The pandemic has given some tough times to content creators. 2020-2021 was challenging for YouTubers. How would they keep the audience engaged while they can’t leave the house and go to the workplace? It’s a tricky question to answer because there was no perfect time for publishing content on YouTube. People have no other choice but to spend record amounts of hours in front of screens. Some brands came up with marketing campaign ideas that were powerful enough to shake things up, while others got blundered. The stats will surprise you that, in 2020, ads generated a massive view of 470m+ and 1.3m+ likes.
Youtube has its way of displaying at least one ad per video. Even before the pandemic, after a long tiring day, people are exposed to various advertisements as soon as they enter YouTube to spend their leisure time. So, the creators mainly desire to make ad content that attracts visitors at first sight. Everyone must go through one advertisement per video. On average, 15 million people regularly visit Youtube, spending 24 hours each month on it. That’s why YouTube is the most impactful platform for running marketing campaigns.
7 Of The Most Successful YouTube Marketing Campaigns
Youtube offers amazing opportunities for creators to become more interactive with viewers. Here are 7 shining cases that set an example of how to engage your audience successfully.
1. Audible
Seventy percent of teenage users claimed that they can relate more to YouTube celebrities than traditional TV personalities. To go more precisely, every 4 out of 10 teenagers think their favorite YouTuber understands them more than their friends do. As youtube stars carry some beautiful numbers not only as views but also as subscribers, millennials follow them more. Big brands always follow these statistics and Amazon’s audiobook arm – Audible is no different. In the last quarter of 2014, they launched a podcast campaign with some big YouTube personalities like PewDiePie, Grace Helbig, and Roman Atwood.
As they are a really big name in the YouTube industry, the campaign became a great success. Just in the first half of 2015, the campaign cornered around 83 million views. PewDiePie alone garnered almost 20 million views – which was huge for Audible.
2. Google
Why does an omnipresent brand like Google even require ads? You might wonder but yes, they do. To put it better, Google has some of the most exemplary YouTube marketing campaigns on its bucket list. During the pandemic, Google’s “Thank You” campaign racked up around 20 million views. This campaign highlighted some of the modern unsung heroes of our society like parents, teachers, workers, etc. Due to making real user-generated content, it becomes so much more convenient for Google to pull the heartstrings of millions. The advertisement was a simple mixture of real-life activities and some graphical presentation of google searches like – “how to teach from home” or “how to fix a bad haircut”. The main goal was to show how Google is helping a lot of people deal with solving miscellaneous issues during the pandemic.
3. Nike
To convey support to the feminine customer base, Nike released an 8-episode – short series called “Margot vs Lily” with a tagline of – “Better for it”. In 2016, the series came out reflecting on two young women’s physical fitness activities. The main goal of this campaign was to establish a connection between incompatibilities and success, and this concept was a massive hit. Millions of women fall for this emotional appeal and cannot help sharing this on their social profiles. Moreover, it was a good scope for Nike to expose physical products like merchandise and a digital app called the Nike+ training club app. According to the VP of Nike Women’s brand marketing, this ad really helped to build a quality connection and shape the conversation in a positive way. As a result of this campaign, women who aspire to become physically fit are inclined to use Nike’s feminine products.
4. Complex
Just a few days before Covid-19 hit the USA, Complex had run one of the most successful marketing campaigns for their new sneaker app. FIY, Complex is a streetwear and sneaker brand focusing on Pop culture. They featured two A-listed Hollywood celebs – Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their ad which bolstered Complex’s claim to be a leading authority in the sneakers industry.
Smith and Lawrence are not just iconic figures, but they are also a part of the legacy of sneakers. The ad was all about the sneaker-related conversation between the two celebs as they go shoe shopping. The marketing research of Complex understood the audience’s requirements very well and gave them exactly what they wanted. As a result, the video received 7.5 million views and nearly 10,000 comments.
5. PooPourri
When you advertise a product that addresses an embarrassing issue, you can either whisper about it discreetly or boldly shout about it from the hills. PooPourri opted for the second option. It’s a Texas-based company that makes sprays to eradicate certain bathroom odors. In 2016, they ran a campaign with a series of videos under “How To Poop”, which offered tips on how to poop in a variety of embarrassing settings.
PooPourri is quite popular for unique advertising camping ideas. In 2013, they had a video titled “Girls Don’t Poop” which crossed 44+ million views. But with the “How To Poop” campaign, PooPourri has unquestionably established its image as a brand that is both entertaining and innovative.
6. Purina
With BuzzFeed’s Purina dog food campaign, you’ll see one of the finest advertisements on YouTube that managed to walk the narrow line between tale and commercial promotion. It’s a series of videos that shows a man’s journey who instinctively decides to adopt a puppy. The video interactively portrays the message that puppies should only intake foods that are specially made for them. As a brand, so far they have done the job very well! The video has over 29 million views and 500K+ likes. The video became so popular because the brand didn’t want to show just a commercial, but rather a more in-depth illustration of how playful and careful you should be with your puppy.
7. Discovery 360
When YouTube introduced 360° video in 2015, it opened up a new world of possibilities for content creators. And one company that took most of advantage of this opportunity more than most is – the Discovery channel.
This TV company has made a lot of 360° videos that broadcast some of their most popular shows, like MythBusters and Shark Week. These channels are widely popular for having quite a lot of videos that are both amazing and terrifying at the same time like – a spine-tingling shark dive.
More than 24 million people have viewed the roller coaster video above, thanks to Discovery’s efforts. Even if you’ve never heard of 360° video before, searching for such types of videos shows Discovery in the first place, with three more Discovery clips on the first page. The goal was achieved.
Wrapping Up
YouTube has always been a great source of marketing for brands and personalities. User-generated content, stock video, green screen video, live streams – YouTube has a vast opportunity range for YouTube marketers despite the content type. So if you want to upscale your campaign and want the maximum ROI, it’s better to take inspiration from successful marketing campaigns and come up with something simple but unique.
