Learn how Irvine's grew its social media following from 2,000 to 20,000 organically in just 3 months

SITUATION

• Irvine's is Zimbabwe's largest chicken and egg manufacturer.
• Studies found that egg protein provided the most cost-effective way of nourishing the nation with high quality  protein.
• Irvine's wanted to increase awareness about the health benefits of egg consumption.
• Their marketing budget was exhausted, limiting awareness to their "owned" social media channels - primarily Facebook.
• Their Facebook following was very small, with just under 2,000 followers.
• Openminds was engaged to see if there was anything we could do to help on a shoestring budget.

TASKS

• Grow the social following to reach a larger audience.
• Achieve this by developing a robust content strategy that engages the target audience and encourages sharing.
• We understood that a short-term promotion would help us grow our following exponentially.

ACTIONS

• We formalised the social media strategy and look and feel, developing content pillars and daily interest pieces.
• We conceptualised a promotion entitled Eggs for Life, whereby you would have to guess the number of virtual eggs in a jar.
• The launch of the promotion coincided with World Egg Day to capitalise on heightened awareness from our target audience.
• The prize was a lifetimes supply of eggs, which equated to a grand prize value of less than £2,000.
• We ran weekly promotion and conducted random draws to ensure interest remained high throughout the promotion. Entries were accepted on Facebook, WhatsApp and email.
• We partnered with several nationally represented grocery retailers so that our vouchers could be accepted over the next 2 years, after which, vouchers could be redeemed for cash.

3D modelled jar with virtual eggs

Eggs for Life promotion:

Weekly hints

RESULTS

• By the end of the promotion, we had received over 121,000 unique entries.
• Our social media following had grown 10-fold, from 2,000 to over 20,000 followers.
• The promotion was a resounding success and was the talk of the town for the duration of the competition.
• The total number of virtual eggs in the jar was 468. The nearest guess was 457, and the lucky winner won a lifetime's supply of eggs!
• Openminds became an integral partner to Irvine's, and were soon after commissioned to produce the Irvine's Corporate Video.

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