How Platypus helped Samaritans dramatically reduce cost per lead for Facebook challenge

Samaritans had been running Facebook challenges since October 2020, and like lots of other charities at the time, seeing great success. 

But as more charities entered the space, the cost per lead began to creep up.. 

Samaritans wanted to repeat their successful summer dog walk challenge. They were hoping to significantly reduce the cost per lead while maintaining the fun and engaging tone that resonated with their audience. 

They were excited about the potential of the next phase of the dog walk challenge but knew they needed outside help to achieve their goals.

What we did  

The Platypus team jumped at the opportunity to help Samaritans create a more engaging and cost-effective Facebook challenge. 

We worked closely with their team to develop a creative brief that balanced the need for fun with content that followed Samaritans’ branding guidelines.

Our team, including Chris, the biggest dog lover on that team, got to work on the ad copy. He hit the fun notes using dog puns and playful language to capture the attention of potential participants.

We also provided recommendations on hyper detailed creative elements like background colours to optimise ad performance. 

Throughout the campaign, we held weekly 25-minute catch-up meetings with the Samaritans team. These focused, action-oriented meetings ensured everyone stayed on the same page and could quickly address any issues. The Samaritans team loved these meetings.

Platypus provided data-driven recommendations for creative refreshes and content testing, making sure Samaritans had the assets they needed to maintain strong performance throughout the short 3-4 week campaign lifetime. 

The results

*   Reduced cost per lead to below target

*   Achieved 105% of lead target (7,600 leads vs 7,200 goal)

*   High conversion rate from lead to registration

*   76% of leads joined the Facebook group

*   46% conversion rate from registration to active fundraiser

The Samaritans team were thrilled with the results and impressed by our proactive approach. This helped them feel confident in our ability to drive the results they needed. 

 “Honestly, it was an amazing challenge. We had more active fundraisers and the total raised was higher than target. We surpassed our higher benchmark, which hasn’t happened since COVID times!” – Rosie Peploe, mass participation product manager, Samaritans.

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