Throughout your marketing career, you’ll come across many successful marketing campaigns in all areas of marketing — some will inspire you, and others will give you second-hand embarrassment. When it comes to marketing, you should look for inspiration inside and outside your niche.

This guide combines some of the best examples of traditional and digital marketing types to help you understand how various marketing campaigns look and how different platforms are used.

Let’s start with traditional marketing.

Traditional Marketing Examples

Traditional marketing is any marketing that takes place offline — like print, broadcast and events marketing.

Print Marketing Examples

Print marketing refers to any marketing material that’s printed. This includes:

• Posters
• Billboards
• Magazine or newspaper adverts
• Brochures
• Catalogues
• Tote bags and other “swag”
• Branded company vehicles
• Company stationery

Let’s start by taking a look at a billboard campaign.

Billboard Marketing

Billboards are still a popular form of marketing. Traditionally, billboards were painted directly onto the side of buildings but then progressed to giant posters pasted onto designated spaces.

These billboards are still widely used today, alongside more modern electronic billboards, which include video and can change throughout the day.

The above billboard from IKEA messes with the traditional format by splitting the poster four ways and mixing up the original image.

IKEA is well known for its flat-pack furniture you assemble at home. Still, the company decided to offer an assembly service to those customers who don’t want to build the products themselves.

The above billboard from IKEA plays on the idea that hiring the IKEA assembly service is easier than constructing it yourself by mixing up the billboard — the billboard is “assembled” wrong — like your furniture might be if you build it yourself.

The purpose of the IKEA billboard is to raise awareness of their assembly service. It’s likely that the service is new or because customers weren’t making use of the service, and IKEA wanted to let more people know that it exists.

The below billboard from Netflix uses modern technology and the traditional billboard format to create an interactive experience.

To promote their new movie, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, Netflix put up cryptic-looking billboards in the style of text messages. The movie’s premise is that the main character receives a string of text messages from beyond the grave, and the message on the billboard is in the same cryptic style as in the show.

So, how did Netflix combine the above billboard with technology to create a more immersive experience?

They used the AirDrop technology built into Apple’s iPhones to AirDrop the image on the billboard to passersby, recreating the experience of receiving a creepy text message like the movie’s main character.

This campaign aimed to build intrigue around the new film while giving consumers a more interactive experience than they would typically get.

Nextflix could have created a standard horror movie billboard to promote the film, but it would have struggled to stand out amidst other Halloween and horror-themed billboards appearing around autumn.

Magazines Ads and Posters

We often see similar adverts used for posters and magazines, as the sizing and shape are fairly similar. These posters can be found at bus stops, train stations, shopping centres/department stores or on public poster screens.

 

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Magazine ads should be included in magazines your target audience reads to reach the right audience.

Posters are great for reaching a wider audience, whereas magazines are good for connecting with a more niche audience.

The above tongue-in-cheek print ad from KFC was featured in newspapers and as a poster. It was created in response to KFC having trouble with their supplier and running out of chicken for several days — a nightmare for a chicken shop.

KFC used their ad spend to apologise to the nation for the mix-up. Including the “ad” as a poster near KFC restaurants meant that people en route to KFC who didn’t know about the chicken shortage would hopefully see the poster.

They’d realise they need to do something else for dinner before reaching the restaurant itself and being disappointed.

The play on words in the ad makes you do a double take, grabbing your attention so that you stop and take the time to read the smaller text explaining the story behind the ad.

The KFC ad went viral, informing people who don’t regularly eat at KFC about the shortage, potentially leading to more customers once the supply shortage was resolved.

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The above ad from Alpro took a more personalised approach by including the city’s name where it was shown on the poster. Although it’s only a small detail, it makes the ad more relatable and will grab the attention of anyone who lives in that place.

Vehicles

Another way companies get in front of consumers is through vehicles. This includes a company car or van and adverts on public transport such as buses and trains.

Smaller businesses will likely go for a more standard company vehicle, which includes the business name, contact details and potentially some services or USPs.

Larger companies may change the design of their company vehicles more regularly. Sky TV often updates its vehicles to include upcoming film or TV releases across its channels or to promote a new initiative.

The van below is promoting Sky’s commitment to becoming net zero carbon by 2030.

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Making use of advertising space on the side of buses or posters inside trains or buses can be another great way to get your message seen by a local audience.

