Global photographers' community platform

Brief

WPO wanted to provide its audience with a comprehensive online experience which truly reflects the passion, vision and values of the organisation, delivering:

• worldwide recognition
• increased activity
• a word-of-mouth success story
• all areas of the business encompassed within the WPO framework

Red Ant strategy

• Develop an online presence which consistently conveys WPO’s authority and professionalism throughout the different areas of the organisation
• Develop ways to engage with WPO which are simple, clear and accessible to people with all levels of ability and from all parts of the world
• Strong call to action throughout the online experience

Tactics

• A comprehensive review of the existing site to establish pros and cons
• New, user-centred design for the website  reflecting personality, photography and the global nature of the brand
• A tailored content management system gives WPO control over the content and the timing of updates
• Visitors to the site are invited to become members, engage with WPO via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, read blogs and opinion pieces, become part of a vibrant worldwide community united by a love of photography
• Promotion of WPO on a global stage via consistent presence on social networks, including an exclusive Facebook photography competition, a strategy for bloggers outreach plus the introduction of a ‘recommend a friend’ initiative

Results

• Red Ant won a 'Best in Class' award from IMA for its work on the site - their highest accolade

• 10,629 visits to the website from the competition page between November and February
• 3,366 competition entries - a conversion rate of 32%
• Conversion from Facebook is double WPO’s usual rate – 14% across multiple goals
• Conversion to advanced membership at 6% is overall significantly more than WPO’s rate of 0.21%

Bloggers outreach to promote WPO’s San Francisco Festival

• 83 bloggers were contacted to promote the festival – 79 of which got involved
• 11 of the most passionate and influential of these bloggers have been put forward to become ambassadors for the brand
• 211 visits to the site were generated by those 11 bloggers alone