How organic social media marketing made BIG waves in Atlanta

Social media marketing is a tricky subject for a lot of people–everyone thinks they know how to do it, and only a few know how to do it really well. Here is a collaboration between Delta Star Digital Marketing and the Atlanta capoeira group Quilombolas de Luz, where we leveraged our experience and expertise to build a social media marketing campaign that put a small Atlanta martial arts group in a national spotlight.

The first annual Cintura Preta event was Quilombolas de Luz Capoeira’s (QLC) inaugural capoeira event in the US, appropriately staged in Atlanta, GA. This event centered the African influence and the Black experience within contemporary capoeira practice. Primary revenue streams for Cintura Preta came through guest participation and donations.

The goals of this particular project were to secure a minimum of 50 downstream ticket sales, raise $8,000 and create awareness and a compelling emotional narrative around the event.

PROJECT DURATION: March – October 2022

The Quilombolas de Luz chapter in Atlanta is a small and recently formed organization, having been active in the city for less than a year before the event in September 2022. This posed several significant challenges particularly in terms of reputation, organizing experience, and time. That said, the group was determined to rise to the challenge of hosting a landmark capoeira event, known amongst the capoeira community.

The event organizers commissioned Delta Star Digital Marketing to take point on a small marketing team consisting of 4 people: the lead stakeholder in QLC Atlanta, an artist, a graphic designer, and ourselves. On top of developing a concise marketing strategy from the outset, we also facilitated clarification of the brand identity and purpose of the event at the beginning of the project. From the start of our collaboration in March through the event in September 2022, we were able to

• Successfully develop and execute a viral social media marketing campaign to address the main issues around outreach, size, and reputation
• Facilitated creation of internal information-sharing systems, organizing structures, and communication networks to optimally leverage communication and action potentials within the organization

Among the principal issues this group faced, its small size, volunteer-based organizing structure, limited funds, and huge demands re: scope and expenses were at the top. From a position of small stature and relative obscurity, the group wanted to host a well-attended event with broad national appeal. The key challenges were organically raising event awareness, generating genuine mass interest in the event, and converting the awareness and interest into sales and donations as efficiently as possible.

Strategic Solutions:

Strategies we employed to raise awareness & generate interest:

• Developed viral social media marketing campaign to engage target audience in Atlanta and nationally
• Clarified event purpose, objectives, and themes to be effectively distilled into compelling logo, brand identity, and brand story
• Managed social media influencer relationships to multiply publicity efforts
• Conducted multi-channel social media management to identify and engage active leads along the sales funnel

Strategies we employed to generate sales:

• Created emotionally compelling, value-driven content through graphic design and copywriting that set basis for attendee and donor conversions downstream
• Set up lead generation and capture funnels to draw participant and donor leads toward the appropriate results (ticket purchase or donation)
• Launched email marketing campaign to support fundraising and ticket sales, deliver information, and build rapport with guests
• Worked closely with sales and fundraising teams on goal-setting and lead follow-up to ensure alignment and optimal conversions of a predetermined number of leads