The Africa Rally
The Africa Rally is an adventure travel company hosting charity motorsports events in Africa.
We started working with The Africa Rally in February 2023, just five months before the rally began in South Africa. With this in mind, we had a short time to deliver a comprehensive marketing strategy. Our efforts spanned multiple channels, starting with organic social media, where we crafted engaging content to build awareness and cultivate a vibrant online community around the event. To enhance visibility and reach, we also implemented paid advertising campaigns and press release distribution targeting key audiences across various platforms.
To ensure the effectiveness of these efforts, we prepared monthly reports for organic social media performance and weekly reports for paid advertising, offering valuable insights into campaign success and areas for improvement.
About The Africa Rally
The Africa Rally is an epic, off-the-beaten-path adventure that takes participants on an unforgettable journey across Africa. Starting from South Africa and finishing in Kenya, this thrilling rally covers diverse terrains, offering an unmatched experience of exploration and cultural immersion. With no set route or strict schedules, The Africa Rally encourages adventurers to embrace the freedom of the open road while discovering the beauty, challenges, and wonders of Africa. Perfect for thrill-seekers, this rally is not a race but a daring and adventurous way to see Africa.
Our goals for the project were as follows:
- Support The Africa Rally in achieving 20+ new team sign-ups for the upcoming 2023 challenge.
- Using paid social media to target the desired audience with relevant content to increase initial interest and act as the primary lead generation source.
- Roll pit consistent and optimised organic social media content to help increase brand awareness and brand following will act as a secondary touchpoint.
- Secure relevant PR opportunities to help further increase brand awareness and recognition of the event and act as a tertiary touch point.
We started working with The Africa Rally in February 2023, just five months before the rally began in South Africa. With this in mind, we had a short time to deliver a comprehensive marketing strategy. Our efforts spanned multiple channels, starting with organic social media, where we crafted engaging content to build awareness and cultivate a vibrant online community around the event. To enhance visibility and reach, we also implemented paid advertising campaigns and press release distribution targeting key audiences across various platforms.
To ensure the effectiveness of these efforts, we prepared monthly reports for organic social media performance and weekly reports for paid advertising, offering valuable insights into campaign success and areas for improvement.
About The Africa Rally
The Africa Rally is an epic, off-the-beaten-path adventure that takes participants on an unforgettable journey across Africa. Starting from South Africa and finishing in Kenya, this thrilling rally covers diverse terrains, offering an unmatched experience of exploration and cultural immersion. With no set route or strict schedules, The Africa Rally encourages adventurers to embrace the freedom of the open road while discovering the beauty, challenges, and wonders of Africa. Perfect for thrill-seekers, this rally is not a race but a daring and adventurous way to see Africa.
Our goals for the project were as follows:
- Support The Africa Rally in achieving 20+ new team sign-ups for the upcoming 2023 challenge.
- Using paid social media to target the desired audience with relevant content to increase initial interest and act as the primary lead generation source.
- Roll pit consistent and optimised organic social media content to help increase brand awareness and brand following will act as a secondary touchpoint.
- Secure relevant PR opportunities to help further increase brand awareness and recognition of the event and act as a tertiary touch point.
Organic Social Media:
We implemented a consistent posting schedule across Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, which delivered strong results. With access to an extensive image bank and the rally’s striking branding, we were able to effectively highlight the incredible adventures The Africa Rally offers. Our content strategy featured a mix of engaging calls to action, behind-the-scenes insights, FAQs, and a competition designed to boost audience engagement and interaction.
Competition:
Social Media Competitions are often a great way to increase brand awareness and engagement. For The Africa Rally, we were looking to encourage team sign-ups through a prize incentive. The competition ran throughout February and March 2023 on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. We curated a prize incentive relevant to the brand, plus a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that The Africa Rally followers would want to take advantage of - a helicopter ride over the iconic Victoria Falls. Please refer to the paid section to read more about the results.
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Video Content:
Through video content generated by The Africa Rally team, we could edit sixteen videos for the brand. They consisted of branded outros, promotional videos, and FAQ videos, all formatted for use across multiple platforms, including Instagram, and YouTube. Video content can often generate up to five times more engagement than still imagery on social media. This was a powerful tool to create brand awareness, capture the audience's attention and broaden The Africa Rally’s reach.
Paid Social Media Activity:
We utilised a combination of paid advertising and boosted social media posts. Combining the two paid tools allowed us to maximise our reach and generate many impressions. Our strategy allowed us to identify peak periods for The Africa Rally social media platforms, meaning we could boost posts at the opportune moment, maximising our results.
Facebook:
On Facebook, our boosted posts performed exceptionally well, reaching up to 90,000 impressions with click-through rates as high as 8%, well above the typical average of 2-5%. The standout performer was a video post, which exceeded industry benchmarks, generating over 4,000 clicks!
We also did some A/B testing across different ad sets, to test whether static imagery or carousel images would perform better and quite quickly we noticed that the audience resonated with and engaged more with the static imagery. This was the most successful ad, which showed the journey through Africa with a brief description about the rally. With this ad set, we received strong CTR's of 3.2% and 2.62%. By A/B testing, this allowed us to focus our efforts on ads which are performing the best, and therefore, maximising engagement and impressions.
PR Activity:
Our PR activity for The Africa Rally involved extensive outreach to over 1,700 contacts, aiming to secure coverage and build strategic partnerships. As a result, the rally was featured in prominent publications like Highways Today and Free Car Mag, boosting visibility within relevant industries. We facilitated introductions to key figures such as Russell Higham, Malcolm Tattersall, and Hannah Gregory, opening doors for potential collaborations. Additionally, in preparation for the WTM event, we distributed a PR campaign to a leading marketing agency, ensuring the rally was highlighted in a public press release ahead of the event.
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Results (Four Month Period):
Instagram:
New Followers: 653
Total Impressions: 328,061
LinkedIn:
New Followers: 74
Total Impressions: 7,124
Facebook:
New Followers: 328
Total Impressions: 1,151,749
Conclusion:
In conclusion, our work with The Africa Rally successfully elevated the event’s visibility, engagement, and brand recognition across multiple platforms. Through organic social media, paid advertising, influencer partnerships, and strategic PR outreach, we effectively targeted key audiences and exceeded industry benchmarks in several areas. Our efforts not only increased impressions and clicks but also helped generate greater interest in team sign-ups for the 2023 challenge. By aligning our content, campaigns, and strategies with the rally's adventurous spirit, we ensured that The Africa Rally positioned itself as a premier experience for thrill-seekers and explorers. The results of our holistic approach were precise, driving awareness and excitement around this epic journey across Africa. If you would like to find out more about The Africa Rally, get in touch with the team - info@africarally.com.
If you would like to outsource your marketing, get in touch - https://www.creativepod.uk.com/.
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