Experts Only Festival 2025
Digital Marketing Recap
A strategic recap of 2025 paid media performance across all platforms — with a deep-dive into Meta targeting architecture, creative strategy, and revenue attribution. Campaign ran July 7 – September 20, 2025.
2025 Annual Recap
Founders & Leadership
2025 Paid Media Performance Overview
Meta was the undisputed revenue engine of 2025. Across all platforms, paid media delivered industry-leading efficiency with blended ROAS far exceeding benchmarks. Every dollar was tracked, followed, and reallocated toward what performed.
$57K
Total Paid Spend
~$4M
Total Attributed Revenue
11K
Total Paid Ticket Sales
~$4
Blended CPA
80X
Peak ROAS
Platform-Level Performance Breakdown
Budget was dynamically allocated based on live data. Meta absorbed the majority of spend and produced the overwhelming majority of revenue. Other platforms played supporting or defensive roles.

Key Callout: Meta drove the overwhelming majority of revenue and efficiency, achieving a peak 80x ROAS. Even after the on-sale burst, Meta ROAS sustained at 22x — far higher than any other social ad platform. When the data signaled stronger purchase volume through Facebook, spend was concentrated there — and the results speak for themselves.
Chapter 1
2025 Campaign Flight Timeline
The campaign was engineered in three distinct phases — each with a specific objective, creative strategy, and spend posture. From teaser to close, every phase built on the last.
Campaign Phases: July 7 – September 20
The campaign flight was structured to mirror the natural purchase journey — awareness first, urgency last. Spend ramped strategically across three phases as audience temperature increased.
1
Phase 1 — Teaser + Lead Capture
July 7 – On-Sale Date
Teaser video + announcement flyer deployed. Traffic directed to Laylo for lead registration. Built warm audience pools ahead of on-sale.
2
Phase 2 — On-Sale Burst
On-Sale Launch
Announcement flyer drove highest purchase volume. Lead capture converted to ticket buyers. $31K spend → $1M+ revenue. CPA held at ~$11. 22X ROAS.
3
Phase 3 — Sustain + Urgency Push
Through September 20
Urgency-based creative took over. "Low Ticket Warning," "95% Sold Out" messaging. Frequency managed to avoid saturation. Closed remaining inventory.
Chapter 2
Event Announcement → Close
Campaigns were structured with precision — separating lead generation from purchase conversion, and testing two distinct landing destination strategies during the teaser phase to identify the lowest-cost path to acquisition.
Lead Gen (Teaser)
Traffic campaigns to Laylo vs. main website. A/B tested cost per registrant.
On-Sale Burst
Warm leads converted. Purchase-optimized campaigns activated at on-sale.
Sustain + Close
Urgency creative deployed. Remaining inventory closed efficiently.
Laylo Landing Page
~$0.17–$0.19 cost per drop registrant. Dramatically lower acquisition cost. Registrants converted to ticket buyers at on-sale launch.
Main Website Landing Page
~$2.44+ cost per acquisition during teaser phase. Significantly less efficient for early-funnel lead capture. Laylo was the clear winner.
Chapter 3
Meta Targeting Framework
Meta was structured into five audience buckets, each engineered to capture a different layer of intent — from broad geographic reach to high-intent artist-engaged remarketing. The architecture ensured full-funnel coverage without audience overlap or cannibalization .
0-Series: Foundational Conversion Campaigns
Zero-series campaigns form the foundation of our targeting strategy, focusing on local market conversions and geographic expansion. They establish baseline performance while maintaining efficient cost structures.
0.DMA
Target: Primary market DMA
Objective: Conversion (Cost Cap)
Targets the entire primary market DMA, optimized for efficient, scalable conversions. This serves as the primary conversion driver in the home market.
0.Feeder DMA
Target: 3 closest feeder DMAs
Objective: Conversion (Cost Cap)
Expands into the three closest feeder markets with strong historical sales or traffic. Captures conversion intent from adjacent territories.
0.2 Mile Radius
Target: 0.2-mile radius around location
Objective: Reach (High-Frequency)
Always-on hyper-local campaign for maximum visibility to nearby audiences, maintaining top-of-mind presence within the immediate vicinity.
1-Series: Recent Engagement Remarketing
Capturing Warm Intent
This layer targets our warmest audience: users who have engaged with our content or website in the last 30 days.
1.Engaged
Target Audience: 30-day social engagement + 30-day website visitors
Objective: Conversion
Re-engage users who recently interacted with social ads or visited the website. This high-frequency campaign targets warm audiences to drive conversions with tailored messaging and offers.
The 30-day window ensures maximum relevance and budget efficiency. These in-market users are high-performing and require minimal nurturing to convert.
2-3 Series: Deep-Cycle & Predictive Audiences
This layer combines long-tail historical engagement with predictive modeling, leveraging Meta's AI to identify and convert high-probability prospects across expanded geographic footprints.
2.Engaged
Target: 365-day social + 180-day site remarketing + purchaser data (excludes 30-day audience)
Objective: Conversion
Captures long-term interest and proven converters. Excludes 1-series audience to prevent overlap.
3.Lookalike DMA
Target: Lookalike of all available data sets within primary DMA
Objective: Conversion / Prospecting
Targets audiences statistically similar to existing converters. Expands reach efficiently through algorithmic modeling.
2.Lookalike Feeder
Target: Super-lookalike of feeder DMAs (3 closest markets)
Objective: Conversion / Prospecting
Geographic expansion into adjacent markets using advanced lookalike modeling for high-probability converters.
The Complete Targeting Architecture
This layered approach is a self-reinforcing system where each campaign feeds data into the next. Foundation campaigns set baselines, engagement captures intent, deep-cycle remarketing extends customer LTV, and predictive lookalikes expand market reach.
This creates a marketing engine that scales efficiently, maintaining cost discipline and clear attribution across the funnel.
0. DMA Targeting — Primary Market
Target: New York DMA. Broad geographic targeting within the market radius — no heavy interest layering. Optimized directly for purchases during the on-sale window. High frequency achieved, indicating strong market penetration and saturation.
4.6x
Freq Saturation
~30X
ROAS Achieved