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Traditional Sponsorship

If you’re a local business, you may want to sponsor a local sports team, event, building, park bench…the list goes on. There are also opportunities for sponsorship on a larger scale.

Red Bull takes sponsorship to a whole new level — the drinks company decided it didn’t just want to sponsor F1 racing teams; it wanted to own one, too. Now there’s Red Bull branding on the cars, the uniforms and, of course, the players drink Red Bull during interviews.

Broadcast Marketing Examples

Traditional broadcast marketing is any business promotion on TV or radio. This could be a classic TV ad or something more subtle, like a product placement.

Different types of broadcast marketing include:

• TV adverts
• Product placement
• TV show sponsorships
• Appearing as part of a TV show
• Appearing on the news
• Radio adverts
• Radio jingles

Examples of TV Adverts

A great example of a TV advert with a long-lasting impact is the Coca-Cola Christmas advert from 1994. The soft drink giant created a Christmas-themed ad including Santa Claus and a giant fleet of Coca-Cola-themed trucks.

The song in the background repeats the phrase “holidays are coming”, and many people say that they know Christmas has arrived once they see this ad on TV, as it’s still played today.

Despite the success of the 1994 ad, Coca-Cola still puts out a yearly Christmas ad. These ads have a similar vibe to the original, with family, Christmas and Coca-Cola themes.

TV adverts don’t need to be as grand as Coca-Cola ones. You can film on a more local scale or go for an animated option. Some TV channels allow for regional advertising, so you may want to make something specific to your area.

The below video advert from Dogs Trust has a call to action at the end, which includes the name of a Dogs Trust centre in that region. This particular version of the ad was run in Wales, suggesting the Bridgend Centre as the local Dogs Trust for viewers.

Examples of Infomercials

Another type of TV ad is infomercials. Infomercials are different to TV ads in that they often include a salesperson, or an actor acting as a salesperson, who demonstrates the product and explains the USPs. These types of ads include more information than a traditional advert, hence the name “infomercial”.

Traditional TV adverts are often like short films, selling an idea or a lifestyle rather than a product. Infomercials, on the other hand, have no story; they are about directly selling a product to the viewer.

Examples of Product Placement

Product placement is a more subtle type of TV advertising. Instead of paying for an ad slot, companies pay for their product to be featured in a TV show or film.

The theory is that when people see a product used by characters in a TV show or film, they’ll feel more affinity for the brand. Sometimes product placement is further in the background, on a billboard in the movie, rather than being used by the characters.

In the clip below, from Transformers 4, we can see audio company Beats, beverage company Bud Light and tyre company Goodyear all featured.

The Beats speaker is used to demonstrate a piece of high-tech transformation technology in the movie. The character holding the speaker also refers to the product by name, “The Pill”, so anyone watching the film could easily find the speaker to purchase later.

In another scene, a character’s vehicle collides with a Bud Light truck, and when he leaves his vehicle, the camera pans down to show multiple shots of the Bud Light bottles and cans on the floor.

The character eventually grabs a bottle of Bud Light and drinks from it. In the background of the below scene, there’s also a Goodyear truck in the shot.

Examples of TV Show Sponsorships

Many TV shows are sponsored by companies. The business is often related to the TV show it’s sponsoring. Still, sometimes the connection is harder to figure out, like this video advert below for Yorkshire puddings on a show where celebrities take part in different tasks in the jungle.

The reason for this Yorkshire pudding sponsorship is likely due to the demographic watching the show rather than the themes of the TV show itself. It’s likely Aunt Bessie’s wanted to reach a specific audience with the sponsorship rather than to fit in with the show’s themes.

Examples of Radio Adverts

Radio adverts are still commonly run on radio stations around the world. Radio has the added challenge of only being audio, so radio adverts must catch the listener’s attention and communicate enough about the product to result in a sale.

Radio ads are ideal for reaching a local audience, as many local areas have radio stations.

The video below includes nearly ten minutes worth of radio adverts, including various businesses like DIY, fast food, car sales and more.

Event Marketing Examples

There are multiple ways you can promote your company at an event. Depending on the type of event, there are different ways you can market your business.

• Hosting a panel/talk
• Exhibiting/sales stand
• Sponsoring the event/area of the event

Examples of Event Talks or Panels

Giving a talk at a conference or event is a great way to share your expertise in your business’ niche and get yourself in front of potential customers.

