By Rochi Zalani

Real-life social media campaign examples from trailblazing brands to inspire your next big project.

When you think of stand-out social media campaigns, what’s the first one that comes to mind? I’m willing to bet the likes of Spotify Wrapped or Dove Beauty are right up there.

Lauded as these examples are (rightly so!), they’re far from the only ground-breaking examples from recent years.

In fact, it was tough to trim down this list of innovative, memorable social media campaigns down to a readable number — so I’m confident there are several on this list that will stand out on your hunt for inspiration. We’ve got heartfelt stories, celebrity salads, and of course, reincarnating owls.

Anytime you feel you’re in a creative rut, come back to this list, snoop, and scoop what you can for your own social media campaigns. Maybe we’ll soon be adding yours to this list! 👀

1. Duolingo’s death of the owl

Duolingo, the language learning app, announced the death of their beloved owl mascot in February 2025. While the campaign evoked mixed feelings, it also sparked tidal waves of engagement — with the death announcement getting over two million likes and 40,000 comments.

The company continued paying tribute to the mascot for two weeks — fully committing to the act — right before Duo made a ‘legends never die’ comeback.

If you were in orbit, it was hard to miss the news. Everyone from me to Dua Lipa was talking about it. Garnering over a billion organic views across social media platforms, this was one of Duolingo’s most successful social media campaigns — which, considering how prolific the brand is on social, is really saying something.

Why this campaign was successful:

• A famous (albeit fictional) face. In Duolingo’s case, Duo was the face of the brand and a household name, famous for its unhinged antics on social media.
• It piqued people’s curiosity — since the Duolingo team kept up the charade, people wanted to know how the mascot died. Some people didn’t think the marketing department would kill their biggest asset; others said their brand was just bonkers enough to do it. Either way, everyone was interested in how it would play out.

Key takeaways:

• If your social media marketing efforts don’t have a face yet, it might be time to consider giving it one — with loads of personality. After all, plenty of brands have mascots, but few seem to have quite as much, er… character as Duo does. A mascot with personality could open doors to loads of fun, wacky, heart warming stories (read: campaigns galore). That said, it’s a tough act to balance. Ensure you maintain a consistent brand voice across social media channels, though. You’ll want a fully fleshed-out, long-term strategy for this.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment. Duolingo’s successful social media campaigns are usually chaotic in nature (in line with their overall social media marketing strategy). Their social media team is constantly pushing boundaries, making them trailblazers in their field.
• Double down on your social media campaigns by expanding them into all the social media channels you’re on. You increase the chances of a campaign’s success by involving multiple platforms.

⚠️ Note: Don’t copy-paste this campaign if your social media strategy already has a mascot (like many brands have already done).

While it might get you engagement because the topic is trending and popular, it’s generally been fairly poorly received. People want originality and authenticity true to your brand, not a copy-paste version of what’s popular.

2. Loop Earplugs social media partnerships (especially during music festivals)

Loop Earplugs is a pro at social media collaborations. They regularly partner with various creators (and adjacent businesses) to snag a spot in their social media feed. Recently, they partnered with Coachella to launch special earplugs just for the occasion.

Some of their creator affiliates shared their unique discount code to promote the product and they also used the influencer content as ads.

Why these social media campaigns are successful:

• Loop introduced vetted, trusted creators into their social media marketing efforts which enhanced the authenticity of their social media posts.
• Most of Loop’s partnerships relate to a certain segment of their target audience — people who live in loud cities, people who struggle with sleeping, and people who want to protect their ears during concerts. The relatability and diverse use cases help their target audience spot themselves in the content and see when, how, and where the product can help them.

Key takeaways:

• If you have the budget and resources, partner with influencers in your industry to improve the visibility of your social media campaigns. It’s best to do this across multiple social media platforms, like Loop.
• Find seasonal events in your content calendar where your product or services are a natural fit. This will allow you to design social media campaigns that are timely and relatable.
• Find various use cases for your product or service and ‘show’ them in your social media posts so your target audience can see themselves in your content.

3. Pringle’s Halloween product launch

Pringles launched a new product, called Pringles Mingles, in October of 2024. They created buzz by dropping hints before the launch and themed it around Halloween.

Pringles continued to post about the initial flavors post Halloween — also adding influencer reviews and giveaways to the social media campaign.

Why this campaign was successful:

• Pringles didn’t randomly drop a new product with no warning. They created excitement amongst their followers by dropping hints ahead of the launch.
• Influencer partnerships and giveaways helped create more visibility around the launch.

Key takeaways:

• A winning social media campaign about a product launch needs preparation. Embed social media posts that build excitement and drop hints ahead of your launch date.
• Raise awareness about your new product or services by partnering with influencers, reposting user-generated content, and hosting contests or giveaways.

