This article has been contributed by Hannah Connor.

Recently we looked at 4 successful marketing campaigns that rocked the world, and now we are taking a look at 4 new campaigns that creatively stood out and helped make a difference. These campaigns play off human emotion, and from it we can learn how to share the human factor and us too, make a difference.

Love Stories Video Submission + Sharable Survey

When it comes to combining every kind of content socially and interactively notonthehighstreet.com has got their tactics spot on. Their marketing angle was very heartfelt; a marketing campaign which used couples to share their love stories on video which was a simple and effective way to grab attention.

So, why is this classified as a heartfelt campaign, because it was real, emotional and shareable across the globe! Notonthehighstreet, filmed 9 couples of various ages whilst they told their stories on how they met and what they meant to each other, like this one of Benji and Jess below:

The YouTube video campaigns represent real life stories of the best date ever and appeals to a wide audience.

This brand also went a step further to engage their audience through heartfelt marketing on their website; making a survey of love which was also accessible on their Facebook page.Ignoring the traditional guide to what sort of gifts each sentimental type likes, the whole campaign seems genuinely sincere and has attracted a lot of positive feedback.

What’s more, you could tweet your survey result or share it on Facebook to find out what kind of a romantic all your friends were. #loveyourstory was a hit with the social world and touched many hearts.

Save a Child’s Heart / Give your Heart Out Campaign

Tying in with Valentine’s Day is the “Save a Child’s Heart” (SACH) “Give your Heart Out” Valentine’s Day campaign which aimed to raise $100, 000 annually for 10 children from developing countries that suffer from heart disease, giving them much-needed medical attention.

The campaign was described as the cornerstone of the Save a Child’s Heart Young Leadership Program and is powered by a strong global community of students and young professionals. When it comes to marketing, if you are more practical than romantic, then focusing your marketing around saving actual hearts and lives is probably right up your street.

Using a human factor theme that can actually make a difference is the way to head into 2014. Campaigns like these encourage people to get involved and encourages them to make a donation; bringing a whole new meaning to the Valentines seasonal period. From 544 supporters $75,914 was raised and this is not far off the actual annual goal of $100,000 – this is an amazing success for seasonal marketing.

#LoveYourHeart Twitter Hashtag Campaign

Similar to #loveyourstory, Twitter’s #loveyourheart theme is something to learn from. This Twitter campaign was for the promotion of Heart Health which ran on the 13th and 14th of February.

The campaign actually started 3 years ago by the MEP Heart Group and aimed to raise awareness of cardiovascular diseases with the intention of getting people to vote on EU legislation to get EU member states to adopt strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease and to promote heart health (amongst other things).

To pledge their support, the public were asked to use their personal Twitter accounts to tweet suggested messages using the #loveyourheart tag and asking others to retweet. This socially interactive and human marketing was a success, and fulfilled a purpose and this is a strong learning point to take away from.

Every Moment Counts Video

Drawing away from the Valentines theme comes the “Every Moment Counts” video by CRUK which is marketed very well. The non-profit charity Cancer Research represents their brand well, by marketing with the human element. Take a look at the video below to view how one video can touch many hearts all in one go:

There are a number of things that can be learnt from this kind of video production:

• Emotional visual content will speak louder than text words
• Personal experiences and achievements draw people into the story piece
• The video sends out a call to action – “Lets beat cancer sooner”

No-makeup Selfie for Cancer Research

The recently viral “no make-up selfie” that hit social media networks by storm drew in a lot of donations for Cancer Research. Marketing was not intended and through one simple hash tag the #nomakeupselfie drew in over £8 million for CRUK to help beat cancer sooner – as well as some haters. This trend setting and global hash tag has touched hearts around the world and even celebrities are getting involved.

So, what can be learnt from this? Always involve the community around you when looking to spread awareness and use social media; if one person can spread an idea then so can many. Off the back of the nomakeselfie trend people who are victims of abuse are surfacing to raise awareness and this is remarkable. These people feel they have the courage now to expose what has happened to them and Jeanne Marie Ryan is just one of the brave women to come forward recently to expose her face through the trending hash tag of the violent assault that was inflicted on her face.

If you want to make a campaign heartfelt then using the human factor is the way to go; supporting a worthy cause, saving the lives of children or just allowing yourself to be inspired by other people’s love or survival stories.

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Hannah Connor is marketing strategist who works on the vouchercloud.com voucher site. She has experience in product development, content management and devising social media strategies.