The Pros and Cons of Social Media Advertising
In recent years, social media advertisements have become very popular, creating opportunities for brands to reach audiences without breaking the bank. In many cases, social media advertising proves more effective than organic posts, as “social media is cheaper than any form of advertising available today” and paid campaigns grow at a faster rate than organic ones. Social media advertising also allows brands to target specific users based on distinct characteristics including demographics, lifestyle choices, practices, professions, interests, and more. As social media algorithms can be fickle, ads assist in scaling presence and increasing brand awareness.
Personally, I value organic social posts over social media advertisements, because, these days, social platforms are inundated with paid ads, which can become redundant and annoying. Too much exposure to the same advertisements “can become a trigger to tune out resulting in the audience disregarding messages.” Furthermore, social media advertising requires time, effort, and constant monitoring. There are many factors for brands to consider while publishing paid advertisements on social media, including the frequency at which the ads will appear to their audience, the messaging that accompanies the ads, and the social media ads being published by their competition.
Dr. Squatch Paid YouTube Advertisements
In 2018, a personal care brand called Dr. Squatch began running an ad campaign on Facebook and YouTube comprised of a 3-minute explainer video “with the goal of driving top-of-funnel sales, and engagement.” The video served as an edutainment piece, featuring comedian James Schrader who wrote and acted in the video. In the first 5 seconds of the video, Schrader bashes the typical soaps male viewers shower with, saying, “listen up! The soap you shower with, it’s sh**. You probably haven’t even questioned what bar soap you lather up with.” The video maintains a loose, informal tone as he continues to criticize the soap men use regularly and promotes Dr. Squatch’s natural, healthy soap as a manly man’s ideal soap selection. The caption is straightforward, featuring two CTA links: “Visit http://drsquatch.com to upgrade your shower game Dr. Squatch® Thanks to James Schrader for starring and writing this amazing piece! Please check out his website below http://jamesschrader.com/.”
The goal of this video was to create a unique experience for viewers. The company spent “about $18,000 on the video,” which was a major expense for a company with a revenue of $3M at the time. Fortunately, this expense paid off. The video’s striking hook caught viewers’ attention, leading to an influx of views and shares. Dr. Squatch’s first YouTube video went viral, especially on YouTube, rapidly racking up “more than 120 million views and 100,000 shares across YouTube and Facebook. Sales rose thirtyfold, to more than $100 million.” Today, the video has 117,875,555 views, and the company has moved on to achieve a Super Bowl commercial of 2.7M views and has been recognized as a $100 Million business. Additionally, they have sponsored videos of various YouTube creators and recently budgeted for more social spending.
This paid campaign was successful, due to the video’s tone and hook. Most personal care advertisements look and feel luxurious and maintain a more formal tone. Dr. Squatch’s video began with a raunchy hook that would be more relatable to their targeted audience of manly men than your average posh personal care ad. The video also depicted James Schrader and additional actors in nature and described Dr. Squatch as a suitable soap for “men who build things, men who open the pickle jar on the first try, men who catch foul balls without spilling their beer.” YouTube was also a great platform to host the ad, as paid YouTube ads are regular videos that exist on a company’s channel. Therefore, viewers can locate the video easily and rewatch it, comment, or share it with others.
Old Spice Paid YouTube Advertisements
In the same realm as Dr. Squatch, Old Spice is a widely-known male grooming product brand. The brand has been around since 1937, facing the challenge of staying relevant in the eyes of consumers as competitor brands emerged all around. As Old Spice began to fall out of favor, the brand sought new ways to keep up with its competition. In 2010 Old Spice published a unique advertising campaign on YouTube with a new target consumer in mind. According to their research, 60% of men’s body washes were purchased by women. Therefore, their first campaign video featured an attractive male actor addressing his viewers with, “Hello, ladies.”
On February 5, 2010, a few days before the Super Bowl, Old Spice took to YouTube to commence their, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, targeting the millennial market. The video instantly went viral and, by the third day, the campaign reached 20 million views. Within one month, “Old Spice became the number one all-time most-viewed brand on YouTube.” Today, the video has 60,466,553 views. But they didn’t stop there.
Old Spice decided to continue their campaign with a “response” campaign. In two-and-a-half days, the company “filmed 186 video responses to fans and celebrities, based on questions culled from Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and more. These real-time messages were then posted on YouTube, sparking a sensation that would become the fastest growing and most popular interactive campaign in history.” Over the next few months, Old Spices’ sales skyrocketed, and they became the #1 brand for men’s body wash, remaining relevant today. P&G reported that the campaign resulted in nearly 105 million YouTube views, 1.2 billion earned media impressions, including features on national broadcast networks and international media outlets, a 2700% increase in Twitter followers, an 800% increase in Facebook fan interaction, and a 300% increase in website traffic.
This campaign was successful, due to the strategy behind it. Old Spice relied on research to determine their target audience and created an ad with a script that directly addressed their audience. The company also selected a platform that their target audience utilized regularly. Furthermore, Old Spice released their campaign a few days before a popular, national sporting event, on a platform that would likely also host ads that aired during the Super Bowl. Finally, once their ad went viral, they repeated the success with a response campaign.
Lessons Learned from Both Campaigns
- Consult an advertising or marketing agency to help you think outside the box and craft a unique and compelling campaign
- Be flexible. New campaigns often come with rebranding
- Consumer research is imperitive to determining your target audience
- Once you are aware your target audience, create a script and/or a visually compelling piece that addresses audience members directly and/or quickly catches their attention
- Don’t be afraid to go against the grain and try something new
- Find unique ways to compete with other contenders
- Utilize a social platform that your audience frequents
- Monitior responses to your campaign on all social outlets and respond to your viewers
- Repurpose content where necessary
- Have fun!
Sola's Thoughts 