ILLUMINATE ADELAIDE Case Study
Google Ads Success Fuels Illuminate Adelaide’s 2023 Season with a Staggering 93x ROAS
Each year, throughout July, Illuminate Adelaide hosts an incredible event that transforms the heart of Adelaide into a mesmerising place of light and art.
Neon Treehouse is proud to have contributed to the success of ticket purchases through Google advertising promoting the collection of events that made up Illuminate Adelaide. We have been a digital partner for 2 years and are always eager to see what Illuminate has in store each year.
- 93x ROAs
- 537,393 IMPRESSIONS
- 13,487 Ticket purchases generated from our ads
- $1,283,631.11 Purchase value
Hear what they have to say:
“Neon Treehouse has always been a great organisation to work with as part of the Illuminate Adelaide marketing campaign. The team are knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to all aspects of digital marketing support, scheduling regular updates on campaign performance and working collaboratively and proactively on ways to always optimise campaign performance based on the latest info at hand.
Because of our work with Neon Treehouse, we were able to increase our AdWords performance year-on-year and use greater audience targeting to inform our paid social media campaigns and ROI from our marketing mix.
Our contacts were always available and to help with our requirements and all our campaign objectives were met thanks to their involvement.”
— Spencer Scholz – Head of Marketing and Communications
Illuminate Adelaide’s Campaign Vision:
Illuminate’s goals for the 2023 season – What were their main objectives for the year? (expected return on ad spend (ROAS), impressions they were hoping to achieve etc.)
Illuminate Adelaide set clear goals for the 2023 season, aiming to achieve a substantial ROAS based on ticket sales attributed to our paid advertising and generate a significant number of impressions. Based on our experience with other event-based clients, we anticipated that the ROAS would be approximately 30 times the initial advertising investment, reflecting our commitment to deliver a high return on from the paid marketing efforts.
One of our primary objectives was to ensure precise tracking to obtain the most accurate results possible. This was a complex task as the events were being sold through different third-party ticketing platforms. Despite this challenge, our dedicated team worked diligently to streamline the tracking process, ensuring that it was in place well before the event ticket sales went live. This allowed us to closely monitor the performance of each campaign, make data-driven decisions, and optimise strategies as needed to meet and exceed our ROAS targets.
Given the popularity of the Illuminate Adelaide event, our expectations for impressions were set high, with a minimum target of 1 million impressions. We recognised the significance of making a strong impact in terms of visibility and engagement in a competitive market, and this impression target was aligned with our strategy to maximise the exposure in the lead up to, and during 2023 edition of Illuminate Adelaide.
Illuminate Adelaide had a primary objective for the 2023 season: to drive purchases, leveraging the brand recognition they had already established. While the core focus was on boosting sales, the strategy also involved maintaining and expanding their brand’s awareness across a mix of Google’s advertising channels.
In this pursuit, there wasn’t a specific thematic campaign, as the main emphasis was on the events themselves and encouraging participation. Illuminate Adelaide aimed to remind people about these events and encourage their attendance. The comprehensive approach involved utilising multiple channels, with a notable success in leveraging YouTube and Google Display ads to effectively grow awareness and remind individuals about the upcoming events. These channels played a pivotal role in keeping the events top of mind for the target audience.
Additionally, the Search channel played a critical role in converting interest into actual sales. It served as the bridge between brand awareness and purchase intent, ensuring that the brand’s visibility and the event’s significance translated into tangible results, ultimately contributing to Illuminates’ overall success in the 2023 season.
The Cubby’s Approach:
Our approach for helping Illuminate Adelaide achieve their goals and objectives for the 2023 season was marked by a meticulous and strategic execution.
First and foremost, we prioritised the refinement of tracking mechanisms. Ensuring precise tracking was paramount, and we committed to getting it right from the start, constantly monitoring and verifying its accuracy. Periodic checks in Google Analytics 4 were conducted to maintain tracking functionality throughout the campaign.
Our strategic plan was rooted in the structure provided by Illuminate Adelaide for their advertising efforts. We utilised this framework as a foundation, expanding it by introducing more relevant keywords, headlines, and descriptions. This approach aimed to elevate the relevance score of our campaigns, enhancing their effectiveness.
To further align our efforts with the flow of events, we organised our campaigns in phases corresponding to the event schedule. Pre-event campaigns were deployed to create awareness and anticipation among the audience, with a consistent budget allocation. As the events drew closer or occurred, ad spend investments were scaled to maximise impact and engagement.
Our Google Search campaign strategy was methodically designed, incorporating both brand-name and generic keyword campaigns. Leveraging the insights from the previous year’s high-performing keywords, we reused these keywords to maintain campaign efficiency. The strategic thinking behind our Search campaigns involved a continuous review and optimisation process, with weekly checks and adjustments, ensuring that the campaigns remained aligned with Illuminates’ goals.
In the realm of video ads, our primary objective was to increase brand awareness. We experimented with various video durations to optimise the visibility and impact of the brand, showcasing our dedication to crafting compelling and engaging content.
Regular checks were conducted to guarantee the campaigns’ smooth operation, allowing us to make adjustments, fine-tune tracking elements, and adapt campaign content based on the evolving event schedule. This proactive and holistic approach was instrumental in achieving the desired results for Illuminate Adelaide’s 2023 season.
Results:
The results of our comprehensive approach for Illuminates’ 2023 season were truly outstanding. We achieved a remarkable return on ad spend of 93, reflecting a 30-fold increase compared to the initial marketing investment, far surpassing our initial expectations.
Furthermore, we successfully generated 537,393 impressions, ensuring substantial visibility and brand awareness among the target audience. The impact of our strategy was evident in the resulting 13,487 ticket purchases directly attributed to our ads, which contributed significantly to Illuminate Adelaide’s success. In terms of purchase value, our campaigns delivered $1,283,631.11 in revenue, further underscoring the effectiveness of our marketing efforts in driving both brand recognition and sales for the client. These results not only exceeded our goals and objectives for the season but also demonstrated the tangible return on investment that our strategic approach delivered.
Conclusion:
Our partnership with Illuminate Adelaide over the last two years has been a testament to the power of strategic digital marketing in the world of events and entertainment. As Illuminate Adelaide continues to transform the heart of the city into a mesmerising place of light and art each year, Neon Treehouse is proud to have played a significant role in contributing to their success. Our journey together as a digital partner for two years has allowed us to witness the magic that Illuminate brings to its audience, and we are excited to see what the future holds.
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The team who worked on this project:
HANNAH
CLIENT STRATEGY MANAGER
HAO
DIGITAL ADS STRATEGIST
Josh
CEO