The Hottest Social Media Campaigns of Summer


August 20, 2014

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Summertime brings around the best weather, the best foods (hello State Fair corndogs!), and arguably, the best social media campaigns. I may be a bit over-excited here in my sunshine-induced happiness, but I really believe I’ve been seeing some of the most creative campaigns online from brands big, small, and unexpected! 

We often say at our events that it’s ok to borrow recipes from other brands to cook something up of your own. Rather than seeing something Oreo/McDonalds/Nike does and saying, “We can’t do that — we’re just a boring B2B business” or “We’re too small,” overcome these objections by looking beyond the brand name or industry to recognize the strategy behind their noteworthy social media efforts.

The examples below have plenty of ingredients for your brand to take back to your social kitchen.

Iowa State Fair – #ISFSelfie

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It’s that time of year and many State Fair brands are taking their food, fun, and festivities online with social media campaigns. Our own Iowa State Fair is using a unique online contest to draw online engagement from attendees. Sixty five ringmaster signs have been stationed around the fairgrounds to encourage folks to upload their #ISFSelfie. With the prize being front row tickets to see Florida Georgia Line, we’re confident this campaign will be as popular as funnel cake.

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#ISFSelfie on Twitter >>

Hills Bank – Lemon Boss

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Hills Bank is no stranger to great customer service and community engagement. So when they took their popular Lemon Boss summer program and started encouraging conversation online, it was as sweet as lemonade! Photos from the 5-12 year old participants began coming in as they started their own lemonade stands as Lemon Bosses!  Their journey learning finance, customer service, and business is now well documented and supported online. That’s a win-win!

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#LemonBoss on Twitter >>

No Kid Hungry – Bake Sale

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From kids selling lemonade to adults selling baked goods, there’s no limit to what you may see online! Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry, presented by Domino Sugar and C&H Sugar, is a national fundraising initiative that encourages people to host bake sales in their communities to help end childhood hunger. The fun (and the sweet treats) are then showed online to rally support, donations, and more power behind the mission to feed kids. To sweeten the deal (sorry, lots of puns), the campaign put on a #BakeSaleBlitz, giving anyone who signed up a $20 donation immediately. The hype grew just as fast as the bake sale list!

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Boston vs. St. Louis – Tattoo War

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I may be a Cardinals fan but I have to give credit to both my team and the Boston Red Sox for their new Instagram campaign. Both teams are encouraging fans to upload photos of their #SoxInk or #CardsInk in an epic battle of fan tattoos. One ultimate die-hard Cards fan and one Boston fan will each win an autographed baseball from Boston (Kelly or Craig) and St. Louis (Lackey or Pierzynski). The fan photos have been coming in fast! Brands working together (or playfully against each other) may be something we continue to see grow.

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What great online campaigns have you seen recently? Feel free to share in the comments below.


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is a strategist, speaker, educator, and author of Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World and Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. He is the Chief Brand Strategist at Brand Driven Digital, an educator at the University of Iowa, and host of the On Brand podcast. More about Nick.