Breast Cancer Now's biggest Afternoon Tea yet

That's exactly what Breast Cancer Now's summer community fundraising campaign is all about and we recently supported them with a paid social campaign that saw the most successful Afternoon Tea fundraiser ever. Hear how we boosted income by 20.6% compared to last year's campaign.

Initial considerations

Using our insights and learnings from the previous five Afternoon Tea fundraisers, we discussed the key differences between the new campaign and previous campaigns we've held with Breast Cancer Now.

Firstly, changes to IOS14 tracking data and the removal of sensitive audiences on Facebook meant that we had to adapt our audience targeting and expand our channel mix to reduce reliance on Facebook, a channel that is hugely important to this campaign.

Secondly, with increasing competition in this space for fundraisers such as tea parties, coffee mornings, and bake sales, there was a new challenge to serve high-quality ads to stand out in the feed.

Campaign approach

Breast Cancer Now had seen great success in some of their mail-outs during the 2021 campaign. This prompted us to look at ways that we could target people who shared the same audience demographics and interests.

In addition, we looked into ways we could utilise the visual appeal of baking and tea parties and decided to add Pinterest to our channel mix. During the consideration phase, we bid on relevant keywords to secure visibility among relevant audiences interested in afternoon tea and charity events. During the conversion phase, we targeted warm audiences with a more direct call to action that encouraged people to order their Afternoon Tea kit.

Testing various imagery and messaging

We developed a testing strategy for creatives across Facebook, Pinterest, and search to discover the most effective image and text combinations including a variety of cake-based images. And, of course, a staple of afternoon tea, the scone images triumphed, prompting the highest number of conversions! This particular visual featured two perfectly baked scones, brimming with clotted cream and jam. The accompanying copy honed in on the community aspect of the campaign, inviting people to join thousands of others getting involved with this crucial fundraising event.

Another particularly successful creative was a GIF that showcased the Afternoon Tea kit that supporters would receive once they had signed up, adding to the learnings from previous years that demonstrated the success when a value of exchange is displayed.

The bright yellow background contrasting with the bright pink components of the Afternoon Tea kit also helps grab the audience's attention and stand out on their busy social feeds whilst being recognisable to Breast Cancer Now’s branding.

Record-breaking results

The campaign broke the record for the most money raised during an Afternoon Tea event, and achieved 101% of the target, proving that traditional charity events can still have a huge impact.

Here's a summary of what we achieved with the team at Breast Cancer Now using PPC and paid social:

• 5% increase in registrations compared to 2021
• 6.4% conversion rate from our ads
• 20.6% increase in income compared to 2021
• 55.9% increase in impressions and 23.5% increase in clicks compared to the previous year.

Post campaign engagement

Following the 2021 campaign success, we launched a thank you message with a pay-in reminder for those who still needed to submit their funds. We utilised user-generated content, including photographs of people enjoying their afternoon tea. This also prompted individuals to comment if they needed additional pay-in support.