If I were to ask you, “What’s the best marketing campaign you’ve ever run?” What would you say?
Does a specific campaign come to mind? Or are you still trying to find your sweet spot?
Luckily, we’ve been asking the experts that come on our podcast, The Ecommerce Marketing Show, to share their favorites.
So you can pull inspiration from their best-performing campaigns the next time you’re trying to think of that perfect idea.
Because the best place to learn is from other ecommerce brands and experts doing this every single day. And you don’t have a ton of time to be testing new ideas constantly.
Here are 6 of the best marketing campaign ideas you can steal. ?
And JFYI, Black Friday is right around the corner. And if you’re still not quite sure what you’re going to do, hopefully these will spark some ideas that’ll drive your biggest holiday season yet.
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1. BlackTravelBox got real at the start of COVID
As you might guess from the name, BlackTravelBox is a brand built around travel. Which, of course, means COVID has hit them hard.
And while many brands might have thrown their hands up in the air, Orion Brown used it as an opportunity to be vulnerable and build a true connection with her email list.
The subject line? “It’s complicated.” And it ended up driving 3x more revenue than any other campaign she’s ever run.
In it, Orion was honest and open. She explained how hard it is to be a small brand right now and asked her community to support BlackTravelBox if they’ve ever thought about making a purchase.
But she wrote it like it was coming from a friend, not a brand.
Remember: people want to support people. Remind them every chance you get that a real person sat down to write your emails, your copy, everything.
This is something you can and should be doing in every aspect of your marketing. But Orion’s email is proof that being real (and sometimes vulnerable) pays off.
2. The ad that brought in millions for CROSSNET
When you have a 20lb product like CROSSNET, shipping ads up fast. Especially if you’re testing out the influencer waters and sending out free products.
If you’re not careful, you can end up spending thousands in no time. Without any real guarantee they’re going to share your product.
So when a Latvian Olympic volleyball player reached out to Chris and his team, Chris asked him to cover shipping and gave him a heavily discounted product, never thinking they’d ever get anything from it.
Turns out that player ended up posting a video that drove millions of views. They’ve been using it in ads for the last two years, and it’s driven millions in sales.
3. Sahajan partnered with like-minded brands
A Night For Green Beauty is a community that celebrates small beauty brands that use natural ingredients. So when Sahajan was accepted into the program, Lisa leapt at the chance.
Established and new brands are involved, and each brand runs a different promotion on one day. Through email and social promotion, prospective customers are able to find new brands and products.
In the early days, association with brands that are bigger than yours can be a huge brand-booster. It establishes a level of trust before the relationship even begins.
If you’ve never tried out giveaways to grow your email list, this can be a similar way to build your email list and associate your brand with others through cross-promotion. Organize one with like-minded brands and make it a win-win for everyone involved.
4. The birthday promo Vivian Kaye used to drive $44k in sales in 1 hour
Two days before her 40th birthday, Vivian Kaye had an idea for KinkyCurlyYaki. One that would end up driving $44k in sales in 1 hour.
How’d she make it happen?
By sending an email to her entire list offering 40% off for one hour only. She only gave them 6 hours notice and had no idea what to expert.
Like Orion, it was a casual email that kept it real and was written as if it came from a friend.
By pairing urgency with an incredible offer, it was something her fanbase couldn’t refuse.
And guess what. Her birthday is right after Black Friday. And she was still able to drive that much revenue.
5. Outer Aisle’s secrets to influencer marketing success
Vasa Martinez is a community-first marketer. It’s how he’s been able to grow Outer Aisle significantly over the last few years.
Every month they send out 100 influencer kits. Each is associated with an affiliate code to make measuring performance easy.
And while you might not be able to give away free product to 100 people every month, you might be able to swing 10.
So how do you find the right influencers?
Look at the suggested profiles on other brands in your space and hashtags as a starting point. It’s easy. And most importantly, free.
Another pro tip: You can’t just copy and paste the same messaging for every influencer. It has to feel more personal than that if you’re expecting to get any responses.
6. West & Willow’s unboxing video tips
When Ben Lebowitz launched West & Willow last year, he (of course) didn’t have any unboxing videos to be able to use for ad creative.
His secret?
He asked friends and family to film themselves unboxing their West & Willow pet portraits. And that was his entire launch strategy.
Turns out he’s been able to use the video of his mom for almost a year.
Today, he gets 20-30 pieces of user-generated content every single day. So ad creative isn’t hard to find. But even if you have no customers, you can still get content to run your first ads.
Takeaway: Look to your favorite brands for inspiration
The next time you’re struggling to come up with a marketing campaign, look to brands you know and love.
Or just steal one of these. You could even work them into your Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaigns this year.
Especially since none of them require tons of time or money to get off the ground.
This article originally appeared by our friends at Privy.
