Published by olivia.wright@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 31.01.2024 
Do you ever log onto social media and find your feed cluttered with irrelevant paid ad content? Well, 74% of social media users are sick of them.
Successful social media advertising must be tailored to an audience’s buying behaviour, demographics, interests and challenges. For our client, Croft, we did just that. In 2023, Croft Sherry shifted its target demographic audience after a 20-year awaited packaging refresh to increase revenue and reach.
The results we achieved for Croft were amazing. Paid ads generated 11 million impressions, and Croft saw over 14,000 new users on their website.
We’re proud to announce that we’ve been shortlisted for the UK Digital Excellence Awards (DEA) due to our hard work. DEA nominated us for the Paid Social Media Campaign of the Year, which recognises expertise in social media advertising.
Explaining the “It’s Croft Time” campaign
Croft Sherry has long maintained a reputation for being a holiday tipple. You know, the type of drink your grandparents drink on Christmas day? After a complete refresh to its product packaging, we started the “It’s Croft Time” campaign, which aimed to attract younger consumers aged 40-65 to enjoy Croft all year round.
We used Global Web Index, a consumer insights platform, to create detailed buyer personas backed by key demographics, interests and social media platform preferences. This led to us creating highly targeted ad campaigns on Meta using animated and real-life ad assets on Facebook and Instagram.
We conducted A/B testing, ran targeted campaigns linked to selected Tesco Out-of-Home (OoH) advertising offers, and leveraged Croft’s partnership with Sandro, a Great British Bake Off finalist, to push our ad reach.
As the campaign continued, we focused primarily on real-life video ad content, which drove a high click-through to retailers selling Croft Sherry.
The biggest challenge? Complying with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Meta’s strict advertising rules for alcohol content. We carefully positioned Croft as a tasteful summer serve for alfresco occasions, avoiding any signs of exploitative drinking behaviour. Our ad copy and assets directed consumers to explore the brand rather than the drink.
What were the results?
The main KPIs for this campaign were to improve brand awareness and CTR, boost brand visibility and reach a new audience. We achieved all of this and more. Our paid ads generated 11 million impressions and nearly 6,000 clicks, resulting in a 10% CTR.
Engagement grew massively, and Croft saw a 120% increase in website visitors during the campaign (14,000 visitors in total). With ad content that resonated with their new audience, we successfully repositioned Croft as a sophisticated alcoholic beverage to enjoy all year round. Brand reach grew and website traffic and engagement skyrocketed.
About Trio Media
Trio Media is a Leeds-based digital marketing agency. We specialise in website design and marketing services, including PPC, SEO and social media.
We’ve partnered with B2B and B2C brands across industries, helping them get bolder, bigger, and better results from their marketing campaigns. Over the last year, we’ve grown our team to meet our client’s needs while maintaining our 100% customer satisfaction rate.
Want to hear more from Trio?
We’ve entered the UK Digital Excellence Award because we’re proud of Croft’s campaign results and our team’s work. We’re passionate about celebrating all our wins as it acknowledges how far we’ve come.
We’re looking forward to hearing the results. For now, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok to hear from our amazing team.