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On this timetable from the Call and Contact Centre Expo, you can see the professionals who work in the call and contact centre industry who will give talks.

The companies they work for are alongside their names. During their talks, these speakers will use branded presentations while they speak and reference the company they work for in their talks.

For example, Nikki Quinn is hosting a talk about optimising call centre operations while keeping employees happy. As she works for Playvox, which provides employee management software, she will offer actionable advice in her talk while promoting the Playvox software as one way to optimise operations.

Example of a talk at World Travel Market London

Examples of Exhibits and Sales Stands

Another common way to market yourself at events is by exhibiting.

Exhibiting is when you set up a booth or area in a convention hall to promote your business. The size of the area depends on your budget. It’s common for exhibitors to bring banners or backdrops with their branding and give out brochures, leaflets and business cards.

You can take your exhibition stand to a new level by including TV screens, props and chairs so your sales team can converse with potential new customers, discuss interactive elements and more.

Below is an example of a standard exhibition stand at the London Vet Show. There’s a backing wall with a poster, a TV with information about the company, various brochures and leaflets and a desk where the sales team can chat with potential customers. They even have a jar of dog treats on the desk as an extra prop or potentially a lure for anyone attending the show with a dog.

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Next, we have an example of multiple exhibition stands at the International Food and Drink Event, as seen from above.

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If you sell a physical product, you should include that product on your stand. Give potential customers the chance to interact with your product while asking questions.

The below stand at the Cruise Ship Interiors Expo includes examples of the products the company sells, which they’ve set up in a mock-up room so visitors can get a better idea of how they may look in a real-life situation. It also allows them to test the different products to see if they will be a good fit.

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Examples of Event Sponsorship

Another way to get your business in front of people at events is by sponsoring an event.

There are different levels of sponsorship depending on how much you pay, which will give you different levels of visibility at the event.

Examples of how you may appear at an event as a sponsor include:

• Appearing on the event’s website as a part of your sponsorship. This will rarely be your only appearance at the event, but it can help get traffic back to your website.

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• Sponsoring certain parts of the event, for example, pet food brand James Wellbeloved sponsoring the Scruffts event at Crufts.

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• Your branding on event materials such as brochures, tickets and lanyards. This event tote bag from The Children’s Media Conference, pictured below was sponsored by the children’s channel Nickelodeon and features one of their most famous cartoon characters, Spongebob Squarepants.
• Tote bags at events often include items from other event sponsors. The tote bag at the Children’s Media Conference event included a pen sponsored by Disney Cartoon 101 Dalmatian Street, a promotional apron, a reusable travel mug sponsored by Cartoon Network, some children’s books and more.

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Events marketing doesn’t just apply to huge conferences — you can also sponsor smaller local events. Local events often seek sponsors as they have more limited funds than bigger events.

Direct Mail Examples

Although direct mail can be frowned upon, if it offers value, it’s likely to be seen in a better light by the recipient than a basic letter.

The example below from Neopost is a creative example. The headline in the below mailing is, “Now we have everything to match your needs”, and the letter includes real matches labelled with the company’s different products. This is more interesting than a typical letter, which would have listed the company’s products in a far less memorable way.

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Packaging Examples

Another way to promote your company via post is through your packaging. Sending your products in branded packaging will help build a connection with your customers, keep your brand in their mind and encourage them to repurchase. You might think that packaging can’t do all that, but you’d be surprised.

Looking at Google Trends, we can see that the term “unboxing” has grown in popularity over the past 11 years.

Some YouTube creators get millions of views by uploading unboxing videos. In the video below, Marques Brownlee unboxes the Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone. He discusses the packaging and explains that as the phone is nearly $2000 (at the time of recording), Samsung went all out on the packaging to reinforce that the customer’s money was well spent when they received their new phone.

Now we’ve explored examples of traditional marketing, let’s look at some great examples of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Examples

Digital marketing is any marketing that takes place online.

This includes websites, blogs, social media, paid ads, email marketing and more. Let’s start with the foundation for any digital marketing efforts — content marketing.

Content Marketing Examples

Content marketing refers to the content on your website, any blogs you write for your site or other sites and any digital PR campaigns you create.

Website Examples

Your website communicates a lot about your brand, especially if you do most of your business online.

Holiday company Center Parcs takes bookings through its website, so visitors need to easily book holidays and find information they want to know before booking.

