Case Study
Driving fundraising efforts for Children in Need through paid advertising
People share their lives on social media. For Children in Need, we had to encourage them to share their money too by devising a strategy that cut through the noise and drove them to relevant online channels.
463% site visits higher than the target
2 million businesses use Facebook for advertising
83% of the UK’s adult population use social media
Promoting Pudsey
BBC Children in Need is an annual charity event that raises money for disadvantaged youngsters in the UK. People who wish to donate can do so by contributing directly, buying merchandise or ordering fundraising packs.
For the 2016 event, we were asked to help drive digital engagement. But with the internet opening up more channels than ever before and smartphones dividing people’s attention between multiple touchpoints, finding the right platform, the right time and the right way to reach them was more challenging than ever.
A multi-channel approach
Analysing the target audiences, we decided that the key to getting the message out was not choosing one single channel, but using several and taking advantage of their strengths.
We therefore implemented a multi-channel approach that took advantage of the keyword targeting of PPC, audience targeting of Facebook, topic targeting of Twitter and engagement of YouTube.
PPC
Individual campaigns were set up to drive donations, encourage merchandise sales and push orders of fundraising packs, using targeted keywords and phrases. Each campaign adopted an aggressive bidding strategy to ensure visibility, with a particular focus falling on mobile devices. As the campaigns continued we adjusted bids at times of increased search volume.
Facebook and Instagram
Using several targeting options and placements, ads were set up to be shown where they were likely to perform best. As a result, Facebook ads were served on all devices in newsfeeds, the right-hand column and instant articles within the audience network, while Instagram ads featured within home feeds on mobile devices.
We set up two Promoted Tweet campaigns – one for fundraising and one for donations – and used several targeting options such as keywords, handles, TV audience targeting, TV genres and people who watch BBC Children in Need. Any targeting that received a low click through rate was removed to allow for the better performing options to generate more clicks.
YouTube
On YouTube, the focus fell on fundraising and the promotion of PudseyVR Viewers and Pudsey Ears. All video ads featured a call to action overlay to encourage users to order a fundraising pack, or buy Pudsey merchandise. A variety of targeting options – such as age, interests and keywords – were used to deliver ads to relevant audiences.
We set up two Promoted Tweet campaigns – one for fundraising and one for donations – and used several targeting options such as keywords, handles, TV audience targeting, TV genres and people who watch BBC Children in Need. Any targeting that received a low click through rate was removed to allow for the better performing options to generate more clicks.
Maximum Exposure, Minimum Cost
Site visits smashed expectations. The estimated total number of visits was set at 18,076 and the final number was 126,000, 463% higher than the target.
Moreover, through optimisation, the cost per click was reduced from £1.56 to £0.21, which meant the overall cost of the campaign was driven down.
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