Promoting the 2023 Gila Monster Gran Fondo

It was just over one month ahead of the 2023 Gila Monster Gran Fondo presented by Desert Springs Physical Therapy and Southwest Bone and Joint Institute when one of the Tour of the Gila organizers reached out. I offered my services, and within a couple of days, I had the credentials to begin fulfilling a longtime dream of improving the race's media presence and realizing its potential in the online community of people who ride and race bikes. 

My priorities were focused on creating and sharing dynamic content across shared (a.k.a. Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter) and owned (website) platforms while also interacting with like organizations and key community influencers on the regional, national and global scale.

Given the timeline, the opportunities to purchase traditional and digital advertising had passed, so all paid promotions were on shared media. From an organic standpoint, the efforts were hugely successful.

In addition to breathing life into the Tour of the Gila assets, I added functionality and began tracking analytics in a way the race hadn't in recent years. A lot of the work was going back to the basics: responding to DMs, following key influencers back, interacting with like accounts, adding a link in bio, sharing posts from past winners and participants in our stories, adding story highlights, and keeping a stream of dynamic content flowing. Some of it was almost too easy: alumni like Sepp Kuss, Lachlan Morton and Lauren De Crescenzo were playing out incredible stories during the time period I managed these promotions (roughly September 1 through October 13). 

Another point of pride is that the majority of the organization's budget went toward actual media buys. Only 2/5 of the total budget went toward services provided by myself and a local photographer. We both charged fair rates, and a donated a few of my hours in order to leave room in the budget for photography.

Last week, I shared with my clients a report detailing how and to what extent these efforts increased brand exposure for Tour of the Gila and Gila Monster Gran Fondo while also bringing to attention the area’s qualities, which include the landscape that inspired the creation of the Wilderness Act; a robust farming, ranching and mining heritage; a growing creative community; and an enclave of cyclists who consider Grant County their secret hideaway and dream playground.

The report gives Tour of the Gila organizers a transparent look at the overall spend, which went primarily toward media buys, and the impact. Here are some of the highlights:

+950%

New Facebook page likes: 21 

+50% 

New Instagram followers: 60 

+2.8K%

Facebook reach: 103,350 

+7.9K%

Instagram reach: 12,583 

+344.3%

Facebook visits: 1,786

+169.1% 

Instagram profile visits: 724 

+300%

692.9K Tweet impressions 

3.9K

new users on the website