6 Creative and Engaging Marketing Projects We Can Learn From

1
6 Creative and Engaging Marketing Projects We Can
Learn From
blo g.act ivat emedia.co m /post
/55178204461/6-creat ive-and-engaging-market
ing-project s- we-can-learn
Direct mail, insert s, and t o so me ext ent ,
even T V and magazine advert ising. What do all
o f t hese t hings have in co mmo n? If you ans
we re d, The yre large ly re lics of the
pas t," youve won this round. While many olde
r forms of adve rtis ing do s urvive in s ome
form, the re al he art of conte mporary
marke ting lie s in online conte nt s trate gie
s , which have the pote ntial to de e ply e
ngage followe rs and cre ate unique and loyal
re lations hips with gre ate r rapidity and e
?e ctive ne s s than any othe r me dium. But a
s ucce s s ful online marke ting campaign re
quire s more than s pe e d typing a thre e
line blogpos t. To re ce ive , youve got to
give notably, more than your compe titors
both in your indus try and in the online s
pace . The following 6 cre ative and e ngaging
marke ting campaigns are gre at e xample s of
how to do jus t that. Le ts take a look for
a little ins piration. 1. S imply Business S
mall Business Guide t o YouT ube
S ome time s , the be s t tool in your marke
ting box is knowle dge . No, not knowle dge
about your product, but knowle dge that ?lls
any information and s kills gaps your cus tome
rs may have . Thats jus t what s mall bus ine
s s ins urance provide r, S imply Bus ine s s ,
doe s with its Knowle dge Community Ce nte
r, which fe ature s in-de pth re s ource s like
this YouTube guide . He re , s mall bus ine s
s owne rs can ?nd guide s and tips to ans we
r any numbe r of que s tions and arm the ms
e lve s with s kills the y can active ly apply
to the ir bus ine s s e s . The YouTube
guide is large ly re pre s e ntative of the
re s ource ce nte r, providing e xte ns
ive re s ource s within this modular, ?owchart
guide , without s acri?cing functionality or be
coming too de ns e . This re s ource ce nte r
is notable not jus t for the we alth of he
lpful information it provide s , but als o be
caus e its cons tructe d around what its cus
tome r bas e wants , not what the company
wants to impos e on its cus tome rs . This
builds trus t and re s pe ct as we ll as an e
xpe rtis e re putation, as it will make followe
rs fe e l the company re ally knows what s
mall bus ine s s e s ne e d. Lesson Learned
Provide your customers with helpful, in-depth
resources, and theyll reward you with loyalty,
engagement, and evangelism. Twe e t this
2. S harpies T wit t er Campaign
2

