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8 February 2014

Cadburys Social Media Campaign: We Like That!

How Cadbury’s Chocolate Thumb Boosted The Company’s Facebook Following

Cadburys social media campaign - Thumbs Up Facebook Chocolate

Increasingly social media is becoming an integral part of business’s online marketing campaigns. When it comes to developing future social media campaigns it never hurts to look at previous ones as case studies, to identify new strategies which can be adopted in order to improve a campaign’s reach and overall engagement.

During 2012 one of the world’s largest and oldest chocolate manufacturers (for 187 years!) embarked on their first Cadburys social media campaign. At the close of the campaign the company had significantly improved brand awareness and bagged over one million followers on their Facebook page.

What were Cadburys social media campaign goals?

Before embarking on a social media campaign it is important to establish the goals of the campaign. That’s exactly what Cadbury did, here are the three goals for their Cadburys social media campaign.

  1. Increase follower engagement with Cadbury Dairy Milk and therefore increase overall page activity.
  2. Increase the Cadbury Dairy Milk Fan Page follower count.
  3. To increase the Cadbury Dairy Milk Fan Page EdgeRank score.

Why was the Cadburys Social Media Campaign launched?

In addition to setting clear goals before launching on a social media campaign, it is equally important to question why it is appropriate to embark on one. Again this is what Cadbury did. Prior to the campaign, the chocolate manufacturer noticed that they had a large Facebook following, however they were seeing low levels of engagement. This is important because the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm governs how many of a page’s followers see an entities content based on the level of engagement which occurs with the page’s content and posts. In essence a brand’s value is measured on Facebook by the number and frequency of likes, comments and shares. This process determines which users are more likely to observe a page’s content on their news feeds.

How did Cadbury do it?

Cadbury’s decided that when their Facebook page reached a million followers they would build a huge chocolate thumb in order to show their appreciation. In order to promote this fact Cadbury:

  • Launched a series of teaser ads on Facebook which made users aware of the event. These ads also featured a countdown to the big event in order to boost levels of excitement.
  • In order to further build excitement Cadbury launched an insider infographic which featured a number of statistics associated with building the enormous thumb for the grand event.
  • Created a competition where fans were invited to enter a draw in order to win the chance to place the final piece of chocolate on the top of the giant thumb.

The campaign ended with the construction of a huge giant thumb which used over 3 tonnes of real chocolate. The video of this event can still be view by clicking here. However, the best part of the Cadburys social media campaign was that they involved their fans at every moment throughout the process. Fans were invited to provide feedback on how the thumb should be shaped. Cadbury further improved the levels of engagement surrounding the campaign by replying to fans in real-time. In addition, Cadbury stayed true to their promise and “Superfan Denise” who won the Facebook contest is given six seconds in the video as she is shown placing the final piece on the thumb. In numerical terms, Cadbury’s Facebook campaign earned the chocolate manufacturer over 40,000 new fans and amassed an engagement reach of over 350,000 Facebook users.

How can businesses adopt a similar strategy?

There are a number of lessons which businesses can learn from the Cadburys social media campaign. This does not mean they have to build a huge chocolate thumb, instead take heed of Facebook Marketing Mistakes and then take on these tips below:

  • Create a contest where your fans name the upcoming event or fundraiser.
  • Hold a fan of the week contest to reward your most loyal and dedicated fans.
  • Create excitement with your following: this can be done through teaser ads and videos in order to build suspense for a forthcoming event or product launch.
  • Interact: ask your fans questions and get their opinions on topics, when they respond be sure to reply!