Insight: DMA saturation worked effectively. High frequency levels confirmed strong market penetration. Broad targeting within geography outperformed interest-layered approaches.
0. Feeder Market DMA Targeting
Adjacent markets were targeted specifically to capture audiences likely to travel to the event. These DMAs behaved remarkably similarly to the primary New York market — delivering comparable ROAS and CPA efficiency at stable scale.
~20X
Feeder Market ROAS
3.9x
Freq Saturation
Philadelphia
Closest feeder market. High intent audience. Strong purchase conversion.
Albany / Troy
Upstate NY market. Efficient CPA. Drive-in audience segment.
Hartford
New England feeder. Consistent performance. Scalable allocation.
New Haven
Dense college-age population. Aligned audience demographics. Efficient returns.

Strategic Recommendation: Feeder markets behaved as reliably as the primary DMA. Maintain as a core budget allocation in 2026 — not an experimental line.
1. Artist Engaged Targeting
Built from John Summit's direct engagement data — the highest-intent audience in the account. These audiences were segmented by geography and recency, with a 30-day exclusion to protect remarketing pools and prevent overlap with existing converters.
Audience Sources & Segments
  • John Summit engagement data
  • 365-day website visitors
  • Excluded: recent 30-day pool (remarketing reserved)
  • New York-only segment
  • Nationwide segment
Performance Results
  • $9–$15 CPA — among the lowest in the account
  • 388+ website purchases in key segments
  • ~3–4 frequency sweet spot — optimal saturation without burnout
  • Insight: Artist-engaged audiences are highest intent in the account. Priority allocation recommended for every future campaign.
2. Partner Engaged Targeting
Extended reach beyond the core artist audience by tapping into aligned cultural brand ecosystems. Experts Only, Brownies & Lemonade, and relevant partner engagement pools provided a high-quality expansion layer without sacrificing efficiency.
Audience Pools Included
  • Experts Only brand engagers
  • Brownies & Lemonade community
  • Relevant cultural brand + partner pools
  • Additional aligned lifestyle audiences
Segment Structure
  • NY-focused segment (primary allocation)
  • Nationwide segment (scale layer)
Performance Results
  • ~$14 CPA
  • ~26X ROAS
  • ~4–5 frequency — well-managed, no fatigue signals
  • Strong, consistent returns across both segments

