“We’re delighted with the results of the 2014 Miami-Dade County Fair and the dedication and support of the Etix & Rockhouse Partners teams. They provided our staff with excellent training, IT support and ticketing services, and they worked seamlessly with our marketing team and PR agency when it came to engaging the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market via our social media outlets.”
– Robert Hohenstein, President & CEO of Miami-Dade County Fair
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Every event faces the challenge of increasing its ticketing revenue, email database and social media followers.
Working with Etix and Rockhouse Partners, Claudia Hernandez-Maltes and her marketing team created a customized solution to overcome that challenge for the Miami-Dade County Fair.
The Background
For more than sixty years, the Miami-Dade County Fair has showcased youth achievement in South Florida. In 2013, more than 575,000 guests visited this eighteen-day event, which features amusement park rides, children’s playgrounds, food, livestock and agricultural competitions, live concerts, circuses and much, much more.
The Challenge & Plan
In 2013, Ben Wingrove (Etix) and Suzanna Best (Rockhouse Partners) partnered with Claudia Hernandez-Maltes and her Miami-Dade County Fair marketing team to develop three strategies that would increase ticket revenue and build community databases for the 2014 fair. The fair wanted to achieve these goals through email and social media in order to keep costs low and ROI high.
Start Early
Started executing tactical digital programs five months in advance.
Design. Build. Measure.
- Created customized and targeted email campaigns.
- Created, executed & managed ALL promoted posts on Facebook.
- Built & maintained the 2014 Interactive Events Schedule Tool.
Finalize and Fine-Tune
- Optimized cross-channeling between communication outlets to build audiences.
- Segmented to targeted past ticket-buyers to increase revenue.
- Sponsored contests to increase email capture.
The Wins
The plan–and its execution–produced indisputable results. The 2014 Miami-Dade County Fair:
- Sold more tickets: 39% increase in total ticket revenue.
- Generated more revenue via email: 119% increase in ticket revenue through emails.
- Grew the email database: 115% growth in the email database.
- Enlarged social media communities: 25% growth in Facebook fans.
Next Steps for Next Year
Crucially, the accomplishments of the 2014 Fair are just the beginning. Hernandez-Maltes and her marketing team are already thinking about how to continue increasing revenue in 2015 and thereafter:
- Using the 2014 fan survey to improve the patron experience.
- Updating current digital properties like website and email templates during the off-season.
