A hashtag marketing campaign can be an amazing brand awareness tool if used right. Choosing a good hashtag and encouraging people to use it can help you spread the word about your product or service using the power of user-generated content.
Not every hashtag campaign is a success, but there are impressive ones out there. We published quite a few success stories in the past from Bearingpoint, United Way, IKEA, Life is Good, International Astronomical Union (IAU), the British Council, and many more.
Here’s another great hashtag campaign example, this time by Cadbury South Africa. What makes it unique is that it successfully combines digital signage, influencer marketing and social media walls.
What is a hashtag marketing campaign
A hashtag marketing campaign is an initiative usually meant to gain social media attention, create engagement, or drive traffic for a specific topic, product or idea. Companies, organisations or individuals can all be behind a hashtag campaign. The #CadburyFestive hashtag marketing campaign is a great example of how to do it right.
The #CadburyFestive Hashtag Campaign Contest
Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery company, the second-largest one in the world after Mars. During the winter holidays, Cadbury South Africa organised a festive hashtag campaign that involved user-generated content being shown on massive digital signage walls around the country.
Cadbury SA encouraged customers and fans to share a message of appreciation using the hashtag #CadburyFestive. The campaign was set up as a contest, and the best posts would be featured on billboards throughout the country every Friday.
The campaign’s main goal was to spread the word about the Cadbury Festive Range of limited edition chocolate bars and other products while encouraging customers to share a message of appreciation. The company used digital signage displays powered by Primedia Outdoor to showcase curated user-generated content and spread the campaign.
Make your next hashtag campaign a success!
Pull together the content using your hashtag from multiple social media channels and display it on a social wall.
Who doesn’t love chocolate! And what better time than the holiday season to show your appreciation? Having your message shown on billboards and digital signage across the country is also a great motivator.
With so many reasons to post, many people took part in the campaign. All social media posts for the #CadburyFestive hashtag were collected on a social media wall powered by Walls.io. They were moderated, and only the best ones got selected and featured every Friday on screens across South Africa.
Furthermore, Cadbury used their official Twitter account to tag the users whose posts got featured, thanking them and including a snapshot of the post displayed on a billboard. That adds another layer, as the best posts are rewarded with even more attention and appreciation. Thanking people for the content they share with your hashtag is good practice.
Here are some examples of Cadbury re-sharing the content its fans created:
How to make use of the power of influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a great way to expand your reach. Find a handful of influencers relevant to your market — or influencers who can help you expand your reach beyond your already established fan base — and ask them to participate in your campaign. Ask them to promote your hashtag, to tweet, retweet and create content for your campaign.
Cadbury did a great job involving some well-known South African influencers. As a motivator, they sent out personalised snow globes and, of course, chocolate.
Philile, a mom-and-food blogger and brand ambassador for South African fashion brand eYami, received a snow globe with a picture of her four kids inside. She then tweeted, thanking Cadbury and using the campaign’s hashtag. Posts like hers helped spread the word about Cadbury’s Festive Range and amplify the campaign’s reach.
How we joined #CadburyFestive all the way from Vienna
It goes without saying that we love our customers and always keep an eye on their campaigns. Sometimes we even join in, as we did during the #bugazwerg mascot hashtag campaign by Germany’s Bundesgartenschau when we 3D-printed our own mascot.
We couldn’t resist this sweet hashtag challenge either and decided to join all the way from Vienna. When we decorated our Christmas tree at the office, Cadbury chocolate candy was a must-have. Our CEO Michael, and our people manager Kerstin love having fun, so look at the joyful GIF they posted with the #CadburyFestive hashtag.
Even better, our tweet then got featured on Cadbury’s screens, and the team was very happy about their 15 minutes of chocolate-covered fame. It shows why it’s important to thank fans for their posts during a hashtag campaign — people really appreciate it.
Create your own hashtag marketing campaign
Learn how to leverage hashtags for your marketing campaign, just like Cadbury did. Hashtags are one of the pillars of success in social media marketing. In our eBook, you will find the complete guide to using hashtags strategically across different social media channels.
A hashtag marketing campaign can increase your social media reach, create engagement and drive traffic. Download the Hashtag Marketing Guide to learn how you can leverage hashtags and fully integrate them into your social media marketing.