Creating a marketing strategy in 2025 requires research, inspiration, and a lot of planning. Marketers often have to think outside the box to capture an audience’s attention and deliver genuine impact.
Indeed, there’s so much competition out there that brands often rely on effective marketing to enhance customer engagement and build brand loyalty.
From email newsletters to TV ads, there are plenty of options for marketers who are seeking to boost their brand awareness and reach fresh audiences. Integrating digital marketing strategies, such as SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing, is crucial in modern marketing plans to achieve business objectives.
But where do you start? If you’re looking for inspiration for your next marketing strategy then you’re in the right place. Below are five marketing strategy examples that made a big impact when they launched.
5 Marketing Strategy Examples
Apple and Broadcast Advertising
Spotify Wrapped and Content Marketing
Brisk and Social Media Marketing
Kiva and Email Marketing
Avis and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Apple and Broadcast Advertising
TV ads are still a really effective way to connect with audiences, even as digital and social media channels come to dominate the advertising industry. As one of the many marketing channels available, TV commercials can highlight specific products and services, as well as boost brand awareness.
Whether you’re advertising on a local TV network or plan to distribute your ads across the country, it’s important to get your message across quickly. People’s attention spans wane during TV ad breaks, so you’ve got to make every second count.
Use catchy jingles or memorable slogans, and include a strong call to action (CTA). For effective target market analysis, monitor metrics such as website traffic or in-store visits following the ad campaign.
Follow Apple’s Lead
One of the best examples of effective TV marketing came in the 2000s when Apple launched the newly-designed Mac computers. The “Get a Mac” campaign went live on TV in 2006 and encouraged viewers to consider an Apple Mac computer instead of a Microsoft PC.
The campaign was a huge success. Apple presented its tech as cool and contemporary, and suggested PCs were slow and old. Apple was able to do this without specifically identifying Microsoft because they spoke solely about generic PCs.
In the UK, the “I’m a Mac” campaign was just as effective at highlighting the coolness of Apple’s new computers. The ads were effectively 30-second comedy sketches – the sort of thing a viewer might actually want to watch all the way through.
Spotify Wrapped and Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the effective marketing strategies brands use to provide valuable, relevant content to audiences. The aim is to raise brand awareness and convert readers, viewers, and listeners into customers.
To do this, brands provide content that target audiences need. This could be a series of how-to guides on your website that explain how to use your product. Perhaps it’s a video series highlighting the benefits of using your service. It could even be a white paper that advocates for positive change in your industry.
Whatever it is, your content needs to be optimized so that it reaches your audience and generates the impact you’re looking for.
Spotify’s Content Marketing Success
A great example of this marketing strategy in action is Spotify’s Wrapped campaign. Users are shown content that displays their most listened-to tracks of the year. Not only do users engage with this content personally but they also share their data with others.
This creates engagement and conversation around a simple page of data that is personal to each individual user.
Spotify Wrapped launched in 2017 and three years later sign-ups in December 2020 – the month when users see their Wrapped stats – grew 21%. That boost came courtesy of a content marketing strategy that Spotify deployed in the lead-up to December. It included personalized playlists, social sharing options, and new Wrapped branding.
Brisk and Social Media Marketing
The average business allocates 19% of its marketing budget to social media activities. Sites like Instagram, X, and Facebook attract millions of users every day. In fact, 68% of American adults are on social media.
There is plenty of opportunity, therefore, to find an audience if you nail your social media marketing plan. The key is to understand your target audience and choose the right social media platforms where they’re most active. Influencer marketing, where brands collaborate with individuals who have substantial social media followings, can significantly enhance brand visibility and engagement.
Using social listening tools is a smart place to start because you’ll be able to identify audience demographics and see where they hang out online. From there, you can build a social media marketing strategy that aligns with your audience.
Successful social media marketing hinges on creating compelling, shareable content that resonates with your followers. Whether it’s viral TikTok videos, thought-leadership posts on LinkedIn, or even witty replies to users on X, you need to ensure you speak to your audience the way they want to be spoken to.
Brisk Finds Its Niche
In the mid-2010s, PepsiCo was looking for a way to promote its products on social media but not via the traditional routes of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Instead, its marketing team found a proactive niche on the social streaming site Twitch.
PepsiCo created an off-season tournament for Rocket League players with Brisk iced tea – one of its products – as the headline sponsor. Commentators drank Brisk throughout the tournament and viewers engaged with the brand even once the competition had finished. Brisk also entered into a sponsorship agreement with Call of Duty esports organization OpTic Gaming.
In 2015 PepsiCo launched a co-branded campaign with Twitch and its AMP Energy drink. Limited edition packaging, innovative promotions, and exclusive Twitch content helped keep users engaged.
The relationship was a perfect example of how to spot a niche, reach the right audience, and stand out – all through the lens of social media marketing.
Kiva and Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the best ways to get your message in front of your audience. Most people check their emails on their phones these days, so your newsletter, special offers, or important updates may be what entertains and informs people on their daily commutes.
Using an email marketing tool to build and segment your mailing list means you can also tailor your messages to specific demographics.
What’s more, you can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to see which campaigns are most effective.
Just remember to ensure your emails are mobile-friendly and engaging. While it’s great that users can click on your unread email and read what you have to say, they can also just as easily swipe your message into the trash.
Kiva’s Email Success Story
A great example of an ongoing email marketing campaign that really hits the mark is Kiva. The social impact organization connects lenders with people across the world who struggle to access finance to fund their businesses. With a community of more than 2.4 million lenders, the site has become a revolutionary way of lending money to good causes without it being seen as charity.
People often sign up to Kiva, make a donation, and then forget about the platform. Just like a one-off charity donation. What keeps users coming back is an innovative email marketing campaign that highlights success stories, offers stats on people’s personal accounts, and encourages users to lend more.
The platform has a 90% re-lend rate, meaning users are actively coming back to lend again and again.
Avis and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about enhancing your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). For most brands, this means getting toward the top ranks of Google for specific search terms.
SEO covers many things, from aligning your content to improving the structure of your website. Conducting thorough market research is crucial for aligning content and improving website structure, as it provides insights into target-audience preferences, behaviors, and demographics. You need to weave it all into your strategy so your marketing material is optimized for search purposes. This means researching the right keywords for your brand, inserting them into your messaging, alt tags in images, and metadata on videos.
You also need to ensure your website, app, or any other online presence is mobile-friendly. That makes it a lot easier to engage with users and prevents them from immediately leaving your website, for example, as Google marks down sites that have high bounce rates.
If you perfect your SEO strategy then you’ll increase visibility and traffic to your website while boosting your brand image.
Want to know more? Download our PR and SEO guide.
Avis Optimizes Search
One brand that perfected its SEO marketing strategy was Avis, the car rental company with more than 1,700 locations. The brand was struggling to beat its competitors in search rankings, especially when people 'googled' rental car services in specific towns and cities.
The answer was to conduct an SEO audit of Avis' entire web universe and ensure its location pages were properly aligned with search terms. The company did some technical SEO too, before creating more than 300 pieces of original content to align with location-specific keywords.
The strategy worked and Avis ranked in the top page for 213 additional keywords, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of new leads across its +1,700 locations.
Create a Marketing Strategy Today
We’ve looked at five ways brands can launch an effective marketing strategy – and now it’s time to work on yours. A robust marketing strategy is what guides your product launches, advertisements, content, and customer engagement. Set achievable goals and stick to your plan, and you’ll be able to hit your business objectives.
A bullet-proof marketing strategy takes time to create. If you need help, speak to an expert at Cision today and we’ll show you how to get started.
