We all strive for a successful marketing campaign. We dream of increased engagement, sales, profits, and ROI.
But is there a formula for creating winning campaigns? Exploring successful campaign examples is likely to inspire you to launch effective digital marketing campaigns yourself.
In this blog, we’ll share some successful marketing campaign examples worldwide to inspire you to create your own. But before that, let’s brush up on some basics.
What is a Digital Marketing Campaign?
Digital marketing campaigns are strategic activities for achieving specific business objectives, usually related to outreach, digital communication, or conversions. They can complement existing marketing and sales efforts to communicate the value of your business proposition to your target audience.
Types of Digital Marketing Campaigns
Any outreach activity can be seen as a marketing campaign. Some businesses plan for online marketing campaigns, while others use offline tactics.
Whichever way a business picks, value-addition and targeting pain points make any digital marketing efforts successful.
- Digital campaigns is an umbrella term covering a wide range of online marketing efforts like social media, email marketing, content marketing, SEO, PPC, and more;
- Social media campaigns focus on promoting products, services, or brand messaging through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (former Twitter), and LinkedIn, aiming to increase brand awareness and engagement;
- Email campaigns involve sending targeted emails to a list of subscribers or prospects. They are effective for nurturing leads, promoting products, and delivering personalized content;
- Content marketing campaigns involve creating and sharing valuable content (blog posts, videos, infographics, etc.) to attract and retain a specific target audience;
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaigns work by optimizing website content, keywords, and technical aspects to rank higher in search results.
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns are paid advertising on search engines designed to drive website traffic and conversions. Advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked.
- Influencer campaigns leverage individuals with a significant following within a specific niche to promote the brand’s products or services to their audience;
- Event marketing campaigns promote and support events, such as conferences, trade shows, or webinars, to drive attendance, engage participants, and generate inbound marketing leads;
- Referral campaigns encourage existing customers to refer new customers in exchange for incentives;
- Video marketing campaign uses video content to convey messages, tell stories, and engage audiences on video-sharing platforms like YouTube and social media;
- Traditional marketing campaigns include offline methods like TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, and print advertising.
20+ Digital Marketing Examples
There’s something positive about visualizing success. That’s why we’ve curated the best digital advertising examples worldwide. Look at all these interesting examples and get inspired to launch campaigns for your brand.
Super Successful Email Marketing Campaigns
Creative Marketing Campaigns by Bonobos
Bonobos is a New York City-based e-commerce apparel subsidiary of Walmart that provides suits, trousers, denim, shirts, shorts, swimwear, outerwear, and accessories for men. Check out their promotional email below.
Subject line: Nick’s Newest Favorite Pants
Preview text: Get them with free shipping in the U.S.
What did we love about it?
- A great curiosity-driven subject line;
- FREE shipping and returns offer banner prominently displayed at the top;
- Amazing headline and sub-headline copy that just makes you want more;
- Super creatives that generate desire and longing;
- Use of a GIF for entertainment and engagement;
- Super optimized CTA;
What could be improved?
- Frankly, this is a classic best practices email, so nothing!
Inspiring Marketing Campaigns by J. Crew
New York City-based J. Crew Group sells apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men and women through retail and factory stores, catalogs, and online. Here’s the email that caught our attention.
Subject line: Psst, you left this Petite full-length Kate straight-leg pant in stretch velvet in your bag
Preview text: Decisions, decisions…
What did we love about it?
- A simple abandoned cart email with great messaging;
- Simple, no-frills personalized creative that shows you what you left behind;
- Subtle mention of their loyalty program in the footer.
What could be improved?
- The subject line is super long and looks like it could use some mobile optimization. But then again, it’s likely personalized, so we’d be happy to run some A/B tests and determine if this subject line gets us more opens or a shorter one;
- Include first-name personalization in the subject line or the body at least once;
- The footer looks unnecessarily long and stretched.
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Brilliant Marketing Campaigns by 5.11 Tactical
5.11 Tactical manufactures and sells outdoor clothing, footwear, uniforms, and tactical equipment for military, law enforcement, and public safety personnel from its online store and over 96 offline locations. Below is one of their nice-looking emails we couldn’t resist sharing.
