The List: the best of the best in social media

Welcome to The List: a roundup of the best current social media campaigns.

Nutella’s Trending Topics

How can you engage with your audience on social media? A great solution is to hop onto trending topics.

Thankfully, the advent of always-on social media means that we are exposed to many more special holidays. Whether it’s the foodie-focussed National Pizza Day or the more reverent Teacher Appreciation Day, there’s always something going on, and clever brands can always incorporate that into their social content.

That’s exactly what Nutella did with its recent Pancake Day and International Women’s Day gifs on its Facebook page. Their product’s relation to pancakes is obvious, so making content about Nutella pancakes is a no-brainer. Their use of a Nutella jar as the backdrop by which to celebrate women was a great way to include themselves in that conversation.

Not only are they showing their support for gender equality, they’re also making sure Nutella remains front-of-mind for their social media followers.

Greenpeace’s ‘Break Free’ Video

There comes a point where promotional content becomes indistinguishable from art, and Greenpeace’s recent YouTube campaign may be just that.

Encouraging its viewers to break free from the clutches of fossil fuels, the video features sweeping aerial shots of polluted cities, testimonials from citizens around the world and a dramatic score that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Hollywood production.

This piece of content proves that with a strong focus on the quality and story of a piece of content, smaller organisations with small budgets can make a big impact.

Spotify Playlists Campaign

Social media offers brands plenty of opportunities to create content that’s specifically personalised for their followers, and that’s a good thing. Users are four times more likely to respond to personalised content than generic marketing.

While most brands would do this by using targeting tools and analytics, Spotify have decided to get very, very specific. Down to exact people, in fact.

With their latest campaign, music stars read out the quirky or weird playlists Spotify users have put their music on. Whether it’s Joe Jonas of DNCE reacting to the fact someone wants to play their songs at a funeral or Alessia Cara responding to someone’s nihilistic wish to dance because global warming is real, the hilarious series of videos highlights the unique ways people listen to music on Spotify.

Though not every brand can hire musical superstars, when a company celebrates the many ways its customers are special, it can do wonders for social media engagement. The best part is: all you really have to do is listen to them. The content will write itself.