The Takeaway
Keep Children Rockin’ wanted its 2020 Phoenix show to feel like the biggest Dead of Winter Fest yet. The nonprofit ran three digital billboards in key markets ahead of the two-day event. After three days of advertising, the campaign had delivered 417 blips and 4,587 estimated total impressions on an $8.16 average daily spend, which worked out at 141 estimated impressions per dollar. Fans and performing bands both took the festival more seriously as a result.
Why Dead of Winter Fest Turned to Billboard Advertising
Keep Children Rockin’ is an Arizona nonprofit that provides instruments and repairs to school music programs. It funds that work with a heavy metal festival called the Dead of Winter Fest. Since 2015 the event has grown from one show in Phoenix to a statewide Arizona tour, and it has put more than $10,000 of equipment and repairs into roughly 20 music programs.
By 2020 the team was preparing a two-day Phoenix show in January. This was the sixth year, so awareness in Phoenix was already reasonable. The goal was different: make this year read as the biggest and best one yet.
Until then, the festival had advertised only on Facebook and through the venues’ own websites. Both reach people who already follow the scene. Neither makes an event look like a serious citywide occasion, and that is what the team was after.
How Dead of Winter Fest Built Its Campaign
- Boards selected: Three digital billboards in the key markets tied to the show, including boards in Phoenix.
- Campaigns run: One campaign, timed to the run-up to the January 2020 Phoenix dates.
- Creative approach: The team designed the ad themselves and loaded the campaign for approval. The aim was to present the show as the biggest and baddest to date.
- Budget approach: An $8.16 average daily spend, sized so a nonprofit could run boards without taking money away from the equipment fund.
For a nonprofit, the important part is that no money was wasted on inventory they did not choose. They picked their boards, set their own spend, and knew what they were paying for. Plenty of event advertising ideas fall apart at exactly that point, when a minimum buy turns out to be larger than the whole promotion budget. These billboard ads for event marketing show what the format can carry.
The Creative
The source does not describe the artwork in detail. What it does record is the goal behind it: present the sixth year as the biggest and baddest show to date.
A music festival billboard has a different job from a product ad. It has to make the event feel like an occasion, which means the look matters more than the copy. Paul Sokol loaded the campaign and sent it for approval himself. Blip’s billboard design guidelines explain how to make event artwork readable at driving speed.
What Dead of Winter Fest’s Billboard Campaign Delivered
After three days of advertising, the campaign had produced 4,587 estimated total impressions, an $8.16 average daily spend, and 141 estimated impressions per dollar. It ran as one campaign across three digital billboards and delivered 417 blips, each one an eight-second play.
The outcomes the organizers cared about were not all numeric. Fans following the build-up noticed the ads and read the move to an offline channel as a step up in professionalism. Using billboards added credibility to the Dead of Winter Fest.
The bands felt it too. Performers were more excited to play knowing the show had reached a wider audience than the usual Facebook post. For a festival that recruits acts every year, that is a practical benefit as well as a nice one.
Blip gave me the opportunity to advertise on billboards in key markets, on-demand, at a super cost-effective rate. The best part of using Blip was being able to load a campaign and send for approval in minutes. If you are clear on what you want to do, the platform will not get in your way.
Paul Sokol, Dead of Winter Fest
Why This Billboard Campaign Worked
- It changed how the event was perceived: A board in the market said the festival was a citywide occasion, not a gig with a Facebook page.
- Sixth year, not first: The audience already knew the name. The boards raised the sense of scale rather than starting from nothing.
- Spend they could defend: At $8.16 a day, a nonprofit could promote the show without pulling money out of the equipment fund.
- Efficiency they could report: 141 estimated impressions per dollar is a number a board of trustees can understand.
- It helped with the line-up too: Bands noticed the reach, which matters when you book acts again next year.
What Event and Festival Organizers Can Take From This Campaign
- Sell the occasion, not the ticket link: The best festival marketing ideas make the event feel bigger. Ticketing happens after people believe it is worth going to.
- Start before the on-sale rush: Give the boards enough weeks for the same commuters to see the event name several times before the date arrives. Blip’s piece on how boards boost local event attendance covers the timing.
- Use the boards to attract talent as well as crowds: Performers and sponsors read visibility as a sign the event is growing.
- Track efficiency, not just spend: Impressions per dollar makes event advertising ideas comparable to each other and easy to report to a committee.
Promote Your Festival Like Dead of Winter Fest Did
Choose boards in the markets your audience travels through, set a daily spend you are comfortable with, and start early enough for people to see the event name more than once. Submit your campaign for review and start displaying after approval.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dead of Winter Fest’s Billboard Campaign
How many billboards did Dead of Winter Fest use?
Three digital billboards, run as one campaign in the key markets tied to the January 2020 Phoenix show. The campaign delivered 417 blips.
How much did Dead of Winter Fest spend on billboard advertising?
The organizers reported an $8.16 average daily spend and 141 estimated impressions per dollar across the campaign.
How long did the campaign run before results came in?
The reported figures cover the first three days of advertising, which produced 4,587 estimated total impressions. The boards continued in the run-up to the two-day event.
Is a music festival billboard worth it for a small event?
It helps most when you need the event to feel bigger than it did last year. A music festival billboard builds recognition through repeat exposure, so book it early enough for regular commuters to pass it several times before the date.
What are good festival marketing ideas for a nonprofit?
Pick the channels where you control the spend. Keep Children Rockin’ chose its own boards and its own daily budget, so promotion never competed with the equipment fund. Strong festival marketing ideas protect the mission budget first.
Where should an event place its billboards?
In the markets your audience already drives through, not simply the busiest roads. Most event advertising ideas work better close to the venue and along the routes fans take to get there.
Do I need a contract to advertise an event on a billboard?
No. There are no contracts and no minimums, so you can run boards for one event, adjust the spend as the date approaches, and stop when the show is over.