Fabric Social was tasked with delivering a cost-efficient, global paid social campaign that would drive brand consideration and convert high-intent audiences into ticket purchasers for Big Bus Tours. The commercial target was ambitious and clear: generate £400,000 in revenue from just £40,000 in media spend within a single month - a 10:1 return on ad spend.
However, this was not simply a revenue driving brief. The underlying strategic objective was to rethink how travel experiences are marketed on paid social. Rather than relying on polished, brand led advertising, we aimed to harness platform native, creator led storytelling to build authentic consideration at scale.
Grounded in the insight that 75% of tickets are purchased within 48 hours of boarding, our goal was to capture travellers at the precise moment of intent. This required shifting from traditional interest-based targeting to hyper relevant, geo-led precision, reaching audiences already in-market or actively planning trips to key cities.
So we set out to:
Ultimately, our objective was to demonstrate that smart sequencing, cultural localisation, and creator authenticity could transform a modest budget into measurable, performance-driven growth.
The campaign strategy centred on platform-native, creator-led UGC that highlighted authentic Big Bus Tours experiences across 5 key cities including London, New York, Paris, Rome and Chicago. We then ran a lower-funnel retargeting campaign, with 10 assets of repurposed UGC to drive revenue and sales of tickets.. The campaign ran on both Instagram and Facebook Meta platforms.
Audience targeting was based on a key insight: 75% of Big Bus Tours tickets are purchased within 48 hours of boarding. This shaped our strategy to focus on geo-targeting audiences in-market or planning travel to specific cities.
Rather than narrowing by interests or behaviours, we deployed broad, geo-specific targeting to maximise reach while maintaining hyper-relevance. Audiences were served content based on their proximity to tour cities, with creative localised for language, tone, and cultural references.
Timing was a major lever. We worked closely with the client, using historic purchase and travel data to strategically sequence our campaign to align with peak periods of travel demand, local events, and seasonal spikes.
This approach enabled us to:
Our campaign was built around authenticity and creative flexibility. We sourced nano and micro UGC creators from each city to deliver short-form videos in platform-native styles.
And each piece was designed to feel like organic content - not ads. We prioritised relatability, humour, and city-specific details to boost engagement.
Distribution was carefully phased:
The campaign significantly outperformed expectations:
Our strategy proved not only efficient but scalable. With a hypothetical £100,000 media budget, we could confidently project 1.4M+ clicks at the same CPC.
This campaign is a masterclass in efficient, effective paid social. With just £40,000 in media, we generated over half a million in revenue and a CPA of just £3.02.
What sets it apart:
We took a modest budget and delivered big brand results, proving that smart strategy and creator-led storytelling can elevate paid social far beyond expectations.
