Project Snapshop
The Challenge
The approach
Across two festival seasons, I worked with CIFF’s marketing team to:
Social Strategy & Content: Developed and implemented multi-platform social campaigns tailored to each season’s brand theme.
Content Production: Created original content including filmmaker spotlights, ticket promotions, and live festival updates.
Email Marketing: Supported high-performing newsletter campaigns that drove clicks and conversions.
Website & Analytics: Monitored traffic and performance, adjusting strategy based on real-time data.
Partnerships: Managed trade partnerships with local businesses, media outlets, and influencers - ensuring festival promotions were amplified in exchange for guide placements, web links, and comp tickets.
Influencer Collaboration: Coordinated influencer campaigns, providing access and comp tickets in exchange for content that expanded CIFF’s reach into new audience segments.
Advertising: Executed and optimized paid campaigns across Facebook and Instagram, focusing on conversions.
Supported CIFF’s 47th and 48th seasons with digital marketing, PR, social campaigns, and partnership management.
Delivered 3.4M+ total impressions across two seasons.
Contributed to a 20% increase in ticket sales through digital campaigns and partnerships.
Managed local brand, business, and influencer partnerships to amplify reach through trades and cross-promotion.
As one of the nation’s leading film festivals, CIFF refreshes its branding and messaging each season while balancing ambitious goals: grow awareness, sell tickets, and keep communications clear for attendees, filmmakers, and partners. The marketing team needed digital strategy that could flex with each year’s unique theme while also converting online engagement into measurable results.
The results
CIFF47 (2023 Festival)
Reached 1.3M+ impressions across social, email, and web.
Generated 260,000+ newsletter impressions and 764,000+ website impressions.
Influencer partnerships added an additional 89,000+ impressions.
CIFF48 (2024 Festival)
Delivered 2.1M+ impressions in just three weeks of festival activity.
Reached 509,000+ newsletter impressions, 787,000+ website impressions, and nearly 295,000 Instagram impressions.
Across both seasons:
Contributed to a 20% increase in ticket sales.
Drove measurable growth in audience engagement and brand awareness.
Expanded festival visibility through influencer campaigns and trade partnerships with local brands, businesses, and media outlets.
The Work
ciff 47
ciff 48
Debby Samples, Marketing Director, Cleveland International Film Festival
David helped us meet the unique demands of each festival season by stepping in with digital strategies that worked. His ability to adapt to different themes, manage partnerships, and keep engagement tied directly to ticket sales was a huge value to our team.
Let’s work together
Want to drive results for your festival or arts organization? Let’s build a marketing strategy that boosts ticket sales and builds audience engagement.