The results are in; travel company The Flash Pack won the recent UK Social Media Communications Award for Best Viral Campaign.

The travel firm’s ‘First Ever Selfie with Jesus’ campaign fought off competition from Cancer Research UK’s ‘No Makeup’ selfie campaign to pick up the gong.

Flash Pack’s campaign went viral in June this year and was the brainchild of Radha Vyas and Lee Thompson who, with minimal budget and just a GoPro camera, managed to create a global buzz around their selfie with Jesus in front of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. So much so that it has now become a trend in itself with swathes of tourists taking the Flash Pack’s lead.

Since the viral campaign, the Flash Pack has reportedly doubled its staff and experienced a sharp increase in turnover.   

“We’ve managed to turn the ‘flashpacking’ travel trend into a successful business thanks to the Jesus selfie,” said Lee Thompson. “The campaign has allowed us to reach customers internationally, which would have normally taken us years to achieve. We now have intrepid travellers from America, Switzerland and Belgium who are 'roughing it in luxury' on a Flash Pack trip!”

This year has been a year of viral social interaction campaigns, with the aforementioned ‘No Makeup’ selfie and the infamous Ice Bucket Challenge just two of the better-known campaigns.

The Flash Pack’s campaign – which achieved global recognition on a very small budget – reinforces the power of social media marketing and the importance of planning your campaigns, rather than applying a scattergun approach.

What’s more, the campaign went viral in June, in Brazil – which just happened to coincide with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. An astute move by Flash Pack – using a large public event to leverage a campaign is a great way of generating additional interest.

Your social media campaign may not go global but could easily go some way in to increasing your website traffic and generating more leads and enquiries for your business.

With 2015 approaching, now is most certainly the time to plan next year’s digital marketing campaigns.

For advice on digital marketing services, please get in touch on: 0845 075 0152 or team@angelsmedia.co.uk.