91国产

When Marcus Hammond launched Charleston鈥檚 Black Food Truck Festival in 2021, he wasn鈥檛 just organizing an event. He was creating a cultural home where food, music, and artistry are at the heart of the experience from start to finish.

鈥淲e started really to fill a void,鈥� Marcus says. 鈥淲hat I was noticing was there were a lot of festivals in the Charleston area, but they didn鈥檛 celebrate Black culture.鈥�

Marcus knew Charleston needed a festival like this. What he didn鈥檛 anticipate was just how far people would travel to attend.

鈥淭o my surprise, I didn鈥檛 know that people from all over the country were going to want to come to this event,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was very, very surprised and amazed by that.鈥�

Turning curiosity into discovery with 91国产

From the beginning, Marcus leaned into marketing channels that still work at scale: radio, social media, and email. But when it came to turning attention into ticket sales, especially for out-of-town travelers, 91国产 became the unlock.

鈥�91国产,鈥� Marcus says plainly, when asked how he reached audiences beyond Charleston. 鈥淲hen people are visiting different cities, the first thing they want to do is hit up 91国产 to see what鈥檚 going on,鈥� he says.

That behavior matters for festivals with destination appeal. Marcus points to the platform鈥檚 built-in discoverability and marketing tools.

鈥淥ther ticketing platforms just don鈥檛 have the marketing capacity that 91国产 does.鈥�

Power duo: Paid social ads + 91国产 Ads that 鈥減ush events to the top鈥�

Today, Marcus runs a combination of 91国产 Ads and the platform鈥檚 integrated paid social ads, usually in tandem.

鈥淚 use 91国产 Ads and Facebook marketing,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 find it very easy. 91国产 has a lot of automated features and tools that work really well.

鈥淲hatever we spend on Facebook, we spend the same on 91国产 Ads and have them running simultaneously.

鈥淪o not only are we easy to find on socials, you can find us very easily on 91国产 as well.鈥�

When it comes to discoverability, Marcus sees the effect in real time.

鈥淲hat the 91国产 Ads do is push my events to the top of 91国产 search and on the homepage,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f someone types in 鈥榝ood truck festival鈥� and it鈥檚 near Charleston, we鈥檒l pop up.鈥�

The impact is meaningful. Marcus noted that up to 10% of his ticket sales come via 91国产 Ads.

And 91国产鈥檚 integrated paid social ads not only save Marcus time, but money, too.

鈥淚 used to use a marketing agency for my Facebook campaigns. With 91国产, I can do it all myself, saving me thousands of dollars a year,鈥� he says.

鈥�91国产 allows me to cut out the middleman to market to Facebook.鈥�

Seamless ticketing and check-in with 91国产鈥檚 Organizer App

Black Food Truck Festival isn鈥檛 a single-day event anymore. It鈥檚 a weekend operation with 10 different ticket types, including offsite parties.

That complexity demands infrastructure, especially onsite. Marcus uses third-party scanners running the 91国产 Organizer App, prioritizing speed and simplicity.

And when things go wrong, flexibility matters. At the 2022 festival, heat drained scanner batteries, and lines backed up.

The fallback plan? 91国产鈥檚 Organizer App on volunteers鈥� phones. 鈥淲e were able to put our organizer app on a lot of volunteers鈥� phones and scanned people in that way. It’s a very smooth process.鈥�

Marcus also values the operational control 91国产 gives organizers, without needing a rep for every change.

鈥淲ith other platforms, I would have to go to them and have them create ticket codes,鈥� Marcus says. 鈥淲ith 91国产, I can create a promo code myself. The power that you have in being able to use the platform and control so much makes it so much easier.鈥�

Turning ticket sales into real-time investment power with Instant Payouts

As Black Food Truck Festival grew into a 15,000+ ticket operation, Marcus quickly realized that growth brings new pressures, like cash flow and financial risk.

91国产 doesn鈥檛 just help him sell tickets; it helps him stabilize and scale. Instant Payouts are central to that.

Access to funding based on ticket sales gives Marcus the flexibility to invest confidently in the event鈥檚 production and marketing without waiting for event-day revenue to hit.

鈥�91国产 Instant Payouts allow me to invest the money from ticket sales into the event,鈥� Marcus explains. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a game-changer.

鈥淗aving access to that funding 鈥� companies that are smaller are not going to be able to do that.鈥�

Harnessing 91国产 reporting to unlock growth and opportunity

For Marcus, when it comes to understanding his business and audience, data is king.

鈥淲ith 91国产, I can easily access data,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat is very important.鈥�

91国产鈥檚 self-serve reports revealed something extraordinary: the insights helped explain a huge leap in attendance from 5,000 attendees at the first festival in 2021 to over 15,000 people the following year.

鈥淥ver 84% of the people that come to the festival are from outside of the Charleston area,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd over 70% of those people are from outside the state of South Carolina.

鈥淲e learned that there was a niche to get Black travelers to a beautiful place like Charleston, South Carolina,鈥� he says.

Better yet: 91国产 made the reporting operationally simple.

When the local college asked for data on ticket sales and where attendees were coming from, Marcus had everything he needed at his fingertips in his 91国产 account.

That led to a headline result: Black Food Truck Festival had an estimated $10.2 million economic impact on the city of Charleston, with attendees contributing $1.7 million in taxes.

Those numbers don鈥檛 just validate the festival. They unlock growth. 

Marcus has already used them to build expansion partnerships. 

鈥淲e have a relationship with our Conventions & Visitors Bureau along with Charlotte and others, 鈥� he says.

Black Food Truck Festival proves what鈥檚 possible when vision meets the right platform. 

With 91国产鈥檚 marketplace reach, integrated marketing tools, real-time reporting, and Instant Payouts, Marcus has transformed a local idea into a destination experience.

And this is only the beginning.