4. Aavia’s hormone condition feature series

Aavia, a period tracking app, has embedded a genius content series into its social media strategy. They interview people about their journeys with hormone conditions, share it on their Substack newsletter, and repurpose it for social media marketing.

Why this campaign was successful:

• The people featured in these series are often Aavia customers — building social proof amongst social media users.
• The repurposed posts fill the social media marketing content calendar, promote the Substack, and help Aavia’s target audience — all with one post.

Key takeaways:

• Add more customer stories to your social media marketing campaigns. This will not only lend more authenticity to your efforts but also make your content more relatable.
• If you have other marketing efforts in motion, like a newsletter or blog posts, repurpose them to add more quality content to your social media marketing and promote your other marketing channels.

5. Tl;dv’s skits

tl;dv is an AI meeting assistant. The company regularly shares relatable, funny skits on its social media platforms that feature characters from a tech company.

The videos show common, day-to-day interactions between a sales rep and a developer — like sales promising a feature that the product roadmap doesn’t include and then requesting the dev team to prioritize it. There are other characters like customer success, founder, and product manager, too. All of these are potential customers of tl;dv, but the product is almost never directly mentioned.

While this example isn’t a ‘campaign’ isn’t in the strictest sense, it’s an ongoing social media series that has been wildly successful. The scores of videos they’ve shared have thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of views across Instagram and TikTok.

Why these social media marketing campaigns are successful:

• There’s no hard selling, just entertaining content.
• It’s the kind of content people would find funny and share with their friends.
• Some social media posts say the quiet part of working at a tech company out loud — which makes tl;dv’s content more authentic, relatable, and engaging.

Key takeaways:

• When appropriate and tasteful, poke fun at your audience’s pain points that will make them feel seen.
• Infuse more relatable and entertaining content around your target audience’s daily life into your social media marketing campaigns.
• Instead of always having the sales cap on, focus on creating memorable social media posts that foster a brand identity.

6. KFC’s new fries launch in the UK

KFC always got the same complaint: your fries aren’t finger-licking good. So, they heard their customers and launched new fries in the UK with the hashtag #NewKFCfries. For a while there, X’s feed rained fries (in the UK and Ireland).

Why was this campaign successful:

• The campaign was super interactive — every time people clicked on the tag, fries rained down the screen! It was a fun element (possible because KFC partnered with X) that made the campaign memorable.
• KFC was responding to the complaints of their devoted brand advocates. This made customers feel heard and cared for.
• They laughed at themselves. There’s something quite relatable about a brand being able to poke fun at themselves in the way KFC subtly did here. They used phrases like “Finally” and “Me either” when fans expressed they couldn’t wait for the new version.

Key takeaways:

• Practice social listening and monitor patterns in customer feedback. If you’re addressing something many buyers have asked for, show them you hear them in your social media campaigns.
• Have a branded hashtag around your social media campaigns to make user-generated content easier to track — particularly on platforms like X and Threads, where hashtags like this are easily clickable. It also makes your marketing campaigns more sticky and memorable among social media users.
• When doing a campaign for a product launch, don’t be afraid to put it front and center (KFC not only made it rain fries on X, but also changed their social media bio). Don’t let your successful marketing campaigns drown in the feed (especially if they’re time-sensitive).

7. Blendtec’s ‘Will it Blend’ social media campaign

Blendtec is a kitchenware company that sells mixers, grinders, and blenders. In 2021, they ran a ‘Will it blend?’ content series on YouTube where they’d blend various items in their mixer and see if their products could do the job. The campaign was so engaging that people are still talking about it.

Why this campaign was successful:

• It encouraged engagement. People could interact with the content and ask for what they want to see blended next — and Blendtec would actually do it.
• The freshness of the idea also made ‘Will it Blend’ a successful campaign. Not only did it prove the product’s durability, but it also engaged people in a fun and silly way.

Key takeaways:

• Effective social media campaigns are rooted in simplicity. Find fresh social media content ideas that’d spark conversation among your target audience and improve your social media engagement.
• Create content series (that hopefully don’t have to involve blending your iPhone) that can spark curiosity among your followers and make them look forward to the next episode.

8. Black Girl Vitamin’s Black History Month limited edition bundle

Black Girl Vitamins did a social media campaign around Black History Month where they sold an exclusive offer to make your own bundle and also get a limited edition box.

For the whole month, they also shared social media posts focusing on increasing awareness about Black History.

They also ran various in-person fitness classes and a few live webinars across the U.S. to empower their community and foster more real-life connections.

Why was this campaign successful:

• The focus allowed people to build a personal connection to the brand, especially if they align with Black Girl Vitamin’s values.
• The business also refocused its packaging to fully commit to the social media campaign.
• Giveaways and influencer partnerships also helped in increasing brand awareness.