The website makes it fairly clear what is offered — forest holidays. Visitors can easily search for holidays near them based on the location and dates they’d like to visit, the size of the accommodation and the number of people.

If visitors aren’t ready to book, they can use the navigation bar at the top to look at locations, accommodation options and things to do before booking.

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The website below from estate agents Haart is a great example of a site that caters to different audiences without becoming too overwhelming.

The site clarifies that Haart is an estate agent by including the header, “We’re on a mission to get you moved”, followed by some copy that reinforces the company’s expertise.

There’s also the call to action of “Find your local branch”. This CTA covers both people looking to rent or buy and people looking to sell who want to visit a local branch.

For people who don’t want to visit a local branch, there are two additional CTA’s below targeting people who want to sell or let their property and people who want to move into a new home.

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Having a great website is one step towards improving your visibility online, but how else can you improve your digital presence?

Blog Examples

Your website’s blog is an essential tool for bringing traffic to your website. On your blog, you can answer the questions consumers search on search engines before purchasing.

For example, when a consumer is looking for the ideal dog collar, they may search “best dog collar” to find a guide to the best dog collars on the market.

If you run a pet store that sells multiple dog collars, you can create a blog bringing together the top dog collars from your store, using your expert opinion to explain why these are the best.

The Spruce Pets took this exact approach, ranking second on Google for the term “best dog collar” with a blog titled “The 9 Best Dog Collars of 2022 for Any Sized Dog”.

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Another example of a well-researched blog is by Travelers business insurance. The business saw that it could answer a question that its target audience would search for — “how to do a tax return for a small business”.

Although Travelers sells business insurance, not tax return services, the company knows that people searching for “how to do a tax return for a small business” will likely own a business and that business will need insurance. By answering this question, Travelers positions itself as an insurance company that helps small businesses.

Due to the out-of-the-box thinking and research behind the blog, Travelers ranks at the top of Google’s organic search results for “how to do a tax return for a small business”, with the blog “How to file your first tax return”.

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Guest Posting Examples

Another type of content marketing is guest posting. This is where you write a piece of content for another website that includes some information about your business. Good guest posts offer value rather than just being a sales pitch.

The article below from VentureBeat is a guest post by Infosys. The article provides value and advice to the reader while backing up its statements with the Infosys Modernization Radar 2022 report. Readers who want more details from the report can click through to the Infosys website.

This article helps build credibility by showing that Infosys is an expert in this area, raises awareness of the report, which results in more traffic to the Infosys website, and gets the company a high-quality backlink from VentureBeat.

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Examples of Blog Features and Quotes

Sometimes websites aren’t open to guest posts and prefer to use resources such as HARO or Qwoted to find quotes from experts to add credibility to their articles.

You can reach out to these websites and offer your expert insight. Here’s an example of an expert quote from Dr Nick Lowe, of The Cranley Clinic in London, included in an article about fake tan from Cosmopolitan.

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Examples of Sponsored Content

Sponsored content refers to articles you have paid for, rather than the publication taking them on as a free guest post. Depending on the publication, they may want to write the article themselves, or you may need to provide it.

This long article in the Washington Post was sponsored by Harry’s to promote its Open Minds initiative.

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It’s very clear that the article is focused on Harry’s initiative, and the Washington Post includes a note at the top of the article to let readers know it was paid for by a company.

Digital PR Examples

Digital PR is a huge industry and works similarly to traditional PR. The goal of traditional PR is to get your business mentioned in newspapers and magazines, whereas digital PR is about getting seen in online publications and news sites.

The study below on women in the healthcare industry by McKinsey and Company received a lot of attention and was linked on various websites.

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By looking at the backlinks to the study in Semrush*, we can see that over 200 publications linked back to the study, including Fortune and the University of Delaware, giving the website an estimated 6.7 million visitors per month.

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One of the benefits of digital PR that sets it apart from traditional PR is creating a more interactive experience. If you create a great tool or calculator that websites want to share with their audiences, you’re onto a digital PR winner.

This tax calculator from MoneySavingExpert is an excellent example of a popular and shareable tool.

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According to Semrush, the tool has been linked to 2,400 times from over 700 different websites. It’s estimated to bring over 20 million monthly visitors to the website.

Social Media Marketing Examples

Social media can be used in various ways to promote your business. Here are examples from some of the top social media platforms.

