The digital marketing campaign for Braintree aimed to increase brand awareness and showcase the company as a leading Microsoft partner. The campaign was structured into two phases, utilising various media platforms and content strategies.
Objectives and Strategy of the Digital marketing campaign:
- The primary goal of the digital marketing campaign was to increase brand awareness for Braintree, with a secondary objective of working towards lead generation in the future .
- The campaign used the concept “Deeply Rooted” to symbolise Braintree’s expertise, solutions, success, and partnerships .
- The strategy involved a mix of sponsored content (advertorials), social media promotion, and traditional PR activities to amplify results.
- The campaign targeted B2B customers across various industries including retail, FMCG, and enterprise customers.
- DUO measured success through reads, clicks, and website visits, tracked via Google Analytics.
Phase 1: Forbes Africa & Business24:
- Forbes Africa:
- A Braintree advertorial, titled “Talent, Time And Customer Retention At The Root Of Business Strategy,” was published on the Forbes Africa website and promoted through their social media platforms.
- The advertorial reached 436 unique users, with a view rate of 1.31 per user.
- The campaign achieved 195,303 impressions and reached 99,284 individuals across Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.
- Social media performance varied:
- LinkedIn was the best performing platform with 84,507 impressions and 28,116 individuals reached, with a click-through rate (CTR) of 0.31%.
- X (Twitter) had 68,529 impressions and reached 47,203 individuals.
- Facebook saw 14,651 impressions and reached 7,624 individuals, with a high CTR of 1.74% and an engagement rate of 3.34%.
- Instagram generated 27,633 impressions, reaching 16,149 individuals.
- Website traffic from Forbes Africa resulted in 10 sessions, with a 40% engagement rate.
- Business24:
- A social display ad campaign ran for two weeks and resulted in 80,234 impressions, with a CTR of 1.77% and 99.81% viewability.
- The News24 mobile app had the most impressions (32,705), while the City Press mobile app had the highest CTR (3.1%).
Phase 2: Intelligent CIO Africa & Business24:
- Intelligent CIO Africa:
- An advertorial and a full-page ad were published in the December print edition.
- The campaign resulted in 7 sessions, with an engagement rate of 83.33% and 39 event counts.
- Banners on the Intelligent CIO website generated 13,489 impressions and 37 clicks, leading to 22 sessions, a 45.45% engagement rate, and 78 event counts.
- The full-page ad resulted in 6 sessions, an 83.33% engagement rate, and 36 event counts.
- Business24:
- The advertorial went live on 3 December, with 9 sessions, a 55.56% engagement rate, and 72 event counts.
- The advertorial had 4,962 unique page views and an average read time of over 2 minutes, exceeding the benchmark.
- Companion banner ads generated 212 sessions with 105 engaged sessions and 845 event counts.
Added Value and Editorial Content:
DUO created editorial content from the advertorial content call with Heath Huxtable, Braintree’s Managing Director, ensuring that PR and digital content worked together.
- 16 pieces of coverage were secured for the first editorial article and 3 broadcast interviews.
- Additional value included an A4 full-page banner in Intelligent CIO and running advertorials and banners in Business24 for an extended period.
Insights and Recommendations:
- The digital marketing campaign was considered successful as the first digital brand awareness campaign for Braintree .
- Editorial content aligned with advertorial content proved effective [37].
- Data analysis and platform testing are essential to identify the most effective channels for Braintree.
- The campaign should be ongoing, using the “Deeply Rooted” concept, with key themes identified each month.
- The use of video content should be explored, and social media content should be created for all campaigns.
- DUO and Braintree should have regular sessions to discuss data and insights to optimise future campaigns.
Highlights
The campaign successfully increased Braintree’s brand awareness through a multi-faceted digital marketing strategy. The combined efforts of advertorials, social media, and editorial content on various platforms amplified the reach and engagement with the target audience, although lead generation was not the primary focus at this stage.
Gregor Dreyer, VP Marketing at Braintree, said:
“Braintree has collaborated with DUO since 2022, focusing on our brand and public relations strategy. As a key part of the marketing team, DUO’s strategic insight and execution are evident in the success of the Deeply Rooted Digital Marketing Campaign. I look forward to continued collaboration and success.”
