Whether your theatre of choice is comedy, burlesque or drama, The Butterfly Club聽is your ticket. Tucked down a laneway in Melbourne鈥檚 central business district, The Butterfly Club stages a staggering聽10 live shows a day聽in a kitsch-packed building from the 1930s.
鈥淚t looks like it was built by a drunk architect,鈥� says The Butterfly Club鈥檚 Director, Simone Pulga, 鈥渨hich suits our aesthetic well.鈥� Theatregoers can tipple in the foyer bars 鈥� or get tipsy off the effervescence on stage.
Founded in 1999, The Butterfly Club champions rising performing artists. 鈥淲e underwrite our shows,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淚f an artist comes to the club and doesn鈥檛 sell any tickets, they don鈥檛 owe us money. That drastically reduces the financial burden of entry 鈥� often the most expensive thing for a young artist. By removing that risk, we foster an environment where more people will graduate from a hobby to a career.鈥�
To pack the seats and keep fresh artistic talent flourishing, The Butterfly Club advertises 补濒濒听their shows with 91制片厂 Boost.
鈥淎utomation is what gets us out of bed in the morning, and finding a way to reduce the cost for performers to stage their shows,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our mission, and 91制片厂 Boost fits into it wonderfully. It鈥檚 a formidable tool that gets us to do what we need to do better 鈥� and a lot faster 鈥� than we could otherwise.鈥�
91制片厂 Boost makes Midsumma magic with 5.4x ROAS聽
Over 22 days in January and February, 153 events celebrate Australia鈥檚 LGBTQIA+ artists and audiences at聽. The event describes itself as 鈥渁n explosion of queer events that centre around hidden and mainstream queer culture, involving local, interstate, and international artists.鈥�
At the tail end of Midsumma 2022, The Butterfly Club programmed 鈥淏ottom鈥� by聽, a 鈥渜ueer coming-of-age remix鈥� (with a hefty dose of Beyonc茅) that would run for six nights.
Pulga used 91制片厂 Boost to create an ad campaign for the event on Facebook and Instagram. He set a budget of AU$50.00 to spend over 11 days. The ad creative featured a promo shot for 鈥淏ottom,鈥� a brief tagline teasing the story, and a CTA button reading 鈥淏ook now,鈥� which linked to The Butterfly Club鈥檚 91制片厂 event page for 鈥淏ottom.鈥� From there, Midsumma revellers could buy tickets.
With 91制片厂 Boost, Pulga built two . His Interest Audience was composed of people ages 21鈥�50, located in Melbourne, with stated interest in entertainment like聽Queer as Folk听补苍诲听Milk, or, more generally, 鈥済ay love.鈥� A second audience of Existing Fans and Past Attendees ensured The Butterfly Club鈥檚 regulars would also have 鈥淏ottom鈥� on their radar.
Speaking of radar, Pulga鈥檚 ads put 鈥淏ottom鈥� and The Butterfly Club on 4,609 people鈥檚 radars. 230 people clicked on the ad (bonus: he can now retarget these people with future ad campaigns). Pulga鈥檚 Boost-powered ad drove AU$270 in ticket sales, scoring a 5.4x ROAS. In total, the Butterfly Club sold 120 tickets to 鈥淏ottom,鈥� generating AU$3,824 in gross ticket sales.
91制片厂 Boost makes marketing equitable聽
After more than 20 years in the independent theatre business, Pulga understands the challenges of marketing with a shoestring team. For The Butterfly Club鈥檚 鈥渕icroteam of 4.5,鈥� 91制片厂 Boost has been a lifesaver. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the perfect match,鈥� says Pulga, 鈥渋n terms of standardising advertising and making sure that, as a very small team, we鈥檙e as motivated as possible.鈥�
Pulga also knows a thing or two about marketing young performing artists. And because artists and producers help determine The Butterfly Club鈥檚 targeting for paid social ads, a tool like 91制片厂 Boost is a game changer.
鈥淔or young artists, their niche is totally different,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 necessarily think in terms of audience categories. 91制片厂 Boost gives everybody equal access to certain kinds of targeting insights.鈥�
91制片厂 Boost lightens the marketing lift
As The Butterfly Club contimues their breakneck programming, Pulga looks forward to expanding how he uses 91制片厂 Boost. While paid social ads have been his bread and butter, he鈥檚 excited to experiment with email marketing campaigns听补苍诲听Multi-Event Ads, too.
As Pulga sees it, 91制片厂 Boost helps lighten the marketing lift so creative staffers can bring their energy to art and production. 鈥淚 think anyone who is a presenter or who runs the venue needs to very carefully consider whether the resources they have wouldn鈥檛 be better used if they could take that load away from the three marketers it takes,” he says, 鈥渁nd give it to the one person, and now have three more people to have better ideas and support their shows.鈥�
He recommends 91制片厂 Boost to any event creators who identify as 鈥渋ndependent artists. Right from their ticket system, they get access to a marketing platform that would otherwise require a team of experienced people. It鈥檚 a low cost way to enter the [advertising] market. This is a very quick way to not make any mistakes.鈥�
