Same-day turnaround, no pixel, no database, small budget

Everything a campaign normally leans on was missing: no technical integration with the website, no pixel or Tag Manager for conversion visibility, no access to existing databases, limited creative assets and a small budget, with EOFY giving the deadline no flexibility at all.

Facebook page access became the data source: retargeting built from the page’s 11,000-strong engaged community, a lookalike audience built on top, and interest-based targeting drawn from what Children’s Ground knew of its donors, from Indigenous performers and social justice to philanthropy. Optimising for link clicks worked around the missing pixel while qualifying users through tightly related interests.

Four copy variants split-tested the fundamentals: emotional appeal versus practical benefit, long versus short copy, first versus third person, with dynamic creative fitting each placement. Engagers rolled into retargeting for a second conversion opportunity.

In one week the campaign reached 9,668 users and delivered 115 link clicks at $1.74 each, and left Children’s Ground with something more durable: real insight into who engages, over-50s in prospecting, under-35s in retargeting, a male skew the team hadn’t expected, and first-person long-form copy winning with cold audiences, all mapped for future campaigns.