6 Creative and Engaging Marketing Projects We Can Learn From

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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

Some 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, Simply 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 acricing 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

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, Sharpie , 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 benets, dont forget to fold these activities into your wider marketing campaigns, a la Sharpies YouTube videos.

3. 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 SimpliSafe 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 . Ste 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 gamication. This way, customers will much more actively engage.

4. 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 range of pins from gue s t pinne rs . This ke e ps pins fre s h, e ngaging and unique , and ts with Ets ys goal of us ing Pinte re s t not jus t for s ale s but for ins piration. That s aid, whe n the company is pinning products for s ale on the s ite , the y make s ure to include prope r attribution, s o the product cre ator will be more like ly to make a s ale . Lesson Learned: Sure, with their crafty focus, Etsy and Pinterest make a natural t, but you can have just as much success with a guest pinning program, which is almost a visual form of guest blogging [Twe e t this ]. The more you develop relationships with guest pinners, the more theyll promote your brand in turn, and youll have a proper Pinterest content strategy.

5. Columbia S port swears Great Moment s in T rying S t uf f Video Campaign

The re s product te s ting, and the n the re s product te s ting. One is run of the mill, the one is s o hilarious and e pic, its got to be its own vide o campaign. The Columbia Gre at Mome nts campaign is rmly the latte r, fe aturing ridiculous product te s ts , like how we ll be ans drain through a s hoe . The te s ts are always re le vant to the productthe s hoe , for ins tance , is s pe cically de s igne d to drain s we atthe yre jus t te s te d in a cle arly s illy manne r. This de mons trate s the companys down to e arth nature and willingne s s to poke fun at its e lf, the pe rfe ct formula for promoting brand loyalty and e vange lis m. Of cours e , the company promote d the s e vide os ve ry we ll on s ocial me dia us ing the has htags #gre atmome nts and #tryings tu to furthe r e ngage us e rs . Lesson Learned: Dont be afraid to poke fun at your own brand with silly product tests, or other creative approaches [Twe e t this ]. Just make sure whatever you produce is within your brand voice and style.

6. McDonalds Canadas Our Food. Your Quest ions

Social 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 #McDStorie 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 die 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 aord 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 Se 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 @luke clum

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