Marketing for Concerts, Festivals, Fairs, and More

Central Coast Event Marketing

We have a passion for working in event marketing. That’s why, before launching Screechy Cat Media, our founder spent 7 years leading digital advertising strategy for a nationwide event marketing agency.

From the emails you send ticket buyers to the ads that get them there, Screechy Cat Media provides made-to-order marketing + advertising and technology solutions for all stages of the customer journey. Plug us in to your current team. or let us build your event marketing operations for you.

Events + Tourism: a symbiotic relationship

This past March at the 2026 Santa Ynez Valley Economic Summit, Solvang’s city manager presented visitor data showing October 2025 transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenue rose more than 30% year-over-year, attributed in part to increased event-driven visitation.

A 30% increase in TOT during shoulder season. This, despite a decrease in visitation—less to fight for, but more potential upside for those who win.

Local events drive tourism → tourism drives hotel bookings → hotel bookings drive local revenue (including events)

The upside is greater TOT. But the underlying story here is that with less annual visitation, and the increase in volume of local events, there is more competition for a share of the pie.

This is where a strategic event marketing + advertising plan and giving yourself enough of a runway makes all of the difference.

Why marketing for events is different

With verticals like retail, hospitality, and healthcare, timing belongs to the customer—they determine when they are ready for you.

Events don’t work like that. Which means timely marketing is all the more important. The average event goer makes their purchase decision less than 14 days before the date—but the path to conversion begins long before that, with awareness and retention-based efforts designed to fill the top of the marketing funnel beginning up to three months before the actual event itself.

Solutions from the beginning to the end of the customer journey

An attendee’s decision whether or not to attend an event may happen late in the journey, but everything leading up to it (and afterward) determine whether or not your marketing plan will be successful.

Filling the top of the marketing funnel by generating new brand-aware audiences is an important event marketing tactic; but equally as important is the ability to nurture and convert previous and lapsed attendees. Developing a strong marketing automation and email marketing plan for both pre and post-purchase flows can help convert your existing database, a much less costly endeavour than finding and converting new audiences. Branded and nonbranded paid search tactics capture search intent for both aware and new audiences, while incorporating paid social and Connected TV can be effective means of finding brand new audiences to convert into attendees.

Upselling and cross-selling to registered attendees can also be an effective means

Sample Event Marketing tactical plan

Channel	Rationale	Marketing Goal(s)
Paid Search	Capture nonbranded (category) search intent & queries for competitive events	Traffic
Paid Social	Find new intent audiences, lookalikes. Cost-efficient tactic.	Brand Awareness, Traffic, Ticket Sales
Retargeting	Market to cart abandoners, site bouncers, and previous/lapsed attendees	Ticket Sales, Upselling, Reviews, Post-Event Surveys
ConnectedTV	High-impact, awareness driving advertising.	Brand Awareness, Traffic
Email Marketing	High-converting, low cost tactic.	Ticket Sales, Upselling, Reviews, Post-Event Surveys
Marketing Automation	Increase conversion rate, attendee retention, and operational efficiency.	Ticket Sales, Upselling, Reviews, Post-Event Surveys
SEO/AIO	Long-term results, capture search intent from AI chats such as ChatGPT.	Traffic, Ticket Sales

Why Choose Screechy Cat Media

There is no better place to come for event marketing in the Central Coast. Screechy Cat Media’s founder and lead digital strategist spent 7 years leading the digital media department at a top national event marketing agency, focusing on trade shows and large-scale industry events. .

We develop customized tactical plans for events in Solvang, Buellton, Los Alamos, Santa Ynez, Five Cities, and greater Santa Barbara and SLO counties. Our event marketing plans include marketing, advertising, analytics tracking, and real-time reporting dashboards. We have augmented existing marketing departments, stepped in as subject matter experts, and acted as the sole marketing arm for events—our relationships are tailored to your goals, needs, and resources.

We have served as event marketing strategists for domestic and international events of all sizes. In 20 years of marketing + advertising, we have worked with B2B events, concerts, festivals, neighborhood parties, and fundraising gatherings. We understand what a successful event marketing plan looks like, because we’ve led strategy on them for years.