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Social media success on a shoestring budget

Whether you’re building something from nothing, or just neck-deep in an economy that’s doing backflips – cents must work like dollars. This is especially true for marketing budgets. Social media specialist, Mosh, explain just why the medium is an incredibly attractive avenue on which to sow seeds with cents. 


In 2018, Acton came to Mosh with the desire to build a social media presence for Indomie noodles. While delicious, at the time Indomie was seen as the “foreign noodles” among local offerings. Fast-forward a mere two years and Indomie’s value market share of instant noodles in supermarkets is 42 percent, they’re growing ahead of the category, have over 20,000 fans on Facebook, and regularly see organic reach of over 20,000. All on a budget that is a fraction of that spent by other large FMCG brands. 

However, the noodle brand didn’t get there on cruise control. “Upfront planning was key, but even before that, finding the right social media manager and content team,” says Joanne Hall, Senior Brand Manager at Acton. Mosh began by laying down some stringent KPIs – reach, total likes or followers, and engagement rate. Reporting monthly on these pursuits then allowed the social media specialist to adjust constantly, learning along the way and tweaking behaviours. 

Mosh
Indomie Instagram post by Mosh.

Julian Thompson, Partner at Mosh, explains that while not every post will become an overnight viral masterpiece, marketers who are trying to maximise their budget do need to understand what’s working and what’s not. “While understanding these metrics and the best technical executions was foundational to our success, our growth came from creativity.”

Hall says that Mosh were central in defining the tone of voice for Indomie and the content pillars. “Targeting a younger-skewed demographic, Mosh helped us develop a meme-like culture and never took ourselves seriously. This also introduced a greater potential for virality, with lots of comments about the creative content.”

Content doesn’t have to be some 8k resolution, slow motion, firework-filled production with noodles flying everywhere. “A piece of user-generated content we shared showing some hilariously ridiculous Indomie iceblocks welcomed over 8,300 likes, 13,000 comments, 11,000 shares, and reached 1.5 million people. The only associated cost for this virality was a small boost budget of under $100,” explains Thompson.

Another pillar of Indomie’s success was monthly giveaways, sparking engagement and driving growth. “Once again, we didn’t have to give away an Indomie-branded Lamborghini – we often found fantastic results by giving away a year’s supply of noodles. With a five-pack retailing at around $3.25, it’s a small price to pay for an incredibly attractive prize. The added benefit of course is getting people trying the product, and prying them away from loyalty to the competition,” he adds.

Indomie Instagram post by Mosh.

One of the flow-on effects of creating this banter-centric brand is that people began to crave any form of Indomie merchandise too. Creations such as key rings, t-shirts, aprons and more, all took off, in turn functioning to carry the brand name further.

Importantly, the road to building Indomie’s market share in New Zealand wasn’t simply posting some photos of noodles and hoping for the best. “We believe social media can be the best bang for buck when it’s done correctly, and the Mosh team have really helped us stretch our budget, while getting results, and keeping our brand owner in Indonesia happy,” says Hall.

In the end, objective-oriented creativity and collaboration unlocked the power of social media, allowing significant results on a shoestring budget and cementing a strong client relationship. Who doesn’t love a great underdog story?


Mosh has over 10 years’ experience helping brands better connect with their social media offerings. For more, visit mosh.co.nz.

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