Instagram Marketing Examples

Instagram is a popular social media app that began as a photo-sharing platform. The app is still used for photo sharing but now includes “Stories”, which are images and videos that only last for 24 hours and “Reels”, which are short vertical videos.

Instagram Posts

Instagram feed posts are usually static images. Occasionally, users upload videos as posts but Reels are more commonly used for videos.

The example Instagram post below, from hair and body care brand Ethique, is a great way to answer frequently asked questions directly on Instagram. The post is “pinned” to the top of Ethique’s Instagram feed in the hopes that users will see it before heading straight to messages to ask questions about Ethique’s pricing.

Not only does this cut down on Ethique’s customer service load, it helps customers get an immediate answer rather than waiting for Ethique to respond.

Ethique is also meeting users where they are. Yes, the brand could answer these questions on the company website but if users are asking these questions on Instagram, they won’t likely go to your website away from the platform they’re already on.

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Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are images and videos that only last 24 hours. They are often less polished than the content users share on their feeds and are accessed through circles at the top of a user’s feed.

Instagram stories often feel more personal than feed posts, meaning you can build a more personal relationship with customers. You can also include website and product links in your stories, something you can’t do on posts or reels.

This story from Foundr, pictured below, is a  repurposed post,  that’s been formatted to fit the vertical format of stories and used to link to a course on their website.

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Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels are short vertical videos that appear in the Instagram feed and their own section on the app. Many of the most successful brand Reels look like they were created by normal Instagram users.

The example below, from keyboard company Omnitype, shows how you can create a simple Reel to show off a product. In this Reel, Omnitype shares two things viewers might not know about the keyboard bags it sells. The setup is simple and looks like it could have been filmed in someone’s house, making it seem like it was made by a fellow customer rather than the brand.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Omnitype (@omnitype)

The below example from protein powder and fitness supplement brand Bulk is another excellent example of a Reel that looks organic to the feed.

This is because the Reel was initially posted by one of Bulk’s ambassadors — it was made by someone who uses the products regularly and knows the type of content the target market wants to see as they are the target market.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bulk™ (@bulk)

Here’s a video that explains more about Instagram Reels and how you can get started with them.

YouTube Marketing Examples

YouTube is a great platform for promoting your business if you have the time and skills to create video content. If you’ve already mastered Instagram Reels, you can use those videos on YouTube Shorts, which is YouTube’s answer to the short-form video craze.

Let’s look at a couple of YouTube channels we love and how they’re a great example of YouTube marketing.

Ashville

Despite the channel being named after Ashville, the company, the channel’s primary focus is the owner of the business, Daniel Ashville Louisy.

The channel is built on his personality and expertise, giving the company a more personal feel. It makes the viewers feel like they know the business owner personally, resulting in higher levels of trust before they’ve even worked with him.

Thinkplus

We had to include ourselves, mainly because we’ve had over 1,400 leads just from our YouTube channel.

We use our YouTube channel to educate people about marketing. The aim is that all our videos can help businesses improve their marketing. It’s just a bonus if they decide to work with us.

We also make use of the YouTube live streaming features to help us connect with our potential customers live, so they can ask questions and interact with us.

YouTube marketing can take time and effort, and you won’t be perfect right away, but you get access to a massive audience who are making searches on the platform to watch videos.

If you can offer advice or entertainment that aligns with your business and helps promote your product or services, then YouTube is an ideal platform.

Check out this guide for more examples of how businesses use YouTube.

Facebook Marketing Examples

Although it can be difficult for businesses to reach customers organically on Facebook, some companies still enjoy using Facebook to connect with customers. On Facebook, you can share text posts, images, videos, live streams, stories and short videos.

The example image post below, from GoPro, shows how a brand can connect with an audience on Facebook — by sharing a photo that others will want to share (cute animals are always a winner) while linking to the product in the post as well as tagging the product in the image.

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The video below from Pets at Home (we’re sensing a pet theme here…) is a helpful reminder that more pets go missing in summer than in other seasons of the year and promotes the Pets at Home app as a way to locate your lost pets.

Learn more about how to connect with customers on Facebook.

LinkedIn Marketing Examples

Professional social network LinkedIn is a popular platform for B2B marketing. Still, it can work for any type of business, depending on your LinkedIn marketing strategy. On LinkedIn, you can share text posts, images, videos, live streams, documents and polls.

