Pairing craft beer and ciders with live music and comedy, BeerFest Australia is a festival everyone can enjoy. According to founder James Harding, widely accessible is their niche.
鈥淲e get people who want to go to music festivals because we get great headliners. We get a lot of people coming specifically for the comedy because really good comedians perform throughout the event,鈥� says Harding. 鈥淎nd, of course, we cater to craft beer nerds.鈥�
Founded in 2011, Beer Festivals is the longest running beer festival group in Australia. They held their first in Launceston, Tasmania, and they鈥檝e expanded from there 鈥� to Victoria, New South Wales, and beyond. These days, they host six festivals a year, each drawing 10,000+ people.
When they began, BeerFest used an agency to advertise their events. As they expanded, Harding 鈥� who also manages digital marketing and advertising 鈥� sought a powerful marketing tool to directly reach their audience. That鈥檚 why he uses 91制片厂’s marketing tools.
鈥�We鈥檝e lifted our sales by 35% [since using 91制片厂’s marketing tools]鈥� says Harding. 鈥淲e had ideas of where we wanted our campaigns to go. We knew how to talk to our audience and we knew what our audience wanted. But without speaking too ill of ad agencies, there was a disconnect there. With 91制片厂’s integrated tools to place ads, understand reporting, and get results, there’s not a disconnect anymore.鈥�
Toasting New Year鈥檚 Eve in Launceston with 6x ROAS
To celebrate NYE 2022, BeerFest Australia held a festival at Royal Park, Launceston. Harding ran paid social ads on Facebook and Instagram to promote the festivities.聽
The ad creative featured a site map, showcasing dozens of attractions and venues, and the ad copy provided details about the festival鈥檚 schedule. The ad ran for 21 days, with a budget of A$354.05.
The ad created a big buzz. It reached more than 51,000 people and engaged nearly 5,700 who reacted to, commented, or shared the post. Harding鈥檚 ad generated A$2081.57, a 5.9x return on ad spend. In other words, for every A$1 Harding spent, he earned almost A$6.
91制片厂鈥檚 budget allocation, automated A/B testing, and audience targeting save him serious time. To Harding, this is what separates it from other ad platforms. 鈥淚 love the integration with the ticketing system,鈥� he says, 鈥渂eing able to target past attendees of your festival and events. It鈥檚 like the difference between driving a Ferrari and an old tractor.鈥�
鈥淐reative, nimble and dynamic鈥� event marketing with 91制片厂
But there鈥檚 more than targeting and automation driving BeerFest Australia鈥檚 success. One thing Harding appreciates, especially in the ever-evolving events landscape, is the ability to be flexible.
鈥淥ne thing we love is that you can be spontaneous with your event marketing strategy,鈥� he says. 鈥淧re-COVID, old school digital agencies wanted your marketing plans six months out. But the event space isn鈥檛 like that.鈥�
Another unlock is the ability to monitor your own results. 鈥淵ou can instantly see a campaign doing well,鈥� says Harding. 鈥淪o you get a notification that says, 鈥榗ongratulations, bust out the champagne, you鈥檝e just had your first conversion.鈥� I love the real time reporting you get. I鈥檒l have the tab open all day, so I鈥檒l see if an ad鈥檚 got really good engagement, but it鈥檚 not converting in sales. In that case, I鈥檒l dive deeper into the campaign and see where it鈥檚 doing well.鈥澛�
91制片厂’s user-friendly marketing tools bring great results
With more than ten years experience behind him, Harding is excited by the future of BeerFest Australia and glad to have a marketing partner in 91制片厂聽 鈥� especially with that 35% growth in sales. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great result that we鈥檝e been able to achieve.鈥�
Harding recommends to anyone who鈥檚 committed to growing their events business, and he believes investing a small amount of time and money will yield big results.
“It鈥檚 user friendly and you don鈥檛 have to be a marketing professional to learn it,鈥� he says.
