TEDx Birmingham City University - Transformation in uncertain times

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. Speakers included: Ian Thomas, Dr Sally Eaves, Dr Martyn Glynn, Michelle Mills-Porter, Herman Stewart, Jo Goodman, Nav Chouhan, Cliff Dennet. Brief Create a multi-channel marketing campaign to promote the TEDx brand, TEDx Birmingham City University event and ensure attendance expectations are meet on the day. Individuals invited to the TEDx event are both the audience and community that listen to the big ideas being shared and spread those ideas out into the world, so reaching the right people at the right time becomes imperative. Goals: - Raise awareness of the TEDx as a brand and TEDx Birmingham City University as an independent event. - Drive traffic to www.tedxbirminghamcityuniversity.com and corresponding social platforms. - Generate 100% attendance based on the capacity of 200 people of the venue and ensure successful delivery of the event. Delivery: The campaign ran for a two month period and focusing on local demographics (West Midlands) with ages between 18-65 and customised messaging on various social media platforms. Tactics: - Researched local and national TEDx events to find best practices for digital marketing campaigns, evaluated the most appropriate channels and brainstormed independent ideas. - Put together an overall digital marketing strategy with customised tactics for three different platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The strategy focused on the TEDx brand, showcasing the theme of the event, nine speakers, external acts and the ‘behind the scene’ team. - Created, optimised and managed all three platforms in accordance with the TEDx brand as well as the platform requirements. This included generating engaging content, posting it live or using scheduling software (Hootsuite and Buffer) as well as community management. Results: The campaign activity was for a two month period only and the execution of the digital marketing plan brought a total of 257 followers on Instagram, 103 followers on Twitter and 35 followers on Facebook. The event was sold out during the first 3 weeks of the marketing campaign and the 100% attendance goal ensured a successful event. This culminated with a general sentiment increased across all platforms with positive dialogue, feedback and interaction among the social community.