14 Examples of Modern Social Media Ads to Inspire Your Next Marketing Campaign

In the marketing world, social media is becoming a big player. It seems you can’t scroll through Facebook, Instagram, or any other social app without seeing dozens of ads for different products and services. Some are sponsored paid ads. Others are ads that companies place organically, such as on their own social media pages, and then share with others. 

More than 1.73 billion people visit Facebook each day. Then there’s the 500 million who use Instagram Stories and the millions and billions who scroll through Twitter and LinkedIn. That’s a lot of potential traffic for businesses, which is why social media marketing has become so popular. Of course, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it right. 

After all, 74% of all consumers use social media when they are making a purchasing decision. And of course, major brands have taken notice. Check out the great social media posts and campaigns below to get inspiration for your marketing campaigns. 

1. Aldi

Aldi wastes no time calling out their competitor, and they do it in an eye-catching way. They’ve already set their voice as one of humor, so customers expect this type of content, and yet it still makes an impact. 

2. Snickers

Snickers uses their own logo colors to grab your attention with the bright yellow text against a brown background. Then, they invite users to share their “rookie mistakes”, which promotes engagement in exchange for a chance to win Superbowl tickets. What’s not to love?

3. Coors Light

Anyone on social media in the early days of the pandemic remembers this ad—this lady ran out of beer, and someone captured the moment. Coors Light saw a marketing opportunity, and they also delivered the woman plenty of Coors Light so she would be stocked for the quarantine. 

4. Coca-Cola 

Coca-Cola is known for its caring social media campaigns and marketing efforts during the holidays. Their focus on positivity, togetherness, and joy provides a warm sentiment with a brand that people know and love. Coca-Cola could probably survive without a single ad at this point, and yet they still put such deliberate care into their campaigns. 

5. Dunkin

Dunkin’ does a great job of advertising daily specials and deals to ensure that its audience can keep up. Don’t just use social media to promote specials but add them in from time to time to draw people’s attention and offer them something for their loyalty. 

6. Geico

This YouTube campaign is quite possibly one of our favorites of late. Geico has created a “skippable” pre-roll ad (ads played before videos on YouTube) that you don’t want to skip. The first ad spawned a series, and they sympathize with the irritation of pre-roll ads. In the first, just as the “Skip Ad” button pops up, it’s over. Then, there’s a minute or so of humor that keeps people waiting just to up the ante. 

7. Apple Music 

This TikTok campaign has it all: 60 million+ songs in their library, and the fact that everything on Apple Music is ad-free. The vibrant colors and fun nature of the ad also draw attention and entice users to click-through for better music streaming. 

8. DiGiorno

What’s not to love about free pizza? In 2019, DiGiorno helped itself to National Pizza Month promotions by inviting Twitter users to tweet #deliverdigiorno with the name of their city. The result? Possible delivery from DiGiorno themselves!

9. Dollar Shave Club

While they’re in the business of selling razors and personal care products, DSC rarely advertises that. A lot of their social media posts are about self-care, self-improvement, and other helpful advice. It works because it’s helpful without selling or asking anything in return. 

10. Wendy’s

We could pick from dozens of different tweets to showcase Wendy’s and their brand commitment to keeping it sassy on social media. From this burn to coining words like “McRefund”, Wendy’s doesn’t hold back and it’s getting them all kinds of attention. 

11. Guinness 

This is a promoted ad, as you can see, but it showcases just how you can use these paid ads to find your audience. You can guarantee that your messages are seen by the right people when you use paid ads on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. 

12. Dove

This brand has been in the business of marketing #realbeauty since 2004, and their latest campaign takes advantage of showcasing real women. The #ShowUs campaign invited users to send images of themselves to improve advertising representation. Today, there are more than 5,000 photos in the library and the hashtag has been used more than 650,000 times. 

13. Moon Pie

The Moon Pie social media campaigns are led by someone with a great voice that’s all about connecting with people on a humorous, personal level. From making fun of art to the snarky responses, they keep everyone on their toes. 

14. Friskies + BuzzFeed

Friskies teamed up with the staff at BuzzFeed to make a new viral video series entitled “Dear Kitten”, which showcases an older cat offering advice to a new kitten (as you could guess by the name, probably). There have been more than 32 million views on the original video and the two teamed up on several more videos that have also had millions of views. 

While you’re building social media campaigns, let Smith.ai handle the calls, chats, and more

Social media is changing the way companies advertise and it’s time you get on board. It can take a lot of time and effort to get a campaign up and running, but it’s well worth the investment. And while you’re doing it, let the 24/7 virtual receptionists at Smith.ai handle your live website chat, inbound and outbound sales support, scheduling and lead intake, and so much more. Plus, we’ll help you craft the perfect strategy to manage it all. 

Learn more when you schedule a consultation to discuss how our virtual receptionists can help your business with everything from admin to communications to marketing and more. You can also find us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.