Category: Brand Awareness

Expanding Reach and Engagement with College Students Using Influencers

Posted on by Coegi

Challenge

Coegi collaborated with agency partner, True Media, on a key initiative for Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO). The client needed to reach current college students (aged 18-24), specifically those in STEM fields who are undecided about their careers. Previous marketing efforts focused on standard website traffic generation and career messaging; however, they were looking to expand into additional tactics that would connect with students in an authentic, trust-inspiring way.

Highlights

Millions
of impressions served to those potentially interested in Optometry field

Thousands
of post engagements driving an authentic connection between ASCO and potential students

31 pieces of content
created and amplified efficiently across channels

Solution

Our teams leveraged the power of social media influencers to provide a new way of engaging with the target audience. Recognizing the influence of peer recommendations on college students, we partnered with a selection of young Optometrists and Optometry students (3 creators in total). These creators produced a mix of 31 pieces of content, including standard branded messages alongside a unique UGC (User-Generated Content) challenge. The UGC challenge encouraged viewers to share their top six “sights to see” and tag others in the Optometry community, aiming to spark a viral trend on Instagram and TikTok. Paid amplification was utilized on both platforms to further extend the reach of the influencer content and build genuine connection with relevant individuals beyond the creators’ core followers.

Results

Organically, we drove nearly 3,000 organic engagements at a 7.9% engagement rate through the 31 pieces of content. 

Through amplification on Instagram, we achieved over 1.2 million impressions at a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) of $7.71, generating over 70,000 post engagements. Similarly on TikTok, boosted content delivered nearly half a million impressions at a CPM of $3.97, with over 2,000 post engagements. Amplification not only allowed the content to reach a broader audience of relevant individuals, but also drove greater attention and consideration as evidenced by the content engagement. 

While the success of the UGC challenge is still to be determined, the initial results from the boosted influencer content are promising. 

Key Takeaways

  • Influencer Selection: Partnering with creators who are both relatable and relevant to the target audience (young Optometrists/students) proved effective.
  • UGC for Engagement: The UGC challenge fostered audience participation and could potentially lead to a viral trend, further amplifying the campaign reach.
  • Paid Amplification Benefits: Utilizing the Paid Partnership tool on Instagram and TikTok allowed for seamless content integration and audience expansion beyond the influencer’s followers.

Overall, this campaign demonstrates the effectiveness of influencer marketing in reaching and engaging with a specific audience of college students. The combination of relatable creators, engaging content formats, and paid amplification strategies hold promise for driving brand awareness and consideration within the Optometry field.

Want to explore ways influencer marketing can boost your strategy? Contact our strategists today!

Building Trust and Awareness for Medicaid Options within Multicultural Communities

Posted on by Coegi

Challenge

Coegi’s client, a government health plan provider, needed to raise awareness of their Medicaid options among Hispanic and African American communities. These communities often face historical distrust of the medical care system, further compounded by rising healthcare costs.

Highlights

5%
higher recall among Hispanic/Latino demographics

9%
higher recall among Black/African American demographics

27%
increase in the perception that our brand supports member health goals, care about the community, and offer relevant services

10%
lift in aided brand awareness compared to 2% healthcare benchmark

Solution

We developed an omni-channel pilot campaign to break through the noise and resonate with these core audiences. The strategy focused on three key goals:

  • Increase Awareness: Reach qualified Latino and African American audiences.
  • Build Trust: Position the client as a trustworthy partner who understands their needs.
  • Drive Engagement: Encourage interaction with the brand through the website.

Reaching Key Segments: Identify core audiences by utilizing precision targeting parameters such as first-party data, zip codes, eligibility criteria, racial and ethnic demographics.

  • Moms (Parents): Targeted adults with children, emphasizing importance of childhood and postpartum health.
  • Functionally Disabled Members: Targeted audiences concerned with health issues like mental health and disabilities.
  • New to Medicaid: Targeted audiences interested in health management and wellness, active on digital platforms.

Media Strategy: Maximize impact with Medicaid-eligible audiences by placing personalized messages across an omnichannel digital media plan.

  • Diversity in Digital Media: Moving beyond competitor channels, we explored diverse digital platforms and implemented programmatic buying to find audiences efficiently.
  • Right Audience, Right Message: Layered niche cultural targeting with culturally appropriate messaging for deeper resonance.
  • Upfront Digital Footprint: Prioritized a strong digital presence (70% audience reach) for speed to market, hyper-targeting, and competitive differentiation.
  • Expanding into Traditional Media: Layered in localized print publications, billboards & Radio for increased community relevance.
  • Test and Learn: Established a foundation for future campaigns by measuring engagement and optimizing messaging for better personalization.

