Asian Fest: Bringing Families Together Through Facebook Advertising

Event: Asian Fest 2018 - Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis

The Challenge

Asian Fest, organized by the Asian American Alliance Inc., brings people together to celebrate Asian cultures and traditions in Indianapolis.

For the 2018 festival at the Indiana State Museum, organizers wanted an effective way to reach their target audience, introduce the event to more local families, and encourage people to attend.

Higgens Media was brought in to develop and manage a Facebook advertising campaign that would help spread the word.

Our Approach

We developed a Facebook advertising strategy focused on reaching different audiences with creative tailored to their interests.

Rather than relying on one advertisement, we tested several formats, including single-image ads, carousels, and video. We also created Facebook event pages to give people a place to learn about the festival and indicate their interest in attending.

Throughout the campaign, we monitored performance and tested different creative and audience combinations to improve results.

The campaign started showing encouraging results almost immediately. Within the first day, Facebook's advertising tools had projected approximately four event responses based on early spending estimates. Instead, the campaign had already generated 22 event responses.

That early performance was a promising indication that our messaging and targeting were connecting with the intended audience.

The Results

By June 2, while the campaign was still running, Facebook reported 376 event responses at an average cost of just $0.55 per response.

The campaign also generated:

• 497 people taking action

• 90 post reactions

• 47 post shares

• 28 page likes

• 16 post comments

The festival itself drew a strong crowd. Attendance was successful enough that people commented on Facebook about having difficulty finding available parking.

While final attendance numbers aren't available, the campaign successfully generated hundreds of event responses and meaningful engagement from people interested in attending.

A Partnership That Continued

The Asian American Alliance hired Higgens Media again in 2019 to develop and manage a similar Facebook advertising campaign for Asian Fest.

The project demonstrated how audience targeting, thoughtful creative, and ongoing campaign testing can help connect community events with the people they're trying to reach.

For Higgens Media, it also marked the beginning of years of helping businesses, nonprofits, and event organizers use paid social advertising to reach their audiences and inspire action.

Project Highlights

• 376 Facebook event responses

• $0.55 average cost per event response

• 497 people taking action

• 47 post shares

• 2019 repeat client engagement

Facebook performance metrics reflect the June 2, 2018 campaign snapshot, while advertising was still underway.

Services provided: Facebook Advertising · Event Marketing · Audience Targeting · Ad Design · Campaign Management · Creative Testing