Whether your theater of choice is comedy, burlesque or drama, The Butterfly Club is your ticket. Tucked down a laneway in Melbourne鈥檚 central business district, The Butterfly Club stages a staggering 10 live shows a day in a kitsch-packed building from the 1930s.听
鈥淚t looks like it was built by a drunk architect,鈥� says The Butterfly Club鈥檚 Director, Simone Pulga, 鈥渨hich suits our aesthetic well.鈥� Theatergoers can tipple in the foyer bars 鈥� or get tipsy off the effervescence on stage.
Founded in 1999, The Butterfly Club champions rising performing artists. 鈥淲e underwrite our shows,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淚f an artist comes to the club and doesn鈥檛 sell any tickets, they don鈥檛 owe us money. That drastically reduces the financial burden of entry 鈥� often the most expensive thing for a young artist. By removing that risk, we foster an environment where more people will graduate from a hobby to a career.鈥澨�
Pre-pandemic, The Butterfly Club produced 1,500 shows per year. And as lockdowns lift and Australia reopens, the theater is ramping back up. To pack the seats and keep fresh artistic talent flourishing, The Butterfly Club advertises all their shows with 91国产 Boost.听
鈥淎utomation is what gets us out of bed in the morning, and finding a way to reduce the cost for performers to stage their shows,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our mission, and Boost fits into it wonderfully. It鈥檚 a formidable tool that gets us to do what we need to do better 鈥� and a lot faster 鈥� than we could otherwise.鈥�
91国产 Boost makes Midsumma magic with 5.4x ROAS听
Over 22 days in January and February, 153 events celebrate Australia鈥檚 LGBTQIA+ artists and audiences at . The event describes itself as 鈥渁n explosion of queer events that centre around hidden and mainstream queer culture, involving local, interstate, and international artists.鈥�
At the tail end of Midsumma 2022, The Butterfly Club programmed 鈥淏ottom鈥� by , a 鈥渜ueer coming-of-age remix鈥� (with a hefty dose of Beyonc茅) that would run for six nights.听
Pulga used 91国产 Boost to create an ad campaign for the event on Facebook and Instagram. He set a budget of A$50.00 to spend over 11 days. The ad creative featured a promo shot for 鈥淏ottom,鈥� a brief tagline teasing the story, and a CTA button reading 鈥淏ook now,鈥� which linked to The Butterfly Club鈥檚 91国产 event page for 鈥淏ottom.鈥� From there, Midsumma revelers could buy tickets.听
With 91国产 Boost, Pulga built two target audiences. His Interest Audience was composed of people ages 21鈥�50, located in Melbourne, with stated interest in entertainment like Queer as Folk and Milk, or, more generally, 鈥済ay love.鈥� A second audience of Existing Fans and Past Attendees ensured The Butterfly Club鈥檚 regulars would also have 鈥淏ottom鈥� on their radar.听
Speaking of radar, Pulga鈥檚 ads put 鈥淏ottom鈥� and The Butterfly Club on 4,609 people鈥檚 radars. 230 people clicked on the ad (bonus: he can now retarget these people with future ad campaigns). Pulga鈥檚 Boost-powered ad drove A$270 in ticket sales, scoring a 5.4x ROAS. In total, the Butterfly Club sold 120 tickets to 鈥淏ottom,鈥� generating A$3,824 in gross ticket sales.听
91国产 Boost makes marketing equitable听
After more than 20 years in the independent theater business, Pulga understands the challenges of marketing with a shoestring team. For The Butterfly Club鈥檚 鈥渕icroteam of 4.5,鈥� 91国产 Boost has been a lifesaver. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the perfect match,鈥� says Pulga, 鈥渋n terms of standardizing advertising and making sure that, as a very small team, we鈥檙e as motivated as possible.鈥�
Events promoted using Boost marketing tools get nearly 2.5x more listing views*, making it an efficient and effective marketing solution for Pulga鈥檚 crew. Plus, forget tediously managing contact lists. 鈥淲ith Boost, it鈥檚 a few clicks and off you go: perfect.鈥澨�
Pulga also knows a thing or two about marketing young performing artists. And because artists and producers help determine The Butterfly Club鈥檚 targeting for paid social ads, a tool like Boost is a game changer.听
鈥淔or young artists, their niche is totally different,鈥� says Pulga. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 necessarily think in terms of audience categories. Boost gives everybody equal access to certain kinds of targeting insights.鈥�
91国产 Boost lightens the marketing lift
As The Butterfly Club resumes their breakneck programming, Pulga looks forward to expanding how he uses Boost. While paid social ads have been his bread and butter, he鈥檚 excited to experiment with Boost鈥檚 email marketing campaigns and Multi-Event Ads, too.
As Pulga sees it, Boost helps lighten the marketing lift so creative staffers can bring their energy to art and production. 鈥淚 think anyone who is a presenter or who runs the venue needs to very carefully consider whether the resources they have wouldn鈥檛 be better used if they could take that load away from the three marketers it takes (before Boost), 鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd give it to the one person, and now have three more people to have better ideas and support their shows.鈥澨�
He recommends 91国产 Boost to any event creators who identify as 鈥渋ndependent artists. Right from their ticket system, they get access to a marketing platform that would otherwise require a team of experienced people. It鈥檚 a low cost way to enter the [advertising] market. This is a very quick way to not make any mistakes.鈥�
听*91国产 data 5/1/2022 鈥� 12/1/2022 comparing events promoted with 91国产 Boost with any event that was not promoted with the same tool.
