Eurosoil: Transforming a physical event into a virtual success with strategic digital marketing

Written by the CEO of Kabloom, Richard Torriani. Updated on November 12th, 2024.

As our first sustainability-centered event, the Eurosoil project provided crucial insights that shaped our future digital marketing strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the shift from an in-person event in Geneva to a fully virtual format, transforming the Eurosoil Congress into the Eurosoil 2021 Geneva Virtual Congress. The success of this transition was driven by a robust digital marketing strategy, that was rapidly adapted to meet the demands of the new virtual format.

Our strategy, encompassing digital advertising, website optimization, email campaigns, social media management, and push notifications, ensured continued participant engagement and broadened the event’s reach. Despite the challenges, the congress successfully attracted 1,286 online attendees from 91 countries, demonstrating the effectiveness of a well-executed digital marketing campaign in the virtual event landscape.

Organiser
The European Confederation of Soil Science Societies

Target audience

Global soil science community, including researchers, academics, and industry professionals

Objective

To transition the congress from a physical to a virtual format while maximising global engagement, registrations, and overall event success

Services provided

Digital advertising
Website optimisation
Email campaigns
Social media management
Push notifications

Key outcomes of the successful global sustainability campaign:

Registration Conversion: Digital marketing efforts secured 611 registrations, accounting for 45% of the total, driven mainly by targeted ads and highly effective email campaigns.
Global Reach: The campaign generated 1.1 million ad impressions, 9,273 clicks, and brought 22,879 unique visitors to the site, attracting a diverse global audience from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Social Media Growth: Twitter followers increased by 500%, and Facebook followers grew by 98%, turning these platforms into key channels for engagement during the congress.
Financial Success: The virtual congress generated over €60,000 in registration income, covering all digital marketing costs from 2019 to 2021 and yielding a surplus, demonstrating the financial viability of the virtual event model.