About Wathaurong
Since 1980, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative has been the heart of Aboriginal community connection in the Geelong, Bellarine, and Colac regions. They provide culturally appropriate programs and services (including health and emotional wellbeing, youth, aged care, cultural, and family services) to people living on Wadda Wurrung, Gulidjan, Gadubanud and Boonwurrung country.
Serving over 85% of Aboriginal people in the region, Wathaurong needed to maintain a consistent, strategic digital presence that the community could depend upon for information, event updates, and communication of services.
Here’s how Pixeld helped amplify their voice.
The problem: when growth outpaces capacity
Wathaurong faced a common yet critical challenge: how to dramatically improve reach and engagement while freeing up time for internal resources to focus on Wathaurong’s core mission and services.
Beth Davis, Wathaurong’s Marketing & Partnerships Manager, explains, ‘We needed an organisation of experts to help us with marketing tasks, like planning out a social media schedule.’
Wathaurong’s digital presence needed to be more than a few sporadic social media posts. It had to reach the far corners of the community and connect with those who needed Wathaurong’s services.
The Pixeld solution
To increase awareness of Wathaurong’s services for the Indigenous community, they partnered with Pixeld to develop a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
Consistent social media presence
Pixeld helped Wathaurong develop and execute a consistent social media calendar, with posts about the recently opened Booln Bool Cultural Centre, information about the $43.6 million Dreaming Project redevelopment, and updates on upcoming events and activity days.
‘Having Pixeld manage our social media and digital marketing has seen a huge increase in our followers and website clicks, among other things,’ says Beth Davis, Wathaurong’s Marketing & Partnership Manager.
‘They provide expert advice about the best use of advertising dollars, as well as which social posts should be boosted and which ones should be ads, which has been really helpful.’
Email newsletter campaign
Beth explains, ‘We did previously have a digital newsletter, but it was quite ad hoc because we didn’t have the time to service it ourselves and develop that content on a monthly basis.’
Recognising the power of direct communication with the Aboriginal community, Pixeld helped Wathaurong design a new marketing campaign to grow Wathaurong’s newsletter database. An ad hoc newsletter became a reliable monthly touchpoint.
Content days
Pixeld organised multiple on-site content days at Wathaurong’s Morgan Street location, Booln Booln Cultural Centre, and other locations. We captured high-quality photography and video interviews with staff and created a rich content library to be distributed across social media, blogs, newsletters, ads, and the website.
Blog writing
Regular blogs helped drive traffic and spread awareness of Wathaurong’s services to the broader Geelong/Wadda Wurrung community. Blogs include topics about Wathaurong’s services like foster care, youth programs, and aged care and disability services.
Event promotion
Across social media, email newsletters, website updates, and blog content, Pixeld helped Wathaurong amplify awareness for key community events like:
- Stepping Stones to Deadliness at Steam Packet Gardens
- Balyang Bolt – Fun Run
- Naidoc Week Flag Raising
- Booln Booln Open Day
- Wathaurong Open Day
- Ceremony of Cultural Rings
- … and many more
The results
The partnership has delivered measurable impact across many key metrics:
- 727 new email subscribers within the first month of the newsletter marketing campaign, allowing a direct communication line between Wathaurong and hundreds of community members.
- Average email open rate of 43.5% (well above industry average of 23%) and 8.7% click-through rate (industry standard 7%).
- 138% increase in web traffic, from 5,295 in September 2024 to a high of 12,607 in July 2025.
- Over 2,819,045 impressions on social media, with some videos like this one reaching over 60,000 views.
- Significant growth in Wathaurong’s contact database and social media followers, expanding reach to new community members and supporters.
And as a bonus: ‘The partnership has allowed me to focus more on other Wathaurong projects, like the Morgan St Redevelopment,’ Beth shares. ‘It definitely provides time and focus to be able to put towards other areas of the organisation.’
How it’s going
Our ongoing partnership with Wathaurong shows how the right digital marketing support can amplify a community organisation’s impact.
‘Driving traffic to the website helps us spread our message to the broader public,’ says Beth. ‘Not just people who use our services, but also those who live in Geelong and have no idea who Wathaurong is or what we do.’
Want to know more about how we can help your business? Book a free consultation, and we can tailor a strategy for you.
