Armstrong IPE & Stampede Case Study

How EVOLVE helped Armstrong Interior Provincial Exhibition & Stampede (Armstrong IPE) build a website to sell more tickets!

The Client

Armstrong IPE is a famous event in the North Okanagan, so when they approached us with a website build request, we were thrilled to be a part of it! The Stampede has been around since the 1800s, providing five days of fairground rides and magic, rodeo events, dances and music, games, local vendors, and more. They’re constantly adding events and activities to make it exciting for people of all ages and stages from all backgrounds. 

Not all awesome organizations make for awesome clients. But once we started working with Armstrong IPE, we quickly confirmed they’re also an incredible client. From the start, they had full trust in EVOLVE and our approach. They were transparent and direct in their communication and provided expert insider knowledge that helped push the project forward at a steady pace. 

The Challenge

Armstrong IPE’s old website was clunky, impersonal, and tough to navigate. It couldn’t make content updates or process vendor applications, and ticket sales were great every year, but not as amazing as they could be.

Their primary goal with the new site was to drive more ticket sales.

To accomplish this, they needed the new site up and running before Stampede tickets went on sale in just eight weeks! We were willing to take on the challenge, and we’re so glad we did. Together with Armstrong IPE, we were two experts (events and marketing) coming together to make a dream team. They were always ready with the information we needed, and we stayed on track to deliver the website the Stampede deserves.

The Solution

Armstrong IPE needed a website with intuitive navigation, a strong visual presence, and flexible, user-friendly back-end features. So that’s what we delivered.

Navigating the old Armstrong IPE website was frustrating at every turn, leading users to abandon pages before buying tickets. We completely rebuilt the website with a new menu, making the user experience more intuitive. When users land on the website looking to attend the Stampede, the “ticket” button is the first thing they see, and it only takes one click to complete the purchase.

We also had a lot of dev decisions to make as we considered what capabilities the website needed. The old website was very restrictive regarding where the client could add content. It also didn’t allow different information to show up on different event days. So we built a stronger, more flexible back end. We set up display conditions so that users could more quickly find the specific information they needed each day of the event.

As we worked on the new sitemap, we also considered Armstrong IPE’s branding and what adjustments would make the website more recognizable. The old website didn’t have much of a theme or visual presence. We were able to incorporate some rodeo elements to improve brand recognition without a complete visual overhaul.

The Results

After the 2024 Stampede, we looked at year-over-year results comparing 2024 to 2022 (the 2023 Stampede was cancelled due to forest fires) and saw significant improvements.

Increased Sessions

When comparing our launch across July 31-September 2, we saw an additional 33% of sessions year over year: 181K sessions, 113K engaged sessions, and a nearly doubled engagement time of 68 seconds! 

Reduced Clicks (By Design)

Despite increased session duration and total users, we saw less overall clicks taking place on the website—7K less than the previous year. This means that with the streamlined navigation, users were able to find what they need faster.

Ticket Button Clicks

We also saw that 92% of clicks (52K) were on our new ticket button, proving it is the perfect amount of annoying AND helpful!

And bonus! Armstrong IPE’s top pages for driving views to their ticket platform were the exact pages that we anticipated and adjusted to see this kind of performance.

“It was night and day working with EVOLVE versus the previous agency. During the website build, it was the highlight of my week getting to go on a call with these creative people and see their amazing work. I love the new website!”

Heather King, General Manager at Armstrong IPE

Conclusion

The previous agency Armstrong IPE was working with did less work and took twice as long… and charged them more! EVOLVE was not only the cheaper and faster option, but we also provided much higher value!

Armstrong IPE now has a website that they can rely on to drive ticket sales for future events. The navigation has been set up to evolve with the site, so it’s a site they can build on in the future, too.

If you’d like to see similar amazing results, contact our team to tell us about your marketing goals. We’d be happy to help!

Share:

Other popular articles

Armstrong IPE & Stampede Case Study

How EVOLVE helped Armstrong Interior Provincial Exhibition & Stampede (Armstrong IPE) build a website to sell more tickets! The Client Armstrong IPE is a famous event in the North Okanagan,…

Marketing Management with an Agency Partner

If your business is considering outsourcing marketing, you’re in good company. And it’s a worthwhile consideration because the best marketing can’t be done in a vacuum. A great way to…

Vernon Pride Case Study

How EVOLVE helped Vernon Pride Society create a new, marketable brand identity and website The Client Vernon Pride Society is a Queer-founded, not-for-profit organization that aims to foster peer support,…