Cheers to Social Media

By: Simon Baptist and Dylan Fuller

Case Study for a Social Media Marketing experiment for the Wandsworth Common Beer Festival, March 2009

Case Study for a Social Media Marketing experiment for the Wandsworth Common Beer Festival, March 2009

The Brief

The date was set for the inaugural Wandsworth Common Beer Festival but there was one problem. . .

The organiser didn’t know if anyone was going to come

They needed 750 advanced tickets to be sold to ensure the event would break-even

The date was set for the inaugural Wandsworth Common Beer Festival but there was one problem. . .

The organiser didn’t know if anyone was going to come

They needed 750 advanced tickets to be sold to ensure the event would break-even

Our Theory:Social Media was the Solution

Plan of Attack:

1. Engage and Converse in Primary

Sphere of Twitter and Facebook

2. Support via Secondary Sphere of

Vertical Blogging &

Communities

3. Drive Acquisitions to Ticket

System (eventbrite)

Plan of Attack:

1. Engage and Converse in Primary

Sphere of Twitter and Facebook

2. Support via Secondary Sphere of

Vertical Blogging &

Communities

3. Drive Acquisitions to Ticket

System (eventbrite)

Online Results• eventbrite: Sold 856 tickets (114% above

target!)– 2472 unique visitors– conversion rate of 35%

• Twitter: 232 followers– Twitter Effect: Due to ReTweets total

Twitter audience was 6X• Facebook: 23 confirmed attendees

– Underperformed on expectation• Microsite: 3175 unique visitors

– 61% search (Google 58%), 24%+ social media, 4% blogs

• SEO Impact: Top 3 links on Google– Half of all page one search results– PageRank driven by social media effort, impact

was seen with 48 hours (fresh, relevant, recent)

• eventbrite: Sold 856 tickets (114% above target!)– 2472 unique visitors– conversion rate of 35%

• Twitter: 232 followers– Twitter Effect: Due to ReTweets total

Twitter audience was 6X• Facebook: 23 confirmed attendees

– Underperformed on expectation• Microsite: 3175 unique visitors

– 61% search (Google 58%), 24%+ social media, 4% blogs

• SEO Impact: Top 3 links on Google– Half of all page one search results– PageRank driven by social media effort, impact

was seen with 48 hours (fresh, relevant, recent)

Interesting Online Analytics

Very high % of Social Media Clicks were to the eventbrite ticket microsite

Very high % of Social Media Clicks were to the eventbrite ticket microsite

Social Media Traffic: 24% is our lowest %, on some calculations it was as high as 38%

Social Media Traffic: 24% is our lowest %, on some calculations it was as high as 38%

Event Mapping to Traffic

Significant Social Media events correspond with increased traffic levels to the Festival microsite

Significant Social Media events correspond with increased traffic levels to the Festival microsite

• 1350 people attended the event over 3 ½ days (target was 1000)

• 80 (~6000 pints) of 88 (double the initial order) casks of real ale consumed

• The first ever Wandsworth Common Beer Festival was a roaring success

• The ecstatic event organiser and venue owner is now planning a 2nd festival in late October ‘09

• 1350 people attended the event over 3 ½ days (target was 1000)

• 80 (~6000 pints) of 88 (double the initial order) casks of real ale consumed

• The first ever Wandsworth Common Beer Festival was a roaring success

• The ecstatic event organiser and venue owner is now planning a 2nd festival in late October ‘09

Real World Results

Social Media ROI

• 63% of attendees were a result of Social Media Marketing

• £571 revenue per 1 hour spent on Social Media

• £11.41 for each £1 spent (=11x ROI)• 5.6% total cost of sale for revenue

generated by Social Media• We believe the ROI can be

significantly increased by deploying ‘emerging’ Social Media best practice and development of better tools to manage campaigns

• 63% of attendees were a result of Social Media Marketing

• £571 revenue per 1 hour spent on Social Media

• £11.41 for each £1 spent (=11x ROI)• 5.6% total cost of sale for revenue

generated by Social Media• We believe the ROI can be

significantly increased by deploying ‘emerging’ Social Media best practice and development of better tools to manage campaigns

Primary Lesson

With attention at a premium, Social Media provides the platform to ensure the success of events

Social Media is a cost effective and easy way to drive awareness and real world actions (e.g. attendees, footfall, purchases )

With attention at a premium, Social Media provides the platform to ensure the success of events

Social Media is a cost effective and easy way to drive awareness and real world actions (e.g. attendees, footfall, purchases )

Other Key Lessons

• Social Media complements and magnifies the value of Search

• Post-event long term benefits (e.g. links, page rank, awareness, social presence)

• It’s not all about Google or Facebook

• Twitter works (giving us a new question: Are Twitter users network nodes?)

• Social Media complements and magnifies the value of Search

• Post-event long term benefits (e.g. links, page rank, awareness, social presence)

• It’s not all about Google or Facebook

• Twitter works (giving us a new question: Are Twitter users network nodes?)

Theory Proven: Social Media Works

• Social Media should be a part of any marketing and promotional campaign

• Social Media + Search = more traffic, more results

• The ROI will be positive. This is a cheap and easy way to get results

• Be active and review your activity daily, then refine and repeat. Then review, refine & repeat again

• Social Media should be a part of any marketing and promotional campaign

• Social Media + Search = more traffic, more results

• The ROI will be positive. This is a cheap and easy way to get results

• Be active and review your activity daily, then refine and repeat. Then review, refine & repeat again

A little about us:

Dylan Fuller: Is a seasoned Internet executive with global experience in Digital Advertising, Search and Web 2.0. He’s currently working with a couple of technology start-ups. • http://www.twitter.com/afullerview• http://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfuller

Simon Baptist: Has been building successful Internet products since ’96, with focus on Search and Advertising. He believes Social Media is an important key to unlocking true advertising value.• http://www.twitter.com/simon_baptist• http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonbaptist

CheersSkålProst

CheersSkålProst

Related Links:

•Twitter: http://twitter.com/wandsworthbeer

•Eventbrite:http://wandsworthbeerfestival.eventbrite.com/

•BeerViking (WordPress powered blog):http://www.beerviking.com/2009/03/884/

•Ning:http://lovebeeratborough.ning.com/

•RateBeer:http://www.ratebeer.com/

•La Gothique (event venue): http://www.legothique.co.uk/