Great Social Ads

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A breakdown of what makes a great social ad

As social ads are an increasingly important ingredient in the marketing mix, it’s important that

brands get them right.

Here’s how 9 brands are killing it.

Current Next 12 Months

Next 5 Years

Social Media Spend as a % of Marketing Budgets

(Duke University CMO Survey 2015)

9.9%

13.5%

22.4%

Target (Twitter)

This is not your typical standalone social ad. For the 2015 GRAMMY Awards, Target bought a 4-minute ad spot with social and native in mind — a truly cross-media experience. Rather than playing a bunch of commercials, they aired a live Imagine Dragon’s concert that they were hosting in Las Vegas (native) and timed this promoted tweet to show up on GRAMMY viewers’ Twitter feeds at the same time (social).

Because social is such a big part of major live events, they incorporated social media to extend the conversation, engage with viewers, and drive audience participation. With the hashtag #MoreMusic, Target’s “commercial” generated buzz around the brand on Twitter, allowing them to get more value out of the big media spend.

Overview

Target (Twitter)

More than your average hashtag, #MoreMusic was a CTA that unlocked more content (Target then sent tweeters the unreleased track)

Exclusivity

The next morning, they kept the buzz going with a follow-up tweet

Timed the tweet to the live performance

Using both hashtags ensured that they were in both the larger conversation and the conversation unique to them

Target’s Twitter campaign tied to their Grammys TV ad, a truly “native” TV effort. Social is most powerful when it is integrated with the larger marketing effort.

Breakdown

Ben & Jerry’s asked their Instagram fans to capture their happiest moments and tag them with #CaptureEuphoria. Ben & Jerry’s then selected their favorite instagrams, reached out to their takers for permission, and repurposed them with local ad buys, ranging from print ads to bus shelter boards to full-sized billboards.

The campaign leveraged their large and active Instagram following to spread their whimsical, fun-loving brand. By promoting the featured images and Instagram handles with physical media (cross-media campaign!), it gives their fans the fun reward of momentary hometown fame (which then gets instagrammed and spread some more).

Overview

Ben & Jerry’s (Instagram)

Ben & Jerry’s (Instagram)

The image is beautiful, fun, and looks effortless — classic Instagram

Includes the campaign hashtag to give curious viewers context and encourages them to contribute, too

BreakdownProminent Instagram handle placement both rewards the fan and lets other people know that it was user-submitted

The fan-generated image also has life online, with the hashtag being viewed by all of the fans’ followers

Kate Spade (YouTube Pre-Roll)

Over the holiday season, Kate Spade released the first episode of their #Missadventure series — this one titled, “The Waiting Game”, a 2-minute video featuring Anna Kendrick and a holiday shopping mishap. They cut the video into 4 parts to run as pre-roll video ads on YouTube. This cut featured behind-the-scenes footage as well as an unscripted Q&A with the star.

This pre-roll ad, in particular, was successful because it had the look and feel of a non-branded user-submitted YouTube video. While staying in tune with the Kate Spade brand, the content is quick, entertaining, and not overproduced, relying mostly on Anna Kendrick’s charisma.

Overview

Kate Spade (YouTube Pre-Roll)

This YouTube pre-roll ad was the last snippet of Kate Spade’s holiday video, “The Waiting Game”. Unlike the others, this was a behind-the-scenes look. According to Kate Spade CMO, Mary Beech, this ad performed the best.

It looks and sounds like a YouTube video, not a TV ad like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtw1bbYwHko

She talks to the audience, making it feel more human and personal

The Q&A questions (”Are you a party goer, thrower, or avoider?”) don’t feel salesy; it is legitimately entertaining and on-brand content

Breakdown

The Q&A questions (”Are you a party goer, thrower, or avoider?”) don’t feel salesy; it is legitimately entertaining and on-brand content

President Obama (Buzzfeed/Facebook)

Prior to the enrollment deadline for the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, President Obama wanted to make sure Millennials knew about the upcoming deadline.

Rather than trying to reach them through traditional channels, he partnered with Buzzfeed to reach them where they already are. Through a video that included selfies, funny faces, imagining buzzer-beating shots, and...reciting the date of the deadline in the mirror, President Obama was able to deliver an important message that Millennials would choose to watch and share with friends.

Overview

President Obama (Buzzfeed/Facebook)

Gets in the video’s ultimate message (February 15th deadline to sign up for health insurance) without being obnoxious about it

Self-deprecating humor

Thanks,

Obama

Thanks,

Obama

Distribution — as Buzzfeed’s top referrer, they published the video directly on Facebook, allowing for faster viewing and easier sharing (compared to YouTube)

Highly relatable topic for the headline/title — a big part of Buzzfeed’s social-driven strategy

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1631492713658271

Breakdown

Taco Bell (Social Influencer)

What’s better than talking about your brand on social media? Having a major influencer talking about your brand on social media.

In 2013, Taco Bell sent several hand-written notes and custom (branded) rings to select models and actresses. While we’re not sure if the models/actresses were in on it from the start, the brilliance is in the “not-an-ad” ad strategy. It gives the brand message more of an authentic feel because it seems fun, spontaneous, and non-corporate.

