This month, we’ve provided you with lots of content around social media campaigns, from how-to’s on exceeding your campaign goals to connecting with the social consumer. With 2011 almost at a close, we wanted to end things on a reflective note. Here are four lessons for brands when it comes to social media campaigns, inspired by some real world examples from the past year.

1. If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Brands are always trying to push boundaries when it comes to their social media campaigns, but if your fans like what you’re doing, don’t feel like you need to change it up for the sake of doing something new. Old Spice first hit gold in 2010 with its “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, featuring Isaiah Mustafa aka The Old Spice Guy, which inspired this series of personalized video responses to fan tweets. Fast forward to 2011 and we saw The Old Spice Guy and Fabio duke it out in the Mano a Mano campaign. While the premise was different, the format was the same, and fans loved it.

2. Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

We tend to like those who can take a joke and poke fun at themselves, and brands can apply that same personality in their social media efforts. Miracle Whip is showing it has a sense of humour with its ongoing “Are You Miracle Whip?” campaign on YouTube in which celebrities and everyday people alike proclaim their love or hate of the famous sandwich spread. Viewers can have their say by clicking to love or hate Miracle Whip and leave their own comments, with the vote tallies displayed directly on the brand’s YouTube page. By keeping the campaign tongue-in-cheek, Miracle Whip strikes the right tone with both its fans and detractors.

3. Leverage Your Fans’ Creativity

Consumers are creating branded content all the time, giving brands an opportunity to leverage this creativity for their social media campaigns. Two fans of Natural Light were inspired to make it the first beer in space, and when the brand found out, it threw its support behind their endeavour, even polling its Facebook fans to name the spacecraft. Natty Light also asked if it could film the project, resulting in this YouTube video. The campaign created a lot of buzz for the brand and provided them with some great content, all a result of the ingenuity and efforts of two of its fans.

4. Champion a Cause

People feel good supporting a worthy cause, and social media campaigns that incorporate the issues brands are passionate about are a great way to catch the attention of fans. One example is Pizza Hut’s recent partnership with Zynga for the World Hunger Relief Campaign. The campaign drew on the existing popularity of games such FarmVille and CityVille by introducing exclusive items players could purchase for $5, with the proceeds going toward the World Food Programme. The reward gave players extra incentive to participate, raising awareness of word hunger and encouraging positive word of mouth about Pizza Hut and Zynga.

We hope the above examples have provided you with ample inspiration for your social media campaigns in 2012. If you need more ideas on creating a successful campaign strategy, be sure to check out our December eBook.

Do you have any other words of advice for brands looking to create a successful social media campaign? What other social media campaigns stood out for you in 2011 and why? Feel free to share your thoughts below!

Zoë Geddes-Soltess is a Community Engagement Specialist at Radian6, with a focus on Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail. You can follow her on Twitter at @zodot. Check out some of her other Radian6 posts here.

Tags: Brand, engagement, Old Spice, retail