Subject line: LAST CHANCE! 40% off select women’s gear
Preview text: Women’s sale going on now in 5.11 retail store locations and
What did we love about it?
- Urgency-driven email subject line with benefit;
- Use of an animated countdown timer in the email body to inject a sense of urgency into the sale;
- Clear and crisp communication of offer through amazing creatives;
- Well-optimized CTAs.
What could be improved?
- Preview text length and content matter could be optimized better.
Promotional Campaigns by Ashley Stewart
Ashley Stewart is an affordable clothing company and lifestyle brand that offers plus-size women’s clothes, including trendy tops, bottoms, accessories, shoes, and more, both in-store and online. Their flash sale email below is easy to read.
Subject line: The NEW NEW: 50% OFF! USE CODE: FRIEND50
Preview text: happy shopping!
What did we love about it?
- A clear subject line showing the sale offer upfront;
- Smart move to ask people to share it with others they know;
- Nice looking color-coordinated visuals;
- Use of the term “email exclusive offer” makes it high value since the reader now knows that only subscribers are seeing this email.
What could be improved?
- The use of the phrase “some items may not be available at this time” conveys a negative feeling. Instead, replace it with something like “We are running out of stock fast. Be the first to check out! ”
Search Engine Marketing Campaigns
Pay-per-click ads on search engines are a fast way to get in front of prospective customers. You run ads to get on top of search results, hoping to get clicks and conversions.
Here are some of the best PPC advertising examples from different industries.
Localized PPC Ad by Macy’s
Macy spends money on search engine marketing every year, especially during the holiday season.
PPC advertising is one of their best-performing digital marketing strategies. They run sponsored ads on Google to promote new collections, offers, and other benefits. Here’s an ad from their PPC campaign:
What did we love about it?
- Segmented ad with different links;
- Physical address/phone number for local audience;
- Clear promise and offer;
- Use of branded keywords multiple times.
What could be improved?
- Ad copy could’ve been more compelling;
- They could’ve added contextual links instead.
Benefit-driven PPC Ad by WP Engine
One of the best ways to grab attention is to target your customers’ pain points and address apprehensions in paid ads. WP Engine understands this and launches contextual PPC campaigns from time to time.
For example, look at the ad below. It targets a contextual keyword with impactful ad copy. For potential customers looking for reliable and secure hosting, the ad will definitely elicit clicks.
What did we love about it?
- Targeting direct pain points of customers;
- Crisp and direct copy highlighting benefits;
- Helpful contextual links below the ad;
What could be improved?
- Should’ve added a star review extension;
Multi-link PPC Ad by Fiverr
You saw above in Macy’s example that the PPC ad had multiple links highlighting different website pages. Fiverr uses a similar ad structure to highlight different categories of services available on the platform. Have a look:
What did we love about it?
- Simple headline explaining what the platform is about;
- Categorized link for every kind of service;
- Addition of a ready-to-use tool to the links (logo maker);
- CTA-style link copy written to attract clicks;
What could be improved?
- Primary ad copy could’ve been more compelling;
- Lack of secondary site link extensions.
Elaborate PPC Ad by GoDaddy
As evident from the examples above, search or PPC ads are not just for one-line ads. You can go all in by using site links and other extensions.
GoDaddy uses different features of PPC ads to promote its hosting and domain business. They’ve used a compelling offer in the headline, followed by links to different offerings in this comprehensive PPC ad.
What did we love about it?
- No-brainer offer in the headline;
- Mention of 24×7 support;
- Call to action links for different offerings.
What could be improved?
- Ad copy (repetition) at multiple places;
- Content formatting.
Latest SMS Marketing Campaigns
Like email marketing, text messaging is a great way to engage your audience. You can use it to run a product launch campaign, a brand awareness campaign, or an announcement of special promotions. SMS marketing is personalized and delivers messages almost instantly, increasing engagement rates. Here are some interesting SMS campaigns from around the world.
