SEO Tips and Tactics for Events Venues
11/03/2025
International Confex
International Confex is the ultimate meeting place for everyone who designs, delivers, or dreams up unforgettable experiences, from global brands and agencies to organisers, associations, and non-profit event professionals. Over two extraordinary days, 5,500+ event professionals gather under one roof to shape your events. We used strategic storytelling and targeted activation to turn industry momentum into measurable audience growth.
Services provided
Industry
Market
step 1
The brief
International Confex approached Patch with ambitious growth targets: increase visitor scans from 19,000 to 25,000 through their ‘One More Scan’ social media campaign, drive a 25.7% rise in theatre attendance by promoting their seminar programme, and expand their corporate and association guest list with new charity and business attendees. They also wanted to grow their social media following to strengthen their lead over two major competitor events. The brief was clear: deliver measurable growth across every key metric.
step 2
The concept
Patch developed a strategic shift in approach for International Confex, moving beyond standard event promotion to connect with the emotional drivers of their audience, aspiration, career growth, and industry connection. The marketing plan replaced generic newsletters with automated, personalised email sequences that adapted based on recipient behaviour. We leveraged stakeholder networks by providing branded promotional materials, evolved the content strategy to prioritise community-generated material, and developed tailored approaches for each social channel. A multi-pronged paid advertising strategy expanded reach beyond existing networks, with segmented campaigns targeting audiences by type, location, and emotional drivers.
Email marketing
Introduced automated, personalised email sequences that moved away from one-size-fits-all newsletters. Content adapted based on recipient behaviour, ensuring relevant messaging reached the right people at the right time. Campaigns focused on emotional drivers including aspiration, career growth, and industry connection to boost engagement and drive registrations.
Social media strategy
Developed tailored strategies for each social channel based on their unique strengths and audiences, prioritising quality over quantity. Shifted from internally-produced content to community-generated material featuring session highlights, speaker interviews, and exhibitor insights. Amplified the ‘One More Scan’ campaign across all platforms to drive visitor engagement.
Stakeholder activation
Leveraged the networks of speakers, exhibitors, and partners by providing comprehensive branded promotional materials. This included email signatures, social media cover images, pre-written posts, speaker cards, and fact sheets, making it easy for stakeholders to promote the event through their own channels.
Paid advertising
Expanded reach beyond existing networks through a multi-pronged paid strategy across social platforms. Segmented campaigns targeted specific audiences by type (corporate, association, charity), location, and emotional drivers to maximise impact and attract new attendees who hadn’t previously engaged with Confex
step 3
The results
Patch’s content strategy successfully stimulated two-way conversation and community engagement around the event.
Keeping the brand alive beyond the two day event.
3,024 %
more impressions vs previous year
9,972 %
more engagements v previous year
619
new followers gained organically
704
link clicks driven to registration and event pages
1,258
inbound messages recieved
32,134
visitor scans tracked
A long-lasting impact
The campaign delivered results that exceeded expectations across every key measure. Impressions grew over x30, dramatically amplifying Confex’s visibility in the market, whilst audience engagement skyrocketed with a near x100 increase in interactions, fostering a vibrant and active community around the event. The multi-channel strategy, with tailored content for each platform and audience segment, achieved 3.4% follower growth during the campaign period, expanding Confex’s core audience and strengthening its lead over competitor events. The campaign drove 704 click-throughs directly to registration and information pages, whilst stimulating over 2,400 inbound conversations that created a lively buzz both pre- and post-event. Most importantly, the strategic approach not only met but surpassed the original objectives: visitor scans exceeded the 25,000 target, theatre attendance increased beyond the 25.7% goal, and the corporate and association guest list expanded with valuable new connections that will benefit Confex for years to come.
We can’t recommend Patch highly enough for their incredible work in transforming the way our consumers engage with our digital platforms. From web development to
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Jackson and team Patch are, to quote Tina Turner, ‘simply the best’… If you are a business that wants a strong industry presence, which ultimately
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Jackson and the team are just amazing. We worked with them for our SEO on the website and during the period of their support, our
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Patch have an exceptional knowledge of the UK events industry, and a proactive and innovative approach to marketing and digital services. Highly recommended.
Jackson, Melissa and the whole Patch team are absolutely brilliant. Always up for a challenge and with the skill and know-how to drive it to
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