Since 2024, WBRC has partnered with Social News Desk to streamline the promotion of branded content across Meta’s platforms. By managing every aspect of campaign creation, launch, and ongoing monitoring, Social News Desk has helped WBRC consistently expand the reach of sponsored content while making the process simple and efficient for their team.
The Challenge
For busy newsrooms and sales teams, managing paid social campaigns for sponsored content can quickly become time-consuming. Every campaign requires setup, targeting, quality assurance, monitoring, and optimization, all while balancing the day-to-day demands of producing news and serving advertisers.
WBRC wanted a reliable partner that could take the complexity out of Meta advertising while helping sponsored stories reach audiences beyond their organic followers. The goal was straightforward: make branded content promotion effortless while delivering strong, measurable performance for advertisers.
The Solution
Social News Desk became an extension of WBRC’s team, handling the day-to-day management of branded content campaigns from start to finish.
Each campaign is carefully built and launched across Facebook and Instagram using either static image or video creative, targeting adults 18+ throughout the Birmingham Comscore Market. Once campaigns are live, the Social News Desk team continues to monitor performance, ensuring campaigns run smoothly and deliver consistently throughout their duration.
Rather than requiring WBRC staff to navigate Meta Ads Manager, troubleshoot campaign issues, or monitor delivery, the station can rely on Social News Desk to manage the entire advertising process. Since the partnership began in 2024, Social News Desk has successfully managed 941 branded content campaigns on WBRC’s behalf, representing more than $447,000 in Meta advertising investment.
The Results
The partnership has produced operational efficiency. Since January 2024, WBRC’s branded content campaigns have generated:
- 180.5 million impressions
- 4.53 million people reached
- 1.93 million clicks
- More than 33.6 million engagements
- 41,986 landing page views
These campaigns have also averaged a $2.48 CPM and $1.62 cost per click, allowing advertisers to maximize their investment while reaching highly relevant local audiences. Most importantly, WBRC has been able to confidently offer paid social amplification as part of its branded content strategy without adding additional workload to its internal team.
A Partnership Built on Responsiveness
In addition to campaign performance, WBRC values the speed and reliability of working with Social News Desk:
Thank you SO much! And also thank you for getting all of our campaigns out so quickly this week. I know it wasn't easy, but you were great!
This seamless responsiveness directly directly shapes daily operations and keeps high-stakes ad schedules on track. For a fast-moving news station like WBRC, having a partner that reacts instantly to sudden budget shifts or asset swaps means less downtime, fewer missed opportunities, and total confidence when executing complex client strategies under tight deadlines.
I really appreciate the great relationship we have with SND. Their communication, quick responsiveness, and thoroughness help to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Whether it's something that needs to be adjusted or changed (i.e. budget, video swap, etc.), or whether we're waiting on a client to give us access so they can be tagged, SND is quick to communicate.
That responsiveness has become a key part of the partnership. Whether managing a single campaign or coordinating multiple launches in a short timeframe, Social News Desk ensures campaigns are built accurately, launched on schedule, and monitored throughout their lifecycle.
Making Branded Content Easier
For WBRC, partnering with Social News Desk means more than outsourcing campaign management. It means having a trusted team dedicated to making branded content advertising simple, reliable, and successful.
By handling the technical work behind Meta advertising, Social News Desk allows WBRC to stay focused on creating quality sponsored content and serving advertisers, while knowing every campaign is backed by experienced campaign management and ongoing optimization.
The result is a scalable branded content strategy that consistently expands audience reach, drives meaningful engagement, and delivers measurable value to both the station and its advertising partners.
Learn more about our Ads Managed Services and explore other customer success stories from organizations succeeding with SND.
