Chocoa

About the project

In 2021, the Dutch event organiser Chocoa faced a unique challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic restricted international travel and made a physical event impossible. We helped the Chocoa team organise and host the event on a virtual platform and promote ticket sales through social media and targeted email campaigns. Our results? 600+ tickets sold and more than 160k+ organic impressions across LinkedIn, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

How we helped

IVL Creatives was brought in as the marketing team for Chocoa 2021, responsible for creating and managing the marketing campaign and ticket sales. As this was the first-ever virtual Chocoa, we had to convince the audience that the virtual event offering was worth their investment. A tough task at the time.

To promote Chocoa 2021, we chose an integrated marketing approach utilising social media and email marketing for outreach:

1. We started by analysing audience behaviour and identified LinkedIn and Instagram as our primary channels. To specifically target a growing American audience, we threw Twitter (now X) into the mix.
2. Over three months leading up to the event, we created and posted engaging content tailored to each platform to raise awareness.
3. Simultaneously, we provided frequent event e-mail updates to our subscribers and participants of previous years.
4. Ultimately, we converted the social media engagement into ticket sales through the Chocoa website. We offered different event passes and used various promotional tactics to maximise attendance.

Results

The marketing campaign was largely a success and exceeded the reach and engagement of previous years. Adding Instagram to the marketing mix proved a smart decision, enabling us to reach 36k+ people organically and outperforming both LinkedIn and X. Despite being one of the first virtual B2B events ever, we sold more than 600 tickets, attracting participants from 49 different nationalities.

Beyond the promotional campaign, the overall event was a success and set a new standard for virtual events at the time. Participants noted how easy it was to connect with other attendees through the various virtual stages and online networking features. In total, more than 3635 one-on-one meetings were held during the three-day event.