Paid Media Proposal · 2026 Pilot

The
Performance
Layer

How Good Media Buying will amplify PHI's creator strategy for Cars.co.za — making every rand accountable and every piece of content work harder.

Good Media Buying
People Have Influence
Cars.co.za
01 / 12
The Brief

Where
Cars.co.za
Is Headed

South Africans no longer enter the automotive category through showrooms. They enter through content, community and culture. Cars.co.za is evolving to meet them there.

The Evolution
From
A marketplace of options
↓
To
A guide of decisions

PHI's creator program is the engine that makes this real. Our role is ensuring that engine reaches the right people — at scale.

Content Strategy · Three Pillars

What We're Amplifying

Pillar 01

Stories

Social-proof, community-led content. Real moments in real cars. Lifestyle-led and emotionally resonant — designed to build belonging before intent.

Pillar 02

Advice

Personalised buying and selling tips from real people. High-intent content that meets buyers mid-journey — when they're actively researching.

Pillar 03

Discovery

Stronger feature and push to cars.co.za. Direct response content linking to Car Specials, Finance Calculator, Used Cars and more.

Each pillar demands a different paid media approach — different platforms, different objectives, different optimisation signals.

Our Position

PHI Creates.
We Amplify.

People Have Influence
Creative & Community Engine
  • Creator recruitment & briefing
  • Organic content strategy
  • Community management
  • Performance signal identification
→
Good Media Buying
Amplification & Optimisation Engine
  • Creator ad whitelisting
  • Platform strategy & buying
  • Speed of learning & iteration
  • Reporting framework for Cars.co.za
How It Works · Creator Ad Workflow

From Organic Post to Paid Amplification

01

Creator Posts

Creator publishes content to their own profile organically. Authentic, unpolished, native to the platform.

02

Performance Signal

We monitor reach, engagement, comment quality and watch time. Best performers flagged within days — not weeks.

03

Whitelist & Boost

Creator supplies an ad code. We run the post as a paid ad from their handle — keeping authenticity while adding reach.

04

Optimise & Scale

We A/B test audiences and placements, scale what works, cut what doesn't. Weekly reporting back to PHI and Cars.co.za.

Why this matters: Most agencies boost content on a schedule. We boost on signal. The 4-month pilot builds a database of what actually resonates with South African car buyers — making every rand more efficient over time.

Our Edge · Semantic Creative Strategy

We Don't Just Target People. We Talk to the Algorithm.

Meta's ad system — internally known as Andromeda — reads the language, context and meaning of your ads to find the right audience. Manual targeting is becoming less important.

What you say, and how you say it, is becoming everything. We work with PHI at brief stage to ensure creator content isn't just authentic — it's also algorithmically legible.

In Practice

Semantic Clarity
= Better Results

Creator says:

"POV: buying your first car and you have absolutely no idea what you're doing"

→ Meta finds first-time buyers automatically. No targeting needed.
Creator says:

"This is for the bakkie guys. Ranger vs Amarok — here's what I actually think."

→ Meta serves it to bakkie enthusiasts, LSM 7-10, rural & suburban.
The result:

Lower CPMs. Better qualified clicks. More efficient spend across the pilot.

→ Better ROAS. More learning. Faster optimisation.
Platform Recommendation · Subject to Budget Confirmation

Where We'll Play

Meta
Stories Advice Discovery

Primary platform. Reels and Feed for all three pillars. Whitelisted creator ads from creator handles. Broadest reach and strongest retargeting capability.

TikTok
Stories Advice

Next-gen and female audience. Spark Ads from creator accounts. Strong for first-time buyers and lifestyle content. TikTok Search growing fast for car research.

YouTube
Advice Discovery

High-intent, in-market buyers. Pre-roll against car review and comparison content. Skippable ads reaching people actively researching.

Google
Discovery

Search and Performance Max for Discovery. Capturing bottom-of-funnel intent — people actively searching for cars, specials, and finance options.

Final platform split subject to confirmation of total paid media budget and Cars.co.za's existing account structure.

The Pilot Framework

Built to Learn Fast

Primary KPI
Website Traffic
Volume and quality of sessions to cars.co.za from creator content
Engagement KPI
Content Performance
Reach, engagement rate and comment quality per pillar and creator
Efficiency KPI
Cost Per Click
CPC and CPM benchmarks by platform, improving month-on-month
Month 1
Learn
Test across pillars. Establish baselines. Identify early signals.
Month 2
Optimise
Double down on best performers. Cut underperformers. Refine signals.
Month 3
Scale
Increase spend behind proven content. Begin always-on framework.
Month 4
Report
Full pilot analysis. Always-on recommendations. Creator shortlist.
Budget · Indicative Allocation

How We'd Think About the Money

Total Annual Budget
R5M
4-month pilot + always-on phase
Paid Media (GMB)70% · R3.5M
Creators + Management (PHI)30% · R1.5M
4-Month Pilot Paid Media Budget
≈R875k/mo
Meta — Primary (all 3 pillars)
TBC
TikTok — Stories + Advice
TBC
YouTube — Advice + Discovery
TBC
Google Search / PMax — Discovery
TBC

* Awaiting clarification on whether R3.5M is net media spend or inclusive of management fees.

Why Good Media Buying

We Live at the Intersection

Most media agencies understand platforms. Most creator agencies understand content. We understand both — and specifically how to make creator content perform in paid environments without losing what makes it work.

01

Creator Ad Expertise

We understand whitelisting, Spark Ads, and Partnership Ads. We know how to boost creator content without it feeling like an ad.

02

Semantic Creative Strategy

We brief for algorithmic legibility — making sure creative language signals the right audience to Meta's Andromeda system from day one.

03

Speed of Learning

We move on signals, not schedules. In a 4-month pilot, weeks matter. Our reporting cadence is built for fast iteration.

04

PHI Partnership

We're not here to own the relationship — we're here to make PHI's strategy more powerful and give you a stronger story to tell Cars.co.za.

Next Steps

Let's Get Moving

01

Clarify the Unknowns

Platform split, KPI definition, budget confirmation (net media vs inclusive of fees), and ad account ownership. PHI to revert on our questions.

02

Full Media Plan

Once confirmed, we build a detailed 4-month paid media plan with platform allocation, audience strategy, KPI targets and reporting framework.

03

Pilot Kick-Off

Target start: 1 April 2026. We align on ad account setup, creator whitelisting workflow, and first content brief before go-live.

The pilot is a learning exercise as much as a media exercise. Our job is to generate enough signal in 4 months to make the always-on case undeniable. Let's build something Cars.co.za can't afford to stop.

Good Media Buying × People Have Influence × Cars.co.za

Let's Find
What Moves
Them.

A paid media partnership built to amplify real stories, reach the right people, and make every rand accountable.

Good Media Buying
People Have Influence
Cars.co.za