Results

The campaign delivered significant positive lifts across various metrics:

  • Unaided & Aided Awareness: Increased brand recognition.
  • Brand Perception: Improved perceptions of the brand as supportive, community-focused, informative, and meeting health needs.
  • Decision Maker Impact: Positively influenced decision-making within both Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American audiences.

Channel Performance: The campaign delivered a significant lift in aided awareness across all forms of media, with a notable lift in awareness among consumers exposed to the banner and 30-second video ad. Brand recall was higher when 4+ channels were utilized, signaling the power of an omnichannel approach.

  • Social and Print: Top performers, particularly in combination.
  • CTV & Display Banners: Effective in raising awareness and brand opinion.
  • Streaming Audio: Moderately positive impact.
  • Online Video & OOH: Provided strong campaign reinforcement, but had less direct campaign impact.

Key Takeaways

  • Go Where the Performance Is: Target audiences where engagement is strong and build scale through an omni-channel approach.
  • Brevity & Emotional Connection: Clear, concise messaging with emotional appeal leads to stronger creative performance.
  • Smaller Audience, Bigger Impact: Smaller audience segments can deliver strong engagement and results when targeted effectively.

This case study demonstrates that building trust within multicultural audiences requires a tailored approach that considers cultural values and prioritizes the right channels and messaging for maximum impact.

 

Mall of America’s Journey to Boost Engagement Using TikTok Spark Ads

Posted on by Coegi

Brief

The Mall of America campaign leveraged TikTok’s Spark Ads, an advertising tactic that allows businesses to amplify their organic content or collaborate with influencers to boost posts. Spark ads were incorporated into the marketing strategy to boost engagement and enhance the Mall of America’s online presence by engaging a vast audience through authentic and compelling content.

Highlights

68%
increase in click-through rates

45%
reduction in cost per click (CPC)

40%
of the campaign’s total conversions

Challenge

The primary challenge was to increase engagement and conversions through TikTok without using to traditional advertising methods. The goal was to use an approach that felt authentic to TikTok’s user base while also efficiently using the budget to maximize return on investment.

Solution

To address this challenge, the Mall of America campaign utilized TikTok Spark Ads to boost organic content and influencer collaborations. This strategy was chosen for its ability to repurpose existing engaging content and leverage the authentic voice of influencers, thus aligning with the platform’s culture and increasing the likelihood of audience engagement.

Results

The Mall of America’s experiment with TikTok Spark Ads brought fantastic results, showing a big increase in people clicking on their content while spending less money on each click. These ads didn’t just achieve more views; they were effective in getting people to take action, accounting for 40% of the campaign’s conversions. The ads also helped the Mall of America gain 119 new followers on TikTok in just one day, proving that smart advertising can also grow your online community.

Key Takeaways

TikTok Spark Ads offer a powerful tool for businesses looking to leverage their organic content and influencer partnerships effectively, leading to more action at lower costs. For brands considering Spark Ads, it’s essential to evaluate the potential of existing organic content, decide between traditional versus influencer-based ads, and determine success metrics that reflect the unique advantages offered by TikTok’s advertising solutions.

The Power of Creative in Building Brand Awareness

Posted on by Coegi

The Brief

Coegi partnered with a powerhouse creative agency to launch a full-funnel digital campaign, building brand awareness as well as sales for a high-growth wine brand.

Highlights

10.6%
Lift in Standard Ad Recall

1.8%
Lift in Unaided Brand Awareness

1.4%
Lift in Purchase Intent / Consideration

Challenge

The brand tasked the team to produce a campaign that was not only effective in building brand awareness and emotional connection in a very cluttered, complicated category, but also drove trial and consideration across a broader set of consumers. 

Solution

The team executed a performance branding study on Facebook to evaluate brand lift as well as conversion lift for key website events. By comparing control and exposed audiences, incrementality was able to be evaluated. This blended approach allowed for valuable insights into multiple stages of the consumer journey, from brand awareness to purchase intent. 

The study showed positive lift across brand categories, surpassing CPG benchmarks. Ad recall was particularly pronounced, signaling that the creative was successful in driving memorability and that the selected audience resonated with the messaging approach.

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