How we helped sell out TEDxBrighton using Facebook ads
The backstory
TEDx has an amazing team of volunteers who orchestrate the inspirational event every year. But, as volunteers, their time is limited. With all the focus and energy on creating a day worth remembering, there is little time left for marketing. Not only did they have capacity limitations, but also skill limitations.
"TEDxBrighton (like all TEDx events) is not-for-profit and runs on volunteers," explains Toby Moore, organiser of TEDxBrighton. "This creates a great set of values within the team and means we are always fuelled by our passion. However, it also means we have a lot of constraints around resource and capacity.
"Our number one goal as a team is to create an amazing day, which tells a meaningful story and inspires people to do brilliant things. Advertising, social media and selling tickets are essential to making that happen. But every minute my team and I spend on this is a minute less spent on crafting a unique and unforgettable experience for our audience."
So to recap. TEDxBrighton had a great event with big expectations but were limited in their time and budget. Guess who they turned to for the know-how and expertise to develop and run a paid ad campaigns to drive ticket sales and make the event go with a bang?
(Spoiler: it was us).
How it went down
After an initial meeting with Toby from TEDxBrighton to discuss objectives, budgets and organic content strategy, we developed a paid strategy that met his needs. To make the best use of the limited budget, we ran an initial three-stage testing period followed by an increase in the daily budget once ads were optimised. We monitored and adjusted the campaign daily to accelerate results and drive event registrations until every last ticket was sold.
The results
A 1071% Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS)
200+ tickets sold through Facebook advertising
A sold-out event
An engaged audience ready to re-target for 2019
Here's what they said
"Social Brighton is one of the best social media agencies I have come to work with. It's been a lot of fun getting to know the team and they have worked really hard to understand our event and my personal needs as the client. Social Brighton helped us to sell A LOT of tickets. But more importantly, they enabled me to focus my team's energy more effectively and create the best TEDxBrighton to date."
— Toby Moore, TEDx Organiser