The LinkedIn post from Barclays Bank below shows how you can create content that will appeal to your customers and potential customers while working well on LinkedIn.

Barclays does this by using the post to uplift The Black Professionals, a company that helps black professionals. The post works with the professional theme of LinkedIn and uses stunning, professional-looking photos that grab the user’s attention. The post doesn’t advertise Barclays’ services but will help improve customers’ positive feelings about the bank by using its LinkedIn page to promote a good cause.

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Below is an example of a business using a poll on LinkedIn to find out more about its customers. Typeform may use this data to create more website content about surveys and how to use them in your business or promote its survey platform more often.

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TikTok Marketing Examples

Short-form video platform TikTok rose to popularity in 2020 and is still one of the most popular social media platforms. Videos on TikTok are in vertical format and can be between 15 seconds and three minutes long.

An example of a business that has seen great success on TikTok is TheP00lGuy. This user went from a professional pool cleaner to an internet celebrity thanks to his pool cleaning videos.

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This is a great example of how someone spotted a trend on a platform, in this case, “satisfying videos” and used that to gain traction. The TikTok search screenshot below shows you how popular the trend is.

TheP00lGuy used his everyday work tasks and mobile phone camera to create this content.

@thep00lguy I love it when they clean up micely like this one😍 #thep00lguy #hollayaboy #fyp #satisfying #oddlysatisfying #swimmingpool ♬ Calm Down – Rema

Citizens Advice is another company that found popularity on TikTok. It uses TikTok to connect with a younger audience who may not know about Citizens Advice or its services.

This video they created, below, got over 1.1 million views and would have cost nearly nothing to make. It’s just someone pretending to type on a phone with text over the screen — but because it’s raising awareness of an important topic, it was a hit with the target audience who likely shared it with friends and family, which helped it gain traction.

@citizensadvice Facts 🔊#LearnOnTikTok #EnergyBills ♬ original sound – Joy

Check out this guide for more examples of how businesses use TikTok.

X (formerly known as Twitter) Marketing Examples

X (formerly known as Twitter) is a hugely popular social media platform for businesses and brands. You can share text posts, images and videos and host or participate in X Spaces, which are live audio conversations.

Businesses may have their own accounts focusing entirely on the brand or, as in the case of Meep the Bird, they may create additional accounts to use for specific campaigns.

The X account “Meep the Bird” promotes the Puppy Bowl, an Animal Planet show on the nature channel that runs alongside the Superbowl.

Meep, the bird who “runs” the account, posts throughout the Puppy Bowl, sharing jokes, insights and live updates. Meep also reposts content from the Animal Planet Twitter account, directing traffic to the main account.

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Using a separate account allows Animal Planet to add more personality to this account. It also keeps the constant flow of update tweets during the Puppy Bowl in one place and away from their official accounts that need to share content about multiple shows, not just the Puppy Bowl.

Aldi is another business that is great at X marketing.

Aldi is an example of a business that has taken on a playful tone and isn’t afraid to push the line between business and everyday X users. It jumps on trends and shares memes. This recent post from Aldi is about a legal battle the supermarket had with another supermarket, Marks and Spencer.

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Tongue-in-cheek accounts like Aldi are popular among brands on X, although some X users find it annoying. If you choose to go down this route, ensure it resonates with your target audience.

Aldi also makes use of user-generated content, retweeting any content from “fans” that fits on its account.

Examples of Pay-Per-Click Advertising

As well as organic growth on search and social media, there are paid advertising opportunities in digital marketing on search engines, websites and social media.

Search PPC Examples

Nearly every time you make a search on a search engine, you’ll be greeted with ads before you reach the organic results.

Here are some examples of the ads that appear on Google for the search “boiler repair near me”. You can recognise the ads by the bold “Ad” text that appears next to the result.

The top ad from PlumbingForce includes multiple USPs in the title and the description. From the ad below, you learn that this company offers same-day local boiler repairs that can be booked online and has over 8000 reviews and over nine years of experience.

The ad also includes the company’s Google reviews, which adds extra credibility at a glance.

These search ads from Bing follow a similar structure. For the search “buy books online”, we also see some Bing shopping ads along the top, which share an image of the product and the price.

There are text ads here too. The first ad (in the screenshot below) from Perlego includes one of the USPs of the business in the title — you can buy over 900,000 books from their store. When you read the description, it seems like the ad is for an online subscription service for books rather than physical books.

