Jenna Farmer explains the Avanti West Coast Facebook group to her audience.
Submitted by Purple Goat Agency

Accessible Rail Travel with Avanti West Coast

Purple Goat Agency contracted four disability influencers and paid social to grow Avanti West Coast's accessible rail travel Facebook group, reporting more than 3 million impressions.

4,465engagements
8,941impressions
4influencers
3Mpaid campaign impressions

Case in 60 seconds

Avanti West Coast had a new Facebook group for accessible rail travel that few disabled passengers knew about, so the work had to build awareness and membership at once while explaining the group's features and how to use it.

The campaign appears to turn on the way disabled passengers judge rail accessibility through the experience of other disabled travellers, because a group described by people who use the network themselves carries more weight than the operator describing it.

Purple Goat built the launch around disabled creators publicising the group in their own feeds and then hosting live content inside it, so the group itself became the destination rather than the subject of an advertisement.

Four disability influencers produced Instagram grid posts and stories publicising the Facebook group and delivered a Facebook Live as interactive content within it, and that creator content was then run as a targeted mix of paid ads driving further awareness and sign ups.

Purple Goat reports 4 influencers, 16 pieces of content, 8,941 impressions and 4,465 engagements, while the outcome copy states that the paid campaign delivered more than 3 million impressions and populated the group with engaged members.

Strategy Breakdown

The disabled community, and specifically disabled rail passengers travelling with Avanti West Coast.
Rail travel carries practical uncertainty for disabled passengers, and the page positions the group as a resource that helps with their travels, which suggests the work addressed information passengers currently gather informally rather than from the operator.
A train operator has little standing reason for passengers to follow it between journeys, so the harder ask was recruitment into a permanent group rather than a response to a single travel offer.
Avanti West Coast appears in the work as the host of a shared resource rather than as an advertiser, since the campaign asked for membership and participation rather than bookings.
The brief named the main features of the group and the ease of using it, which suggests the barrier read as unfamiliarity rather than unwillingness, so the content demonstrated the group in use rather than arguing for it.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Facebook Live
  • Instagram grid posts
  • Instagram stories
  • paid ads

Partners

  • Purple Goat Agency

Participation mechanic

  • Audiences were asked to join the Avanti Facebook group and take part in it, including through a Facebook Live delivered as interactive content inside the group.

Creator role

  • four disability influencers

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Engagements4,465
Impressions8,941
Influencers4
Paid Campaign ImpressionsWith more than 3 million impressions - our paid campaign effectively created significant awareness around the initiative and the Avanti brand.
Pieces of Content16

Why Purple Goat Agency's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Creator content commissioned for organic feeds can be re-run as paid inventory, which appears to be how a roster of 4 influencers reached the more than 3 million impressions the page attributes to the paid campaign.

  2. 2

    A branded community works as a campaign destination rather than a campaign message, because the Facebook Live held inside the group gave new members a reason to remain after the sign up rather than simply to click.

  3. 3

    Casting creators who share the access needs of the intended audience lets a service walkthrough come from a user rather than from the operator, which suggests why the brief covered features and ease of use rather than brand claims.

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