Too often when scrolling through our daily Instagram feed, Facebook notifications or hundreds of tweets, we are only half engaged. This inner urge to “stay up to date” on all things social media has become so mundane that often we are only absentmindedly scanning the posts of our followers. That is until that one Instagram post jumps out and grabs our attention, evoking strong emotions and at times, even calling us to act. But what was it about that brand’s post that enabled it to stand out from the rest?The ability to break through the noise and capture each and every user so they are called to act is what makes for an excellent social media campaign. A strong and effective social media campaign is creative, engaging and profitable.Creating the best social media campaign for your brandBrands that do not take advantage of social media to market their products and content are missing out on an extremely viable means of generating leads and building relationships with partners and influencers. As such, it’s no surprise that 78 percent of businesses now have teams that work entirely on branding and marketing through social media, reported Entrepreneur. So what are these teams doing to ensure that theirs is the best social media campaign out there in the world of information overload? They are crafting thoughtful and intentional social strategies.

These teams design images, infographics, videos and emotive content that can then be shared across a number of channels such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, even the highest quality infographic or the most intriguing short film won’t capture users if the material, message and people don’t resonate with your target audience.Drawing on the demographics, interests and lifestyles of your target audience, the best social media campaigns utilize influencers to capture the attention of their audience. For some brands, using an influential role model to tell a story that resonates with users is the best way to foster engagement. Some others will find that a celebrity in a relatable role, completing a relatable task, is the best way to evoke emotion to garner a response to a product or message.At the end of the day, if you haven’t hit the mark on your target audience, you won’t have an effective social media campaign. Humanizing the campaign to reach your target persona is crucial for its success. The brands with the best social media campaigns over the last year were effectively able to relate to users and consumers, foster a sense of community and drive growth/profit.

We took a deeper dive of the top five campaigns to see what worked:Make-A-WishThe Make-A-Wish Foundation has a substantial social media reach, spreading across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and LinkedIn. One of the most recent social campaigns leaned on its longtime partnership with the globally-known and recognized Disney.Launching the viral campaign #shareyourears, Make-A-Wish was able to raise $2 million over the holiday season by engaging fans and followers in content. The campaign success was based on asking its audience to take photos of friends, family and even pets wearing the famous Mickey ears. They were then asked to actively post these images to social media platforms using the “Share Your Ears” hashtag.”The more unique photos you share, the more money raised,” promised the campaign.

By partnering with Disney, the magical and awe inspiring family brand, as an influencer and partner, Make-A-Wish has continued to engage with a quite diverse audience. This partnership began years before the first tweet was ever pushed live, dating back to 1980, according to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.The mission of providing terminally and critically ill children with a wish resonates with users across the board. Incorporating that sense of giving back with fun user-generated photos rocking the iconic Mickey ears, during the holiday season, was an excellent social strategy for garnering support.

The campaign engaged users so that they felt part of a larger community, by unlocking $5 donations for each post.Initially pledging the small donations up to $1, Disney ended up doubling its donation.Mr. CleanAs a result of its successful use of Facebook and Twitter to create suspense surrounding the release of its commercial, the 2017 Mr. Clean Superbowl Ad was named one of the top five best social media campaigns of the year by the Digital Marketing Institute. Within just one minute of the air date – during the Superbowl nonetheless – the Mr.

Clean content went viral. That was in thanks to the daily ads posted to Facebook and Twitter in the days leading up to the big game, a strategy that helped create a true online presence. The video usage helped to garner anticipation and excitement of the final product. Across the two aforementioned platforms and Instagram, the brand notched 11,700 mentions within 60 seconds.”By seeding your main campaign assets in advance of a big public event or occasion through teasers, you can significantly increase engagement and reach,” wrote Dan Hughes in his article for the Digital Marketing Institute.

It only makes sense that the commercial reached such a wide audience. As Nielsen Insights reported, while 111.3 million people viewed Super Bowl LI last year, 48.3 million people logged on to tweet or post about the event across a variety of social media channels.

These users generated 190.8 million interactions on social networks – a huge opportunity for brands everywhere. So while the reach of the game certainly helped the Mr. Clean commercial soar, it was the enhancement and romanticized nature of the cleaning product that helped it stand out.Moreover, the brand used Twitter to share a YouTube link to the commercial itself, with a catch phrase, “If you thought my ad was sexy, wait till you see how well my products clean.

Watch it again.”The post received more than 1,000 likes and 590 retweets.3.