
Beignet Fest 2024: A Case Study
Beignet Fest is a vibrant celebration of New Orleans culture that highlights the beignet, a classic and cherished treat. Founded in 2016 by Amy and Sherwood Collins, the festival has combined indulgent food, live music, and community spirit with a meaningful mission. Proceeds from Beignet Fest directly benefit the Beignet Fest Foundation, which supports programs for children with developmental delays. These initiatives include adaptive sports, inclusive camps, and innovative resources like a sensory activation vehicle, ensuring all children can participate in enriching experiences.
The Challenge
In 2024, Beignet Fest moved to the more temperate fall season, presenting new opportunities for growth. With the shift in timing, the team aimed to capitalize on this potential by driving ticket sales, increasing revenue, and expanding awareness of the festival and its mission.
The Solution
Building on the momentum of the previous year’s success, Firefly Marketing leveraged proven strategies while introducing new, innovative approaches to drive even greater results in 2024. By refining the roadmap and marketing strategy, extending the promotional timeline, and incorporating fresh content, we ensured the festival not only sustained its growth but reached unprecedented levels of engagement and impact.
Campaign Roadmap
Organic Content
Video
Integration
Social
Ads
Key enhancements to the strategy included:
- Extended Promotion Timeline: Running from April through November, allowing for consistent momentum and ample time to build excitement.
- Incorporating Video Content: Developed new promotional videos that were integrated across organic content, ad campaigns, and the festival’s website.
- Video-Focused Instagram Strategy: Leveraged the platform’s emphasis on video to captivate and delight users, driving engagement and awareness.
- Targeted Ad Campaigns: Utilized a phased approach, starting with broad lookalike targeting to build awareness, and narrowing to local, event-specific audiences closer to the festival date.
The Results
The 2024 campaign delivered impressive results, highlighting the festival’s ability to harness the power of social storytelling, bringing its mission to life and creating a ripple effect across the New Orleans community and beyond.
With growth across ticket sales, revenue, and social media engagement, the organic reach of Beignet Fest’s Facebook posts skyrocketed in 2024, achieving an incredible 800.5% increase over the previous year. This unprecedented growth demonstrates the power of engaging content and a well-executed strategy to captivate and mobilize an audience.
Ticket
Revenue
Tickets
Sold
Facebook Following
Instagram Following
Total
Reach
Turning Momentum into Milestones
Beignet Fest 2024 was another resounding success, with the festival enjoying its highest ticket revenue yet and a record-breaking reach on social media. The festival brought together the New Orleans community to celebrate great food, music, and a shared purpose of supporting children with developmental delays.