There are four ad extensions here — linking to other pages on the website so that visitors can get to pages that interest them straight from the ad. They may want to head straight to pricing to see how much the subscription costs or browse the Perlego library.

Any good PPC ad should take you to a landing page relevant to the ad and the search.

Let’s say you’re a business that sells office supplies. If a user searches for “office printer” and clicks on your ad for office printers, they expect to be taken to a page about office printers, not your homepage that covers all office products.

Website PPC Examples

Some websites offer ad slots on their pages. This is one way that websites can make money. It’s especially useful for informational websites, news sites or blogs that don’t sell a product.

Technology news website TechCrunch runs banner ads on its website. These are narrow ads above or alongside the page’s content. You may also see ads within the content or that pop up while you’re on a website.

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These adverts from Reed on the TechCrunch website are interactive, meaning you can click on the specific part of the ad that appeals to you. These ads are advertising a variety of qualifications, and you can click on specific qualifications to be taken through to the application page.

Example of a landing page on Reed Courses

Social Media PPC Examples

You can also run PPC ads on social media. You can choose between spending money to promote an existing post or creating brand-new ad content.

The Twitter ad below from My Helsinki uses video content to support its message — it’s much easier to show how great Helsinki is in video form than to describe it in text.

The LinkedIn ad below, from Criteo, is aimed at business owners who use LinkedIn often. It uses the “download” button, which can be added to LinkedIn ads to get viewers to download a guide.

When you click download, you’re taken to a landing page where you can enter your contact details in exchange for the guide. This helps Criteo build its mailing list and connect with potential leads.

Depending on the social media platform, there are different ad formats you can use. For example, you can advertise using vertical videos or images on Instagram Stories or in video format at the start, middle or end of YouTube videos.

Learn more about running ads on social media.

Examples of Email Marketing

Email marketing is still a popular form of marketing despite claims that the younger generations don’t use email.

According to research, 53% of Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) enjoy getting emails from their favourite brands, and 66% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) feel the same.

You can’t just send you any old email though — here are some great examples of different emails sent for various reasons, including welcoming a new subscriber to your email list, regular newsletters and abandoned cart emails.

Welcome Email Examples

Sending a welcome email to new subscribers is a way to connect to potential customers and remind them why they joined, as well as sending any incentive to them, such as a downloadable or discount code.

The below example from the skincare brand SuperGoop is an excellent example of a warm and personal welcome email.

The heading welcomes you to the “movement”, making it feel like you’re part of something bigger than just a mailing list.

The copy reinforces the USPs of the brand — it wishes to change how people think about sunscreen and wants people to enjoy wearing SPF daily.

The email is then signed off by the brand’s founder with a handwritten signature.

Finally, the discount code is in big, bold text for those who want to purchase immediately and don’t want to hunt to find it.

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This opening email from the website building platform Framer, below, is sent to those who have begun the signup process but haven’t finished it.

The email is smart because it gives the user an idea of how much time they need to spend to finish signing up for the site. Using the percentage and checklist gamifies the process — you want to complete the process to hit 100%.

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Newsletter Examples

Newsletters are used to build relationships with email subscribers and share content that adds value to their lives, rather than just being a sales pitch.

This newsletter from fitness brand Peloton is simple but effective. It’s not trying to push products, instead focusing on another topic that will appeal to its fitness audience — healthy eating.

Anyone interested will click through to the full blog on the Peloton website to learn more about the products. The email does include a call to action right at the end, but it isn’t the main purpose of the newsletter — the goal is to create value for subscribers so they’re more receptive to sales-focused emails.

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The below newsletter from You Need a Budget dives right into what you’ll learn from the newsletter and shares a useful video. It follows that information up with a progress check, reminding you of goals and offering a solution if you’re not hitting them.

Further down the email, a webinar is pitched, getting subscribers more warmed up to the company if they aren’t already, moving them closer to purchase.

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Abandoned Cart Email Examples

It’s common practice to send out abandoned cart emails to shoppers who added products to their cart but didn’t convert.

The below example from clothing retailer Alex Mill goes to the next level by offering a 15% discount off the shopper’s basket. It also includes images of the products left in the basket, reminding customers why they were on the website and what they almost missed out on purchasing.

The email subject, “Get Them for 15% Off!”, includes a discount offer, helping it stand out in the customer’s inbox.