Promotional SMS Campaign by Pottery Barn
Pottery Barn is an American upscale home furnishing retail chain and online commerce company that deals in everything you need to decorate homes, including indoor and outdoor furniture, decor, bedding, bath, lighting, and storage accessories. Their promotional SMS message below is on point.
What did we love about it?
- Short and sweet sale announcement SMS (not a lot of time spent typing it);
- Writing the big benefit (“up to 70% Off”) upfront;
- Urgency injected with the mention of a deadline;
What do we think could be improved?
- Lack of any type of personalization, especially using the subscribers’ first names;
- Include an emoji to make it sound more fun;
- Instead of mentioning “1000s of items” mention a couple to help the reader picture it inside their head.
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Special Offer SMS Campaign by Red Lobster
Red Lobster is a casual dining restaurant chain using SMS campaigns to announce special offers and deals to its customers. Here’s an example from their Father’s Day SMS campaign:
What did we love about it?
- Well-timed Father’s Day SMS campaign aimed at improving footfall;
- The opening line is emotionally charged;
- Specific offer, laid out well by simple messaging.
What could be improved?
- Include a ❤️, 👨👨👦 or 🦞 emoji to make it sound more fun;
- Instead of mentioning “1000s of items” mention a couple of specific top-selling products to help the reader picture it inside their head.
Black Friday SMS Campaign by Maud’s Coffee and Tea
Maud’s Coffee and Tea is a gourmet coffee and tea brand that uses SMS to promote special offers and holiday deals. The text message below is part of their Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) marketing campaign:
What did we love about it?
- Aptly chosen sender SMS ID;
- Effective use of urgency to drive sales;
- Concise, persuasive promotional copy;
- Mention the coupon code in case someone wants to buy through their laptop or desktop;
What could be improved?
- Lack of personalization makes the message seem generic;
New Year SMS Campaign by Domino’s Pizza
Domino’s has been using SMS as a channel for promoting their special deals for a long time. The SMS campaign below is from their New Year promotions and is a great example of how to hook the recipient with a value-packed offer:
What did we love about it?
- Simple and uncomplicated messaging;
- An amazing offer (as always);
- TCPA-compliant SMS message offering an easy opt-out option to subscribers;
What could be improved?
- Using first name personalization could massively help make the above sound like a custom offer made just to the subscriber, and in turn, up the conversions;
Iconic Social Media Marketing Campaigns
Creating a highly engrossing social media marketing campaign is a great idea to increase reach and build a solid brand following. Contrary to the popular grapevine, social media advertising is far from dead. Here are some examples of social media marketing campaigns that you can learn from:
Ultrahuman’s Paid Twitter Advertisement
Ultrahuman Ring is a smart wearable that helps users monitor key health and wellness-related data points relating to movement, heart rate, body temperature, and sleep. Their Twitter ad below tries to introduce, if not sell, this product to what seems to be a cold audience.
What did we love about it?
- Eye-catching video creative that captures your attention, even if only for a split second;
- The mention of the word “PreOrder” makes it sound like an exclusive product with limited availability;
- The copy is concise but states the most important benefits well.
What could be improved?
- Twitter is big on emojis. Include one to get even better engagement.
Justin Welsh’s Powerful Personal Brand
Marketing campaigns are not just useful for promoting a business or a product. If you’re building a personal brand, you can also benefit a lot from social media marketing campaigns.
Take the example of Justin Welsh. He runs a one-man creator business (also called a “Solopreneur”) selling courses and consultation and uses Twitter for marketing his offering. Take a look:
Take a look at his latest Twitter thread, which raked in thousands of likes and, quite likely, sold information products to his old and new followers.
What did we love about it?
- Quantification of his own success in terms of the revenue made makes for a compelling hook;
- People likely don’t want to spend money to grow on Twitter which is why the mention of “zero ad spend” is another interesting reason for his readers to want to check the entire thread out;
- Great formatting and short sentences make for amazing readability.
Facebook Ad Campaign by Semrush
A leading all-in-one SEO audit and keyword research tool, Semrush is a well-known brand. Its target audience is primarily other businesses, such as digital marketing agencies. The below example is one of its Facebook ads where it is trying to attract B2B prospects with a successful case study of a firm called Honeybook.