With a little bit of fun, personalization, and ingenuity, Taco Bell was able to get a ton of exposure and a lot of cool cred on social media.

Overview

Taco Bell (Social Influencer)

The exclusive, tangible gifts (handwritten letter and rings) make them easy to photograph — a.k.a. valuable social currency to post on social media

Model Chrissy Teigen is a great influencer for Taco Bell. She has a big following that overlaps with Taco Bells’ desired demographic

Influencer marketing works well on social because brands can reach different followers, and benefit from the influencer’s credibility with their following

Has the look and feel of her regular posts, rather than a brand message. It’s genuine.

Relevance: Taco Bell sent the gift shortly after her engagement to John Legend, making rings top-of-mind.

(Note: she has since changed her handle to @ChrissyTeigen)

Breakdown

Model Chrissy Teigen is a great influencer for Taco Bell. She has a big following that overlaps with Taco Bells’ desired demographic

Gap (Instagram)

To introduce their new spring line, Gap created a 12-part microseries featuring Jenny Slate and Paul Dano in bite-sized spring romance stories.

Rather than doing a standard YouTube video series, Gap leveraged Instagram, which has a very high engagement rate, to reach their mobile, content-snacking audience. Doing a series of 15-second videos allowed Gap to feature many more products than a single longer video, without it feeling forced.

Overview

Gap (Instagram)

https://instagram.com/p/ysJHTgj9mC/?taken-by=gap

Informing the audience that it’s a multi-part series gets people to follow the brand so that they don’t miss future videos

Because Instagram doesn’t allow links in posts, Gap sends people to their profile page, where they can use links

Seasonally relevant (videos were posted February-May)

15 second videos that tell a springtime love story. Each video tells a plot point and a joke.

Breakdown

Munchery (Facebook)

Munchery’s Facebook ad success is rooted in a smart targeting strategy. Because food delivery is very location-specific, geographic targeting is important. Rather than using traditional DMAs or metropolitan areas, they are able to leverage Facebook’s zip code targeting and custom audience targeting to hit just the right people.

With the right targeting (including interests, income, etc.), they’re able to narrow down prospective customer personas and create powerful copy and imagery.

Overview

Munchery (Facebook)

Since their business plan is so location-driven, Munchery takes adavantage of Facebook’s zip code targeting to only serve ads to qualified potential customers

Copy specifically addresses non-customers —Munchery leverages Facebook’s custom audiences to block current customers from receiving customer acquisition ads

During Munchery’s Seattle launch period, 70% of their site referrals came from this Facebook campaign

Imagery looks restaurant quality

Breakdown

The location targeting also informs the imagery. Asian food is hugely popular in Seattle, but they would use something different in a Nashville ad.

Ex Machina (Tinder)

The marketers of Ex Machina (film) programmed a bot to match with male Tinder swipers at SXSW. After a few messages, the bot (Ava) would direct them to “her” Instagram page, which revealed that it was a marketing stunt for the film.

While many accused the stunt of being deceptive (people allow themselves to be vulnerable on dating sites and apps, such as Tinder), it successfully accomplished two things:

1) It got a TON of press at SXSW. Just about every tech blog and news outlet had a story on Ava (and thus, the movie)

2) It got people thinking about the use of bots and human interaction, which is a major theme in Ex Machina

Overview

Ex Machina (Tinder)

The character, Ava, is a perfect fit for Tinder’s demographic

Kept the profile copy natural, rather than overplayed with marketing-speak

Upon chatting with Ava, Tinder matches were directed to Ex Machina’s Instagram page, the CTA

The stunt was executed during SXSW, ensuring tons of press and social media coverage

It was relevant to the film -- the concept of Tinder bots acting “human” captures the same themes as the film

Breakdown

Casper (Facebook)

Casper, the mattress startup, relies heavily on social and other digital media to compete with established mattress brands that have a massive infrastructure and resource advantage. Through Facebook ad partner, Criteo, they retarget website visitors on social to re-engage people that have already demonstrated interest.

Through smart and friendly copy, Casper reassures customers that their next-gen mattress company is as trustworthy, if not more, than the companies that customers are already familiar with. After all, a mattress purchase is a very personal decision, as well as a significant investment.

Overview

Casper (Facebook)

Including the pricepoint helps the audience self-select whether they are Casper’s target audience, which reduces costly bad clicksLinked image — clicking

anywhere on the image or caption will take the user to Casper’s website

Language that implies innovation

Retargeted via Criteo

Friendly, relatable image that includes the product

Confidence-instilling language makes Casper feel trustworthy

Breakdown

Inside Social is a social marketing platform that helps companies measure and increase their social ROI by focusing on the metrics that matter — conversions and revenue, not the vanity metrics you’re used to on social.

We built a share tracking technology that connects social sharing to downstream conversions, such as a download, subscription, or purchase. By measuring, attributing, and optimizing social based on conversions, we help companies do more effective social marketing.

We are based in Seattle, WA.

About Inside Social

Jordan Con, Marketing Manager jordan@insidesocial.comJoey Kotkins, CMO and Co-Founder joey@insidesocial.comBrewster Stanislaw, CEO and Co-Founder brewster@insidesocial.com

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