Objective
Create excitement around the event (PlantCon) and it’s expansion into a new market for the first time in partnership with the event organizers while also driving ticket sales and room bookings.
Challenges
- Ensuring event organizer’s and destination’s goals for event goer personas were aligned.
- Inspiring convention attendees to venture beyond the event itself in tandem with showing the convenience of booking a room onsite.
- Featuring all of the facets of an event that had never been hosted in the destination
The Strategy
The campaign situated the DFW plant community as a must-join movement, creating urgency for anyone outside of the original event’s drive market to participate in learning, exchange, and community building.
- Core Message:
“If you love plants and want to geek out about all things green, you have to check out PlantCon 2024 in Allen, Texas.” - Psychology/Vibe:
- Highlight the region’s unique character: a place where freedom, discovery, and connection come together.
- Showcase how the journey through the Central Coast is as enriching as the destinations themselves.
- Create a unified identity for the region, spanning from just north of Los Angeles to just south of San Francisco.
- Media Tactics:
- In-Market Creator Content: Expand the audience beyond that of the destination or event planners to content creators that came to the destination early to feature things to do and places to eat with those that would be in market that weekend
- Meta (Facebook & Instagram): Feature the event aesthetic through images and graphics in each piece of content to subtly remind the audience to purchase their tickets or miss out on the fun.
- Giveaways: Encourage event goers to share the upcoming event and increase ticket sales through ticket giveaways
Results
The campaign delivered impressive performance across all channels, contributing to record ticket sales:
- Blended Campaign Impressions: 1,661,980
- Blended Campaign Clicks: 39,990
- Blended Campaign CTR: 2.41%
Key Takeaways
- Ticket sales surpassed previous years events; the PlantCon team will continue to hold the event in Allen, Texas, on an even larger scale.
- The effort to create a sense of missing out was a successful tactic, encouraging event goers to purchase tickets and attend.
- The convention center hotel was fully booked for the duration of the event and the nine other hotels also saw an increase in occupancy.