What’s great about this Facebook ad campaign?
- An attractive benefit-driven headline that actually quantifies the case study gain;
- Simple and effective CTA that’s congruent with a case study approach to conversion;
- Standout, scroll-stopping video thumbnail to attract attention
What could make it even better?
- Calling out the specific audience the ad is meant for in the first line of your ad text.
Winning Content Marketing Campaigns
If you’re curious about the power of content in marketing, we’ve got some great examples of content marketing campaigns that you will love. Here are some amazing brands and examples of how they are using content across platforms to market their products and services:
Using Twitter Threads for Building an Audience
Twitter threads were a rave hack for a long time. Even with the changing Twitter algorithm dynamics, threads are a great content marketing tactic if you want to build a personal brand, attract signups, or just build a following. Consider the example below by an email marketer who is trying to build an audience for his offering:
What did we love about it?
- Posted as a Twitter thread, thereby promising more organic reach and growth;
- A great hook that uses specificity and numbers to reel the scrolling users right in;
- Quantification of benefits in monetary terms, thereby convincing the audience that what they are about to learn is extremely valuable;
- Attractive creative showcasing what is in store.
What could be improved?
- Use of emojis in the opening Tweet of the thread for better engagement;
Content Marketing via Value-Packed Blog by Food52
Food52 is one of those rare examples of a passion business done and scaled right. Founded in 2009 as a simple website by two aspiring foodpreneurs, Amanda and Merrill, it has seen investments from keen investors and is valued at a healthy $100 million today. They’ve actively built a loyal following and customer base by adding value to their lives in real time. Their blog is the perfect example of content marketing done right.
What did we love about it?
- Strong social media presence with over 400,000 YouTube subscribers and 3.5 Million Instagram followers, all driving tons of traffic organically to the blog;
- Extremely community-driven with recipes crowdsourced from the audience using contests and invitations, and the winning recipes with top upvotes getting videographed and featured, etc;
- Perfectly and smoothly blends content with e-commerce, using its in-built e-commerce marketplace to showcase cookware, appliances, kitchen accessories, and more to convert devoted readers into shoppers.
What could be improved?
- More focus on SEO metrics and organic search traffic-based content.
YouTube Content Marketing by Mr. Beast
Content marketing is not just about your website or blog post. With over 137M YouTube subscribers and millions of views per video on the platform, Jimmy Donaldson, also popularly known as Mr. Beast, is rightfully credited with taking effective content marketing to another level. Take a look at a screenshot of his YouTube channel:
What did we love about it?
- Content initially centered around fascinating challenges that he undertook himself. For e.g., he took a challenge where he counted to 100,000 in about 44 hours. This generated tremendous awareness and interest among YouTube users;
- High-engagement offline and online challenges with YouTube subscribers with expensive giveaways to winners. For e.g. video content surrounding “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life” and “I Gave My 100,000,000th Subscriber An Island”.
- Today, his YouTube channel has become his personal brand and vice-versa.
What could be improved?
- Nothing. What is it that you can teach a guy who makes anywhere between three and five million dollars per month doing what he loves?
Digital Marketing Blog by Neil Patel
Co-founder of digital marketing SaaS software like Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and KISSmetrics, Neil Patel is among the world’s foremost entrepreneurs, also running businesses that help companies like Amazon, GM, and NBC grow. His blog is a great example of content marketing done right.
What did we love about it?
- High-quality blog articles that are super-optimized for SEO, so they rank on the 1st page of Google for most common digital marketing queries and questions posed by users;
- Blog articles are in-depth content hubs, averaging between 3000 to 5000 words each;
- He consistently posted on his YouTube channel approximately 3 times a week for over 4 years directing traffic to his blog and other web assets.
- With over 33 million video views, 802,000+ YouTube subscribers, 1+ million Facebook fans, 377,000 Twitter followers, and 4 million blog visitors, Neil Patel is definitely a case study for anyone who wants to understand how content marketing campaigns work and scale.
