Full Case Study: Northwest Tune-Up 2025

Northwest Tune-Up, an outdoor festival celebrating cycling, music, and community, came to our team with a bold vision: grow ticket sales, increase digital reach, and elevate their brand presence—without losing the authentic, Bellingham-born energy that defines the event. As the festival grew in popularity, so did the need for a more structured digital marketing strategy to reach both core fans and new audiences across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Objectives

Grow Ticket Sales
Increase ticket purchases through strategic awareness, consideration, and conversion efforts across all major platforms.

Boost Brand Awareness
Strengthen NW Tune-Up’s recognition as a must-attend summer event for mountain bikers, music lovers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Improve Community Engagement
Elevate interaction across social and email channels by showcasing the heart of the festival—its people, partners, and place.

Clarify the Value of the Experience
Highlight the full spectrum of offerings (races, demos, clinics, music, beer, family activities) to address any confusion or hesitation in purchasing tickets.

Create a Seamless Content Ecosystem
Align messaging, visuals, and CTAs across all channels with content buckets built to guide users down the funnel.

Challenges

Multi-Audience Targeting
The festival serves hardcore mountain bikers, casual riders, families, music fans, and van lifers. Messaging had to resonate across vastly different segments without diluting the brand.

High Competition for Summer Plans
We had to cut through the noise of other festivals and outdoor events happening in the same window.

Budget Constraints
As a grassroots festival with local partnerships, maximizing reach with a lean budget was essential.

Evolving Brand Identity
As the event scaled, we had to evolve the visual and narrative tone without alienating the core Bellingham community that built it.

Our Approach

1. Funnel-Based Content Strategy

We rebuilt the social and digital plan using a funnel structure:

  • Awareness: Bold visuals, lifestyle shots, and “Why Bellingham?” storytelling

  • Consideration: Education on ticket tiers, demo perks, trail access, and schedule releases

  • Conversion: Urgency-driven posts (limited presale, early bird countdowns), VIP upsells, giveaways

  • Advocacy: Volunteer spotlights, thank-you posts, and user-generated content calls

2. Community-First Messaging

We led with authenticity. Posts tapped into local pride, gave shoutouts to volunteers and vendors, and emphasized Tune-Up’s nonprofit support. This made the brand feel more like a friend than a promoter.

3. Persona-Based Planning

From day-tripping riders to destination-bound vanlifers, we mapped personas and tailored posts to align with their motivations—whether it was demos, beer gardens, or killer headliners like STS9 and Chet Faker.

4. Partner Amplification

We created custom spotlights for sponsors, hotel partners, breweries, and non-profits, giving each a social boost while showing the ecosystem that makes Tune-Up possible.

5. Cross-Channel Consistency

Every asset—email, organic social, paid ads, PR—was built around the same core calendar and visual tone, driving clarity and cohesion across platforms.

Results

  • Social Media Growth: +47% IG follower growth, +35% average engagement rate increase

  • Email Performance: +42% open rate YoY, 19% increase in CTR

  • Web Traffic: 53% growth in landing page sessions during campaign periods

  • Ticket Sales: Early bird sold out faster than previous years, with a 25% higher conversion rate during peak promo weeks

  • Influencer & Ambassador Wins: Secured 20+ micro and mid-tier creators across biking and music spaces, delivering 150K+ impressions

  • Community Impact: Hundreds of volunteer hours secured, thousands of comments and shares celebrating local love and trail pride

Client Testimonial

"Northwest Tune-Up has always been about vibe and community—but this year, the energy online finally matched what it feels like in person. The strategy and voice behind our 2025 campaign helped us hit our goals while staying true to who we are."
— Festival Director, Northwest Tune-Up

Conclusion

The 2025 Northwest Tune-Up campaign shows how a strategic, audience-driven marketing plan can scale a community event without losing its soul. By blending emotional storytelling, high-utility content, and platform-native visuals, we amplified the festival’s reach, improved conversions, and helped solidify its place as the PNW’s ultimate bike-meets-music celebration.

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