Selar100 campaign case study

If you're a creator in Africa, you've probably come across the e-commerce platform Selar. Selar's popularity has grown consistently since its launch in 2016, with over 70,000 creators relying on it. In 2022, the platform paid out $4.5 million to its users, cementing its position as the go-to platform for digital creators.

This success can be attributed to Selar's exceptional product and effective marketing campaigns. One such campaign is "Selar 100: Top Creators in 2022," a curated list of Africa's top digital creators that received widespread attention. The list showcased a range of popular creators, including coaches, consultants, educators, vendors, marketers, and artists. 

In this article, the Selar marketing team share the planning process, outcomes, and impact of the campaign. Keep reading to learn more!

How will this case study benefit you?

This case study provides insights into the strategies and tactics used to create and execute a successful marketing campaign. Additionally, you get to see the value of identifying and understanding your target audience, creating compelling content that resonates with them, and leveraging social media platforms to drive engagement and reach. 

By applying the strategies in this case study, you can increase your chances of creating campaigns that drive desired outcomes, ultimately leading to improved ROI and business growth. 

About the Selar100 campaign 

The Selar 100 campaign was an end-of-year marketing campaign aimed at appreciating African creators for their incredible efforts in 2022. It was a premier edition featuring creators from 5 African countries, highlighting their achievements and promoting their products on Selar. 

The goal of the campaign was to spotlight creators pushing the creator economy in Africa and simultaneously increase Selar’s overall reach and signups by using word of mouth and a viral marketing approach.

Campaign objectives 

  • Increase brand awareness

  • Show brand appreciation to customers

  • Align brand identity with the creator economy in Africa

  • An overall increase in users, community members, brand loyalty, and organic traffic

Campaign preparation 

  • The team started with making a list of the top 100 creators across Africa, owning the creator economy, and turning their knowledge into income 

  • We then gathered photos of all the creators who had made the list

  • Afterward, we compiled the list, researched the creators, and wrote brief descriptions of them

  • Next, we sent the photos to the graphics designer for visuals

Execution

The social media campaign was in 3 phases; pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. The first stage of execution started with publishing the article on the blog, and a single post on social media announcing the lists. This happened on 28th December 2022.

Selar 100 Campaign - Smarketers Hub

When we made the post, we didn’t get as much buzz and traffic as we wanted on social media which was understandable. This single feed post had little or no “sharing effect” yet. 

For the next stage of the campaign, we created a graphical image of all the creators that made the list and posted it on our social media. This had the sharing effect and at least 75% of the creators that made the list shared it on their social media. This gave us a lot of traffic and visibility not just to our social media but also to our product. 

We had some of the most prominent and “popular” people in the African creator economy sharing and talking about the campaign. This happened on 29th December 2022.

Selar x Smarketers Hub

To finish the campaign execution process, we decided to create a personal flier for each of the creators on the list. We predicted that most of these creators would want a personal flier to post and share on their social media. Our predictions were confirmed and our reach increased significantly as these creators shared their personalized fliers, connecting their audience to Selar.

Results

The campaign went viral as creators featured on the list shared the post across their various social channels. Since we intentionally featured creators active on various platforms, the campaign was not limited to one channel.

We were very particular about the creators on the list to make the public trust Selar as being reliable. And that’s something very important in marketing - trust - and one of the best ways to win the trust of your audience or target audience is to let them know that the people they trust also trust us. 

Secondly, it was also an aspirational campaign, meaning that it would motivate other creators to work harder to make the list in 2023. To do this then, they will have to create more products, sign up on Selar, and sell them! This would not just increase our sign-ups but transactional revenue. In the end, it’s a win-win for both Selar and the creators.

Impact

Social media 

Overall, we had a 17.8% increase in social media followers and a corresponding increase in engagement across all platforms. 

Instagram

The campaign was launched on the 28th of December, 2022, and on that day, the first post had 250 likes and about 10 comments on Instagram. Across all posts made on Instagram, we had a total of over 1500 likes, 800 Profile visits, 650 website taps, and 130 shares.

Twitter

The announcement post had 57 Likes and 24 retweets on Twitter, and over 10,000 views. The link to the blog was clicked over 200 times, and over 67% of our nominated creators made individual posts about the campaign on their pages, acknowledging their presence on the post and thanking Selar for their involvement. 

SEO/Blog 

The blog post had over 2000 views in less than 48hrs. Now, it has almost 7000 views. We ranked for the keywords Selar100, Selar top 100 creators in Africa, and top digital creators in Africa, and hit an all-time high of traffic to the blog.

Product

We saw a 38% increase in the number of signups on Selar from the moment the campaign was launched, and that momentum spilled into January 2023. We also had our highest number of signups at Selar in the month of the launch. Furthermore, we saw a spike in Pro Plan subscriptions within this period - 86% more than what we recorded in November, and in January, due to the effect of the campaign.

Overall, The Selar100 campaign was a huge success. It was centered on community, which is a brand’s greatest asset, so if you’re thinking about a campaign that would skyrocket your brand’s reach, consider a campaign focused on amplifying your community members.

If you are a marketing professional looking for a community of young marketers in Africa who are interested to accelerate their careers, you are invited to join the Smarketers Hub Community. Smarketers Hub is a growing community of smart marketers learning from each other and improving our craft, one day at a time. We focus on uplifting creative talents across Africa and providing value-packed content, resources, and diverse opportunities to accelerate careers and foster engagement across the marketing industry. Follow us on Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter!

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