Social Media Influencer Campaign Increases Followers by 54%

The Company

Since 1967, Winnebago’s Specialty Vehicle Division has leveraged the Winnebago Industries  motorhome platform to design and build Accessibility Enhanced (AE) RVs and personalized community and mobile outreach vehicles. Winnebago’s AE line was Launched as a standardized option in 2019, and was updated to include even more opportunities for people with mobility restrictions.. The company’s specialty vehicles are serving communities throughout the nation, in the form of bloodmobiles, mobile medical scanning units, bookmobiles, mobile surgical instruments labs, mobile preschools, mobile dental clinics, and more.

The Challenge

As RV travel hit a nearly all-time high in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Winnebago sought to maintain follower growth and engagement and extend its reach with a more extensive dealer network. It tasked Technica with developing a creative marketing strategy for this very narrow target audience that did not include buying social media ads. 

The Strategy

Technica landed on a strategy to leverage the pull of influencers with a peer-to-peer approach. It had previously been successful with the influencer couple  “Roll with Cole & Charisma. With over 5 million viewson just one Facbook post, Winnebago’s dedicated AE social media channels received significant growth from the campaign. 

For the 2021 model launch, Technica was tasked with promoting a new set of features, much of which was learned from the previous trip. With new and improved features in hand, it was determined that one of the best ways to reach the client’s target audience was to continue to build relationships with real-world influencer trips where they can experience the new benefits firsthand.. These trips would show off the updated features of the 2021 RVs, promote them to an existing audience of dedicated fans, and funnel sales leads directly into dealer partners.

After an extensive research and vetting process, which included several rounds of introductory meetings and a determination of travel needs, Technica selected the popular influencer “Curb Free Cory Lee” for the second trip. At the time, Cory Lee had more than 15,000 followers on Instagram and more than 25,000 followers on both Facebook and Twitter. 

To support the campaign, Technica worked with the influencer and a Go RVing representative to develop a detailed plan and trip itinerary complete with ADA compliant campgrounds and attractions.. Supporting materials included a thorough social media plan, influencer itinerary, posting guidelines to maintain compliance with FCC regulations surrounding promotional posts on social, a troubleshooting/FAQ document for running the RV itself, and a legal agreement.

Technia managed and monitored both the influencer and Winnebago AE accounts for interaction on posts related to the trip to increase engagement. Technica also utilized the itinerary and information provided by Cory Lee to create daily posts and stories to highlight each day’s adventure, which included the influencer’s daily photo uploads.

The Results

Technica tracked and evaluated likes, engagement, impressions, and total reach on the influencer feeds and coordinating posts on the Winnebago AE social channels during the trip. The top post garnered nearly 4,000 views, and between Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts, the campaign garnered almost 10,000 social media likes. 

Additionally, the campaign resulted in a total reach of nearly 16,000, with over 47,000 unique impressions. The campaign had an engagement level of 1,131, and followers on the Winnebago AE social media accounts increased by 428 followers, 300 percent more than the previous influencer trip in 2020. 

As a result of this successful influencer campaign, the Specialty Vehicle Division of Winnebago Industries is continuing to task Technica with planning and executing a series of similar trips in 2021 and beyond. The Winnebago Specialty Vehicle team never considered this type of public relations and social media activity. After two successful influencer trips, it has become an essential tactic for the future and growth of the AE line.