What makes a digital campaign reach more people?

Digital campaign audience growth comes from making a relevant message visible through formats and channels that suit the intended audience. Campaigns can build reach through video, social media, landing pages and stories that make a brand's impact understandable. Results can be assessed through views, visits, engagement and follower growth.

Digital campaign audience growth explained

Digital campaign audience growth is the expansion of the people who see, visit, engage with or follow a campaign and the brand behind it. It is not limited to a single measure: campaign performance can appear in video views, website visits, social engagement, shares, software trials or growth in a social following. UST's Boundless campaign reported more than 1 million video views, a 60% year-on-year increase in website traffic and 30% year-on-year growth in its LinkedIn following. IBM's Wimbledon work also linked campaign activity with landing-site visits, engagement and media value. These examples show that audience growth can be tracked across both attention metrics and actions that take people closer to a brand.

Sources: UST: Building a brand for boundless impact, IBM and Wimbledon: Ongoing Campaign Involvement

Match the campaign to a defined audience

A campaign can grow its audience by being designed for the people it needs to reach, rather than treating reach as a purely mass-market objective. UST's Boundless campaign was designed to move specific relationships forward, using real client and partner stories to humanise the company's impact. Its wider campaign was intended to build awareness among C-suite decision-makers in a crowded technology market. IBM's Wimbledon campaign similarly used partnership data and live social listening to shape a debate around what makes greatness. In both cases, the campaign connected a brand message with an audience-relevant story, whether that audience was made up of decision-makers, existing relationships, fans or the wider public.

Sources: Account-Based Marketing | The Frameworks, UST: Building a brand for boundless impact, IBM and Wimbledon: Ongoing Campaign Involvement

Use content and channels that encourage discovery

Video, social media and destination pages can work together to make a campaign easier to discover and share. IBM used a short-form video, Just four seconds, to explain the role of its integrated technology in the Wimbledon experience. The video generated 35% more views and 3,225% more shares than the ten Wimbledon-related videos IBM released during 2013. Durrell paired The Lonely Dodo animation with a social media campaign and the Doodle-a-Dodo app, reaching more than 450,000 YouTube views. These examples point to the value of using content that gives audiences a clear story to respond to, then supporting it through channels where they can watch, share, visit or participate.

Sources: IBM and Wimbledon: Ongoing Campaign Involvement, Durrell: Protecting the Future

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FAQs

Which channels help a digital campaign find the right audience?

The examples use social media, short-form video, campaign landing sites and an app to help campaigns reach and engage audiences. Channel choice works alongside audience focus: UST used real client and partner stories for specific relationships, while IBM used social listening and partnership data to inform its campaign.

What makes campaign videos reach more people?

Campaign videos can reach more people when they turn a clear brand story into content audiences can watch and share. IBM's short-form Wimbledon video explained the role of its technology in the tournament, while Durrell's animation used the story of The Lonely Dodo to engage supporters through YouTube and social media.

How do I turn campaign visitors into followers?

The examples do not establish a direct conversion path from campaign visitors to followers. UST's Boundless campaign reported both a 60% year-on-year increase in website traffic and 30% year-on-year growth in LinkedIn following, alongside a campaign built around a humanised brand story.

How do I grow an audience for a digital campaign?

Build a campaign around a defined audience, a relevant story and connected ways for people to discover and engage with it.

  1. Define the audience

    Identify the relationships or decision-makers the campaign needs to move forward. Frame the message around the audience's context rather than treating broad reach as the only objective.

  2. Create a human story

    Build the campaign around a story that makes the brand's impact understandable. Use real experiences, relevant insights or a focused narrative that gives people a reason to engage.

  3. Connect content and measures

    Use formats and channels such as video, social media and landing pages to support discovery and participation. Assess performance across relevant measures, including views, visits, engagement, shares and follower growth.

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