Key takeaways:

• The best social media campaigns align with your brand values. Use social media marketing as a channel to show what you stand for (and/or stand against), but be wary of being performative. Customers and followers will see right through it if you disingenuously jump onto a cause to get likes and views. Here’s some great advice on when and how to align your brand with causes from small business owner, Nyshell Lawrence.
• Let your audience know when a limited-period discount or offer ends by concluding your social media campaigns.

9. Sweetgreen’s Renee Rap bowl

Restaurant chain Sweetgreen launched a new salad bowl with singer and songwriter Reneé Rapp.

Why Reneé? Because she’s a regular customer and had a custom go-to order that Sweetgreen wanted to offer all its customers. The songwriter had been a Sweetgreen fan for the last five years, so this partnership was authentic and a result of Reneé’s long-standing love for Sweetgreen.

Why this campaign was successful:

• Reneé’s celebrity status definitely lends itself to the success of this social media campaign. She’s an influential voice and her stamp of approval carries a lot of weight to not only raise awareness, but generate leads.
• Creating a new bowl with Reneé’s name also puts a whimsical touch on the company’s products — anyone who’s a fan of the singer would want to try the salad.
• The chance to see a live show in the unique setting of a restaurant and get a meet-and-greet with the singer also makes this social media campaign a success.

Key takeaways:

• You don’t always need a celebrity for this campaign’s success — find influential voices in your industry and partner with them to create content and maybe even co-create products.
• Share exclusive offers (like a meet and greet) with your influencer partners to increase the success of your social media campaigns.

10. Beehiiv’s convert to Beehiiv kit

Beehiiv is a newsletter platform that focuses on being the best in the business for creators. Recently, one of their core competitors rebranded (ConvertKit became Kit), launched a campaign to share the news.

Beehiiv capitalized on the moment by offering exclusive discounts and incentives specifically for Kit’s customers.

The campaign evoked a lot of debate on social media about whether or not dunking on your competitors is the right way to go. Either way, it generated serious buzz for Beehiiv on social media. Some people found it distasteful, but others loved Beehiiv’s edge and wanted to be a part of the movement.

Why this campaign was successful:

• The timing of this campaign was just right — Beehiiv launched their exclusive offer the same day their competitor rebranded. It was already in everyone’s feeds because Kit had been hyping up the final date of their rebrand for a while.
• This campaign was a bold and risky move — but it helped Beehiiv find customers who truly love their brand for their attitude.

Key takeaways:

• If you plan to run a head-to-head social media campaign with your competitor, prepare for the potential backlash you might receive.
• Make your potential customers an offer they can’t refuse. Beehiiv’s exclusive offer didn’t just gain traction because of the mocking, but also because the perks were unbelievably good for creators — free migration, free access to Beehiiv for six months, guaranteed premium sponsors, and early beta access to new features.
• Highlight your unique edge over competitors in your social media campaigns. You don’t need to take a go-big-or-go-home approach and name names but don’t be afraid to spotlight your product’s unique selling proposition.

11. FZK Media’s $10,000/month challenge

FZK Media is a personal branding agency helping founders reach their business goals via effective social media marketing.

Their founder started a social media challenge to reach an income milestone from her creator’s Instagram account, which she eventually shifted to her agency’s account.

Why this campaign was successful:

• The content series is about building in public — which keeps people hooked and builds trust. Everyone wants to know if you fulfill the challenge you’ve taken on. People also appreciate you sharing your setbacks, failures, and struggles — fostering a strong connection.
• The founder shares an honest look behind her workflow, struggles, and wins. It’s not a glossy portrayal of success but an accurate picture of the process for people who share the same goal.

Key takeaways:

•  People love a peek behind the curtain. Launch effective campaigns that just share the behind-the-scenes of building your business. After the brand fulfilled this challenge, its founder continued the series by increasing the stakes (a $50,000/month challenge).
• Create authentic and vulnerable social media marketing content to truly resonate with your audience and help them learn from your mistakes.The campaign showed both the ‘why’ and the people behind the brand.
• Apart from the content itself, Fiza’s video editing skills were also A+ — the camera cuts were perfect, there was no fluff in any video, and her voice was crisp and clear. All these factors combined made every video a great watch.

Use a scheduling tool to manage your social media campaigns

Creating and engaging with your social media campaign is what should be spending your energy on — the last thing you want is to get bogged down manually posting your content every day. .

The easiest way to automate this is to introduce Buffer into your social media management workflow: you can save ideas, schedule posts, measure campaign performance, and even engage with your customers from a single tab.

The best part? When you populate all your content in advance in Buffer’s content calendar, you can also spot gaps in your social media marketing strategy. For example, maybe you notice a week’s looking quite light in terms of the number of posts, so you fill it with your best-performing content types.

Have an interesting social media campaign example (perhaps yours 😉) that you think we missed? We’re always on the hunt for more fresh campaigns to feature here — share yours with us in the comments below!

Feature Image Credit: Credit: George Milton, Pexels

By Rochi Zalani

Sourced from Buffer