Considering the popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms, social media marketing continues to be an effective way for brands to engage with their audiences.

In fact, research has found that 86% of social media users want to—and do—follow brands on social. What's more, 57% of people are more likely to buy from a brand that they follow on social media.

That is why brands turn to social media marketing campaigns. And with the right strategy, those campaigns can make a notable impact on marketing efforts and even drive sales.

But niche industries, such as craft beer and outdoor retail, face a unique challenge: They have very specific goods and services to promote to a small audience, as opposed to larger industries, such as CPG and financial services, which have massive audiences. Accordingly, niche industries need to speak their audience's specific language and deliver the exactly right content, or they risk losing their valued, loyal customers to a competitor.

Let's look at four successful social media marketing campaigns in niche industries and see what you can learn from them.

1. REI #OptOutside

In defiance of Black Friday, one of the biggest days of the year for retail, Jerry Stritzke, the CEO of REI released a video in 2015 as an "anti-promotion." He announced REI was closing its stores on Black Friday instead of making its employees come in to work.

That showed REI understands its customers' values. By giving employees time off and encouraging customers and others to enjoy the outdoors rather than shop indoors, it created an experience specific to its outdoors-appreciating audience.

The campaign eventually led to what the company calls an "experiential search engine" on its Opt Outside webpage, which collects content from users who tag #OptOutside on Instagram. It also adds real-time information about locations and experiences.

Takeaway: Prove you understand your customers and their values by creating social media marketing campaigns that create unique experiences for them. Also, enable them to connect. The use of hashtags and other social conventions and tools is essential to bringing your customers together.

2. Craft Beer and Evangelism

Foodies and beer geeks alike are passionate about those interests, and they love to share photos and opinions of tasty products. Thanks to such an enthusiastic community, sites RateBeer and BeerAdvocate, among others, provide a wealth of knowledge and information on the best new brews.

Craft breweries can reap the benefits of those large followings because beer is often a social experience. Consumers are taking tours, hosting bottle shares, and bonding over unique styles and ingredients.

For example, MobCraft crowdsources beer. It relies on social communities to build its business. The community shares ideas for beer recipes and casts votes. Then the company delivers the finished product to those who participated.