Eventbrite | Customer Story

How a Brisbane Beer Festival Grew Ticket Sales with Eventbrite + Facebook

In 2013, Marty Keetels had a vision: to create a beer and music festival that would celebrate and support Brisbane businesses. That year, Keetels quit his job in commercial law to bring his dream event to life, launching Beer InCider — a festival that combines independent breweries and cideries, food trucks, and some of Australia’s best bands.

The Challenge:

The biggest challenge for many new festivals is getting the word out, especially those with small teams and limited resources. Marty knew that social media would play a crucial role in his promotional strategy, so he partnered with Eventbrite as Beer InCider’s ticketing provider, knowing their integration with Facebook could help drive this strategy.

Beer InCider by the Numbers

  • 3x

    ROI from Facebook ad spend

  • 10%

    of tickets sold directly on Facebook

  • 2x

    Growth in attendance

“My biggest challenge as an event organiser is telling people about it! We’re a pretty cool event — craft beer, good food, and live music… who wouldn’t want to come? Surveys tell us that patrons love the festival, and they wonder how they didn’t know about it sooner. Getting the word out about Beer InCider is key.”

— Martin Keetels, Founder and Director, Beer InCider

How Beer InCider grew attendance

Beer InCider considered their marketing approach to be “a bit of an experiment” — but they wanted to see results. So they tried different channels and partnered with local influencers, with the aim of finding the right mix to grow their event.

Using Eventbrite reporting to track the customer journey, Marty was able to see exactly what was driving ticket sales — including which influencers and paid channels, such as Facebook Advertising, were most fruitful. This helped them to develop a solid promotional strategy as the event matured in the market.

“It’s really important to know exactly where attendees are coming from. Eventbrite’s reporting tools allow us to see what activity is driving site visits and converting to ticket sales. It’s cool to see the effect an individual can have on ticket sales, which helps us determine who to partner with again in future.”

— Martin Keetels, Founder and Director, Beer InCider

Increasing sales with Facebook Checkout

Facebook “likes” don’t always translate into sales — it’s a common frustration for organisers. People may be interested in an event when they see it on Facebook, but they often get lost somewhere in the sales process.

To combat this, Beer InCider began selling tickets directly on Facebook, through Facebook Checkout. Paid Facebook promotions drive traffic to Beer InCider’s Facebook Event, where people can buy tickets immediately — without ever leaving the app. This has driven stellar results, leading to 3x the ROI of their marketing spend.

In 2017, 10% of all Beer Incider tickets were sold through Facebook Checkout.

“One of the most innovative parts of working with Eventbrite is through the integration with Facebook Events. People can not only purchase tickets through a Facebook Event but they can also receive their ticket. It makes it super easy for our customers to buy tickets and gain entry.”

— Martin Keetels, Founder and Director, Beer InCider