• What do you do whe n you dis cove r an untappe
  d marke t of young us e rs , looking for cre
  ative s timulation? He ad to Twitte r, of cours
  e . Or at le as t, thats what the e ve r
  dynamic and e ngaging brand, S harpie , did with
  the ir re ce nt Twitte r campaign, which invite
  d us e rs to s hare the ir cre ative work as
  we ll as the ir conve rs ations about cre
  ativity by adding the has htags s harpie
  and uncapwhats ins ide .
• The company s pre ad the word ?rs t through
  promote d twe e ts and the n us e d the has
  htags to promote the ir e qually e ngaging
  Ge t Ins pire d" YouTube playlis ts , which fe
  ature d inte rvie ws with artis ts us ing the
  brand.
• Be fore long, the company was gaining 1,000
  followe rs pe r day, for a 6-fold incre as e
  by the e nd of the campaign.
• Lesson Learned People want to create be their
  excuse to do so Twe e t this , whether through
  a strategic hashtag or a contest calling for user
  submissions. And for the greatest bene?ts, dont
  forget to fold these activities into your wider
  marketing campaigns, a la Sharpies YouTube
  videos.
• S impliS af es Digit al S ecurit y Quiz
• Ofte ntime s , to ge t buye rs inte re s te d
  in your product, you ne e d to te ll the m why
  anything you s ay is of us e to the m. Try
  to do that through an ad, and pote ntial buye
  rs can fe e l like youre that one child in
  the room dancing around and s houting, Look at
  me , look at me e e e !" Do it, on the othe r
  hand, through a de vice that re ve
  als s ome thing about the cus tome r, and
  youll s us tain inte re s t for much gre ate r
  pe riods of time . Thats the logic be hind S
  impliS afe s e ngaging digital s e curity quiz
  , which te lls us e rs about the ir company
  through the le ns of the ir individual digital
  habits .
• S te p by s te p, que s tion by que s tion,
  quiz take rs e xamine the ir online habits
  and re ce ive e xpe rt ans we rs to ?ll in
  the blanks . In this way, the quiz is he
  lpful and it establishes the company as a
  knowledgeable industry expert. And who wouldnt
  want to share this on social media?
• Lesson Learned Provide customers with helpful
  and revealing information by focusing on them
  ?rst Twe e t this , and by tapping into all of
  the intrinsic motivation associated with
  gami?cation. This way, customers will much more
  actively engage.
• Et sys Guest Pinners
• While mos t bus ine s s e s know the y s hould
  have a pre s e nce on Pinte re s t, the y
  ofte n dont know what the y s hould pin, e s pe
  cially if the y dont fall in the life s tyle
  or food cate gory. Jus t follow the le ad of
  Ets y, the online marke tplace for s mall,
  inde pe nde nt crafts pe ople . The company
  pins both fe ature s of its own products and
  a wide

6. McDonalds Canadas Our Food. Your Quest
ions
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• S ocial me dia is a gate way to your cus
  tome rs , but what lie s on the othe r e nd of
  that gate is nt always a public re lations s
  pe cialis ts dre am. No brand knows this be
  tte r than McDonalds , whos e McDS torie s
  Twitte r campaign was me t with wide s pre
  ad de ris ion online . The ne gative s torie s
  far outnumbe re d the pos itive one s , with
  cus tome rs re porting ?nding ?nge rnails in
  the ir food, s e e ing rats in the kitche n,
  and gaining we ight.
• That, howe ve r, didnt s top McDonalds Canada
  from launching a much s avvie r campaign calle
  d, Our food. Your que s tions ." The conce pt
  was s imple Cus tome rs we re allowe d to as
  k or s e arch for any que s tions , and the
  company would re s pond as frankly as pos s
  ible . The campaign was a mas s ive s ucce s
  s , with thous ands of que s tions s ubmitte d
  s o far, and a gre at boos t to the companys
  image . Note that the ke y di?e re nce he re
  was that the company dire ctly as ke d for
  the ir cus tome rs true e xpe rie nce s and
  re s ponde d in kind, rathe r than twe e ting
  ove rly nos talgic and cle arly comme rcial twe
  e ts like , Whe n u make s ome thing w/pride
  , pe ople can tas te it, - McD potato s
  upplie r."
• Lesson Learned While you may not be able to
  a?ord to hire a team of customer service
  representatives to answer a slew of questions,
  you can still take the message of transparency to
  heart. Why not hold an hour long, Reddit style
  AMA on social media? Alternatively, you could
  host a regular event on your company blog, like,
  Your Questions Tuesdays" and tackle one
  important question at a time. The more you
  respond to all questions, good or bad, the
  greater the trust youll build Twe e t this .
• T he T akeaway
• Todays world of marketing brings with it
  countless new platforms and sources for
  inspiration. Embracing these tools will allow
  companies to get creative and reach formerly
  untappable markets, while also cementing customer
  loyalty. What will your next creative campaign
  entail? Let us know in the comments below.
• About t he aut hor
• Luke is a S e attle bas e d write r and inte
  rne t marke te r who s pe cializ e s in conte
  nt s trate gy. Follow him on twitte r _at_ luke
  clum
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