I do not spend a whole lot of time on Facebook. I leave that to my wife. It’s the perfect conduit for her because it allows her to stay in touch with family and friends who live outside of the state.
Also, admittedly, it allows me to live vicariously through her postings, more as a voyeur and helps me stay current with what is going on in my own family – sad but true. However, recently been reminded of the positive impact social media can have on people when used responsibly with marketing. A practice I have been somewhat suspicious of in the past.
A few months ago, we took on a new client struggling to keep their cost per lead within a reasonable margin, affecting their ability to cost-efficiently market their product. They tried traditional approaches, spending hundreds of thousands with TV and radio, fed with a steady stream of PPC, all methods proving to be cost-prohibitive, thus threatening to derail their entire marketing program. A deeper dive into their audience revealed that the real challenge resided in finding a way to connect with a very targeted audience spread across a wide geographical region. We determined that the best option was to bring the conversation to them.
Families with children, siblings, or a spouse dependent upon a wheelchair to get around, often find it challenging, not to mention expensive, to get out and conduct basic activities that many of us take for granted. But fortunately, Facebook provides a link to the outside world, enabling many people to remain in touch with their communities without having to venture outside of their homes as often as they would prefer.
Our client offers a unique caregiver-minded wheelchair-accessible van with a low price point and special loans making this mode of transportation affordable for many. The gist of the offer made ownership easy and accessible for this target group, exposing them initially to a unique (category disruptive) “try a van for free” offer, no strings attached. The behavior and geo-targeting capabilities of Facebook made it the perfect delivery model to connect with this target group, exposing them to a genuinely unique and beneficial option to their transportation needs. The result for the client was a substantial increase in qualified leads, thus cutting their cost per lead by over 200%. For the consumer, it meant an affordable solution that changed many lives for the better. Abling them to get out and live life more readily— a win-win.
