C12 Group
Innovative Facebook Campaign for C12 Drives Record Number of Chair Leads
Accelerating C12’s Growth Through Targeted Facebook Campaigns
Introduction
C12 is the world’s largest network of Christian CEOs and executives, dedicated to helping business leaders integrate their faith and business practices. A key component of their growth strategy is the recruitment of “Chairs”—experienced business coaches and mentors who facilitate peer advisory groups within their regions. Finding these Chairs, especially within specific geographic areas, has been a significant challenge due to the niche nature of their target audience.
Click Laboratory, a digital marketing and web design agency, has been partnering with C12 for several years to enhance their online presence and marketing efforts. Recognizing the obstacles C12 faced in reaching their ideal candidates, Click Laboratory devised an innovative Facebook campaign to connect with Christian business leaders effectively.
The Challenge
Targeting Christian business leaders on social media platforms is inherently difficult. Platforms like Facebook restrict advertisers from filtering or creating audiences based on religious or political affiliations to protect user privacy and prevent discrimination. This limitation posed a significant hurdle for C12, whose primary audience consists of Christian CEOs and executives interested in integrating faith into their business practices.
C12 needed a solution that would allow them to reach potential Chairs—individuals who are not only seasoned business professionals but also share the organization’s Christian values—without violating Facebook’s advertising policies.
Watch Michele Jech, VP of Marketing for C12
The Solution
Click Laboratory proposed a groundbreaking approach to overcome this targeting challenge. Instead of relying on traditional audience filters, they identified active members within specific Facebook groups related to Christian business interests. By focusing on these groups, they could indirectly target individuals who fit C12’s ideal Chair profile without infringing on Facebook’s advertising guidelines.
The strategy involved:
- Identifying Relevant Groups: Locating Facebook groups where Christian business leaders actively engage.
- Extracting Active Members: Analyzing these groups to identify members who are most active and engaged.
- Creating a Core Audience: Compiling these active members into a custom audience for the campaign.
- Developing a Lookalike Audience: Utilizing Facebook’s algorithms to create a lookalike audience that mirrors the characteristics of the core group, thus expanding the reach to similar individuals within targeted geographic regions.
Implementation
With the audience defined, Click Laboratory leveraged one of C12’s top-performing assets—the Strategic Planning Guide—as the centerpiece of the campaign. The implementation steps included:
- Ad Creation: Designing compelling Facebook ads that resonated with Christian business leaders, emphasizing the value of the Strategic Planning Guide.
- Landing Pages: Developing optimized landing pages tailored to the Facebook audience, ensuring a seamless user experience from ad click to conversion.
- Email Nurturing Campaign: Setting up an automated email sequence to educate and engage leads further. The goal was to encourage them to attend C12’s “Missionpreneur” webinar, introducing them to the opportunity of becoming a Chair.
Results
The campaign yielded remarkable results shortly after its launch:
- Exceptional Conversion Rates: Achieving a 40-60% conversion rate for downloads of the Strategic Planning Guide, indicating strong interest and engagement from the targeted audience.
- Surge in Lead Generation: The number of leads generated since the campaign’s inception matched the combined total from the previous four years, demonstrating the campaign’s effectiveness.
- High-Quality Leads: The leads were not just numerous but also highly qualified. The marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) converted into sales-qualified leads (SQLs) at a record rate, significantly enhancing C12’s recruitment pipeline for new Chairs.
- International Expansion: Encouraged by the domestic success, the campaign was launched internationally, continuing to deliver impressive results across different regions.
Throughout the campaign, Click Laboratory continued to optimize performance by tweaking ads, refining landing pages, and enhancing the email nurturing sequence. These adjustments contributed to sustained high conversion rates and lead quality.
Conclusion
Click Laboratory’s innovative Facebook campaign transformed C12’s approach to recruiting Chairs. By circumventing traditional advertising limitations and creatively targeting their niche audience, they unlocked unprecedented growth for C12. The strategic use of Facebook groups to build a custom and lookalike audience proved to be a game-changer.
The campaign not only provided immediate results but also established a scalable model for future marketing efforts. C12 now enjoys a robust pipeline of qualified candidates, positioning them for continued growth and expansion of their mission to integrate faith and business leadership worldwide.
Future Outlook
Building on this success, C12 and Click Laboratory plan to explore additional digital channels and strategies to further enhance engagement and recruitment efforts. The partnership exemplifies how innovative thinking and tailored marketing solutions can overcome significant challenges and drive meaningful business outcomes.