Effective B2B Digital Marketing Campaigns
Running a comprehensive marketing campaign can work wonders for your growth if you’re a B2B business trying to sell your offering to other business owners. Don’t believe us? Here are some examples of effective B2B marketing campaigns from some popular tools out there:
LinkedIn Marketing Campaign by Zoom
Zoom, arguably the best video conferencing, webinar, and meeting software globally, runs an annual user conference called Zoomtopia. They chose LinkedIn as their platform to promote their conference and attract registrations. Have a look:
What did we love about it?
- Great choice of social media platform in LinkedIn, thereby targeting maximum businesses;
- Informative, creative image with a mock CTA button on it;
- Simple copy helping the reader understand the benefits of attending the conference;
- Use emojis in place of bullets to color up the ad post.
What could make it even better?
- Using videos or images from past conferences or real testimonials could have boosted the conference’s credibility.
Customer Acquisition Marketing Campaign by Lemlist
Lemlist, a leading cold email software platform, uses LinkedIn to attract new signups and drive customer acquisition. Its campaign is a good digital marketing example of using video creatives + a valuable deliverable to attract leads. Have a look at their LinkedIn ad below:
What did we love about it?
- Calls out the target audience (i.e. Sales teams) at the onset;
- Laser-targeted headline with an irresistible offer (“Book meetings with 30% of your Prospects in 30 days or less);
- A short and interesting video creative that highlights the reason for the prospects’ challenges;
- Promises a FREE 20-minute training video that provides a concrete solution to the mentioned pain points.
What could make it even better?
- A better ad image with a clear focus on the brand’s value proposition could have led to more signups;
- Using an action word rather than the generic ‘learn more’ message in the CTA button would have increased signups.
Opt-In Marketing Campaign by Microsoft
Below is the ad Microsoft ran on the LinkedIn platform promoting its world-class Azure cloud service, which targets other businesses with IT computing and storage requirements.
The marketing campaign drives traffic and eyeballs for its latest infographics (a report on cloud strategy). People who interact with or download the infographic are potential customers for Microsoft Azure. Have a look:
What did we like about the ad:
- Put out as a short video ad, thereby increasing chances of engagement;
- Spits out all possible considerations for the target audience in an attractive infographic (bar-chart) format;
- Includes an optimized call to action (CTA).
What could make it even better?
- More focus on insights from the infographic within the ad copy;
- Using a more suitable CTA within the ad copy and the button text;
Lead Magnet-Based Marketing Campaign by Slack
Slack is a popular IM app for B2B businesses. The brand understands customers’ pain points and has cleverly used an eBook to explain its value proposition to potential users in the marketing campaign. The following is a LinkedIn ad from Slack asking users to download the eBook to learn more:
What did we like about the ad:
- Attacks a primary pain point faced by software companies, that of longer software development times;
- Supports the argument with a statistic;
- It points out a clear benefit of downloading the specified ebook: it could help software companies solve their problems.
What could make it even better?
- Better ad banner image, explaining the value in brief;
- Improved CTA and link text that entices users to click the ad banner.
Trust-Based Marketing Campaign by Stripe
Stripe targets its potential customers to try them out by sharing real reviews and case studies in its ad campaign on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn ad shares the value proposition briefly and asks users to read reviews from real customers to make an informed decision. Such a campaign boosts credibility and builds trust among potential users. Have a look:
What did we like about the ad:
- An effective creative that points out how much other businesses have profited from using the platform;
- Ad text copy is kept concise and points to one prominent pet peeve and singular benefit for businesses;
What could make it even better?
- Lengthier ad copy explaining what’s inside the downloadable would be of real value.
Benefits of Digital Marketing Campaign
Digital marketing campaigns are super-important today, not just for businesses aiming to make more profits but even for non-governmental organizations.
- Awareness. Marketing campaigns are irreplaceable in building brand awareness and recognition. They introduce your product or service to a wider audience, making prospects notice you in the market (and leaving your competitors in the shadows);
- Engagement. Interactive content, user-generated content (UGC), social media posts, and personalized messaging foster engagement, encouraging prospects to hang out with your brand;
- Sales. The goal of most marketing campaigns is evident – sales. And it can be guaranteed through targeted messaging, promotions, and calls to action that convert leads to customers;
- Competitive edge. Marketing campaigns allow you to highlight your unique selling propositions (USPs) and differentiate your brand from (bland) competitors.