Insight: Partner audiences successfully extended reach without sacrificing efficiency. A high-value expansion layer that warrants increased investment in 2026.
3. Lookalike Audience Targeting
Lookalike audiences were built from the most valuable signals in the account — purchasers, artist-engaged users, and high-intent engagement pools. While less efficient than direct remarketing, they represent the clearest path to scalable volume expansion.
Built From
  • Verified purchasers
  • Artist-engaged segments
  • High-intent engagement pools
Performance & Opportunity
  • ~$19 CPA within DMA targeting
  • ~1.2 frequency — well below saturation, indicating under-exposure
  • Under-scaled relative to potential. The efficiency gap vs. remarketing is expected — and acceptable at scale.
  • Recommendation: Increase lookalike budget allocation in 2026. These audiences have room to absorb significantly more spend before efficiency degrades.
Cross-Platform Efficiency Summary
When viewed side by side, the platform performance story is unambiguous. Meta is the primary revenue engine — scalable, efficient, and proven. Google plays a critical but bounded defensive role. TikTok and Snapchat do not warrant significant 2026 allocation without structural improvements to purchase conversion.
Conclusion: Meta is the only platform that demonstrated scalable purchase efficiency in 2025. All other platforms served niche or experimental roles.
Chapter 4
Creative Performance Analysis
Creative strategy was split into two distinct phases with different objectives — momentum building at launch, urgency-driven conversion at sustain. The results validated the playbook: brand creative opens the door, urgency creative closes the sale.
Creative That Drove Revenue
Announcement flyer dominated purchase volume during the on-sale window. As inventory tightened, urgency-based messaging took over — and the results were dramatic. Scarcity messaging consistently outperformed generic sustain creative in click-through and purchase rate.
Announcement Flyer — On-Sale Phase
Highest purchase volume driver. Clean brand visual with clear CTA. Deployed at on-sale launch across all placements.
Urgency Creative — Sustain Phase
"Low Ticket Warning" · "95% Sold Out" · "Only a handful of GA passes left." Scarcity-based messaging materially increased conversion rate during the sustain window.

Creative Principle: Launch with brand momentum. Close with scarcity. This sequencing is now a proven playbook for future campaigns.
Creative Performance Data — Motion Reports
Full ad-level performance data is available via the links below. Each report covers spend, purchase value, ROAS, CPA, and conversion scores across all campaign phases.
Placement Strategy: Artist Ecosystem Advantage
One of the most significant findings of 2025 was the performance gap between artist-owned story placements and standard brand-owned placements. John Summit's story inventory delivered dramatically lower costs — a structural advantage that should be prioritized and protected.
John Summit Story Placements
~$1.28 cost per result
Strong purchase efficiency. Frequency remained below saturation threshold. Operated within a high-trust, high-attention environment.
Standard Brand Placements
~$2.52–$2.88 cost per result
2X+ more expensive than artist placements. Lower intent signal from audience. Less contextually relevant environment.

Strategic Insight: Artist-owned placements outperform brand-owned placements by a factor of 2X on cost efficiency. Securing artist placement inventory should be a non-negotiable in every future media plan.
Audience Demographics
The audience demographic data confirmed strong alignment with the core electronic music consumer. Gender split was nearly equal — indicating broad appeal. Age concentration in 25–34 validates the creative and targeting approach.
Key Demographic Insights
56% of purchases made by 25–34 year olds — core target demographic
29% from 18–24 — strong secondary segment with high lifetime value potential
~50/50 male/female split with roughly equal spend allocation and volume
Demographics validate current targeting approach. No significant skew requiring corrective action.
2025 Strategic Takeaways — Board Summary
The 2025 campaign established a repeatable, scalable playbook. Each takeaway below is a confirmed strategic principle, validated by data, ready to be operationalized in 2026.
1
Meta drove the majority of revenue at industry-leading efficiency
80X ROAS and ~$4 CPA on $50K spend. No other platform approached this performance. Concentrate future investment here.
2
Laylo lead capture dramatically reduced acquisition cost
$0.17–$0.19 cost per registrant vs. $2.44+ to main site. Teaser-phase lead capture converted directly into on-sale ticket buyers.
3
DMA + Feeder strategy effectively saturated the market
Primary and adjacent markets performed comparably. High frequency in NY DMA confirmed full market penetration.
4
Artist and Partner engaged audiences were top-performing segments
$9–$15 CPA for artist-engaged. ~$14 CPA and 26X ROAS for partner audiences. Protect and expand these pools.
5
Urgency creative materially increased sustain-phase revenue
Scarcity messaging outperformed brand creative during close window. Systematize this sequencing in 2026.
6
Lookalikes represent scalable upside — currently under-invested
~1.2 frequency signals headroom. ~$19 CPA is acceptable at scale. Increase allocation in 2026 for incremental volume.