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You don’t need to include a discount in your abandoned cart emails. The email below from print company Society 6 uses a sense of urgency to encourage the shopper to revisit their basket, giving them 48 hours before emptying it.

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Urgency should be used sparingly and be truthful — it’s likely Society 6’s website automatically empties users’ baskets after 48 hours as standard, so including that information in an email is factual.

If the company sends an email saying that if you don’t check out in the next five minutes, you’ll have bad luck for the next ten years, then potential customers will be turned off.

If you’re looking for email inspiration, check out Really Good Emails where you can find example emails from all types of companies from different stages of the customer’s journey, from welcome emails to unsubscribe confirmation emails.

Influencer Marketing Examples

Influencer marketing has grown and developed over the years.

The use of celebrities in marketing is nothing new. Still, the intimate relationship between online celebs and their audiences has led to a rise in marketing campaigns involving people who are famous on the internet.

Influencer marketing campaigns include sponsored posts on a social media platform, collaborations with brands, involvement in broader campaigns and more.

FootAsylum Locked In

An influencer marketing campaign from FootAsylum took the idea of an influencer campaign to a whole new level.

Rather than just getting influencers to promote its products, Foot Asylum created an entire show hosted on YouTube, where popular creators are placed together in a house and compete over two weeks to win a cash prize.

Not only do fans of the creators taking part watch the show on YouTube, but they’re also likely to follow their favourite creators till the end, giving them a reason to visit the FootAsylum YouTube channel daily.

During the show, the influencers wear clothes from FootAsylum, but the brand is a side note to the content, meaning it doesn’t feel like they’ve made the show just to push the brand.

Geologie

Skincare brand Geologie partnered with multiple influencers to promote its range of products.
The brand asked retired NFL player turned family influencer Cedric Thompson Jr. to promote Geologie products in an Instagram Reel, showing how he uses the products, why he likes them and offering his fans a 30% off discount code.

The video also covers the ordering process and the quizzes Geologie uses to choose products for customers. A short video like the one below answers multiple objections, such as “How long will a skincare routine take?” or “How will I know which products are right for me?”, and answers these questions using a creator with an existing audience that trusts his judgement.

 

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A post shared by cedric thompson jr (@ced)

Affiliate Marketing Examples

Another type of marketing that is adjacent to influencer marketing is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing works by having affiliates include links to brands or products in their online content, and they make a commission each time a purchase is made through their affiliate link.

The example below shows YouTuber Vanessa Lau sharing the equipment she uses to film her YouTube videos.

Vanessa’s audience comprises aspiring creators looking for equipment recommendations, so promoting these products is a good fit for her.

In the video description, Vanessa has included a disclaimer explaining that as an Amazon affiliate, she will earn a commission on any purchases made through these links.

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It’s common to see affiliate links in blog content. In the example below, Buzzfeed has written a blog about various products to make your week easier. Each product is linked using an affiliate link, meaning Buzzfeed will get a payment each time a purchase is made through its link.

The blog is a bit on the nose with its promotion of products, as it’s the entire point of the blog, but affiliate links can be included more naturally in blogs too.

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How to Get More From These Marketing Examples

You’ve just read loads of marketing examples from all over the industry. “Great”, you think. “What on earth do I do with this now?”

The truth is that you should be on the lookout for marketing examples every day and keep track of your favourites.

You can keep track in a simple Word document or find and save ideas on a website like SwipeFile or Pinterest.

Many marketers use a combination of platforms — saving posts they like on Instagram to Instagram collections, bookmarking interesting articles or websites in their browser, adding great adverts to a YouTube playlist…the list goes on.

It’s entirely up to you how you save great marketing campaigns — what’s important is that you save content for inspiration. Without that, you’ll be shooting in the dark.

If there’s one piece of advice you take away from our guide, it’s this:

Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from outside your niche.

Just because you work for an accounting firm doesn’t mean you can’t take inspiration from a cosmetics brand.

Consider what you like about the content — is it the tone of voice, the way the offer is positioned, the visuals they use or something else?

You can’t replicate the entire ad (even if you’re in the same niche, you shouldn’t steal from other brands), but you can use it as inspiration to bring something fresh to your industry.

What’s Next?

• Content marketing is a great way to promote your business — learn how in our guide
• All marketing campaigns need a budget. Learn how to create a solid marketing budget.
• Check out our guide to email automation for beginners.