- Data collection. Many campaigns include lead generation forms or data collection points that gather valuable customer information. This information can be used for future marketing efforts and to better understand your target audience.
- ROI (Return on Investment). Tracking campaign performance allows you to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. ROI analysis helps you optimize future campaigns to maximize returns.
- Market positioning. Marketing campaigns can influence how your brand is seen in the market. Consistent messaging, branding, and value proposition reinforcement are the path to a solid and favorable market position.
Characteristics of a Successful Digital Marketing Campaign
Successful marketing campaigns are targeted and delivered using different digital channels at the right time. Based on the examples above, here’s a digital marketing tactic checklist that’ll help you create a successful campaign for your business:
- Clear Goals and Objectives
Every marketing campaign should have clear goals and objectives to measure its performance. While some may prefer to use a spreadsheet to track the progress of their campaigns, a better approach is to use a marketing automation platform that allows tracking of KPIs as key performance indicators (KPIs). - Targeted Audience
When planning a marketing campaign, it’s vital to understand who the target audience is. It’s not just about delivering the right message to the right audience; you must know your audience’s interests, demographic information, and purchase behaviors. - Creative and Innovative Approach
The best campaigns leverage new technologies and digital marketing channels to deliver a unique, relevant message and connect with the target audience. Doing something creative to grab attention and stand out from competitors is important. - Clear Message and Value Proposition
Marketing communications should be concise and direct and communicate a product’s or service’s benefits. Consumers are bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages daily. To be memorable, make your messaging as clear and straightforward as possible. - Compelling Visuals and Storytelling
Visuals and storytelling play a huge role in driving engagement and creating memorable messages. Effective advertising and marketing campaigns combine high-quality images and videos that tell a story. - Consistent Branding
Consistent branding ensures a consistent message across channels. It helps businesses gain the trust of customers and prospects. A discrepancy in visual branding can lead to a lack of trust among prospects, losing goodwill and potential revenue. - Multi-Channel Approach
Advertising campaigns should be delivered across multiple channels — print, digital, social media, TV, radio, outdoor, etc. The effectiveness of each channel depends on the nature of the product or service. A good marketing campaign should have an omnichannel approach to reach your target audience where they spend their maximum time. - Measurable Results
Measuring your marketing campaigns’ success helps ensure that the right mix of channels is used and that the right messaging is sent to the right people at the right time. Successful campaigns measure campaign performance regarding conversions, leads, etc., to determine if the approach is worth investing in.
Key Takeaways from the Digital Marketing Campaigns
- Develop a clear strategy. A strategy without tactics is meaningless. You must know what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll achieve it. Your marketing strategy must have clearly defined goals, along with a roadmap and a set of tactics. Think of the big picture, but also be prepared to execute day-to-day tasks clearly, focusing on your overall goals;
- Choose your goals wisely. There are many goals to choose from. Ensure you set goals aligned with your overall business objectives and your customer’s desires. Your goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound;
- Document your campaign ideas as clearly as possible. Marketers always have a lot of ideas to implement into their campaigns. But they often lack a sense of simplicity and clarity. If you cannot clearly and simply express your goals, you’re not communicating effectively;
- Make them visual, interactive, and valuable. Interactive content is the most popular form of content and is the highest-rated on mobile. People love interacting with websites and apps that allow them to complete tasks, solve problems, or learn something;
- Make your content shareable. Sharing content is the easiest way to spread the word about your services. Encourage your customers to use social media to engage with you, comment, and provide feedback on your products and services;
- Make it personal. Personalization is an effective tool for increasing engagement. A human touch adds value to your marketing campaign and is more likely to yield positive results;
- Be prepared to do more than initially expected. This is the most important aspect of marketing. While the initial strategy may appear easy, it is actually very difficult to execute. So, always account for difficulties related to effort, time, and budget and make provisions accordingly.
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