Scaled Events for Once Upon India With a 10X Increase in ROAS

Written by Rachit Hegde, Co-founder & Digital Marketing Head at The Small Business Project

Between September 2024 and February 2025, we were able to help Once Upon India scale from hosting intimate gatherings (baithaks) of 70 people to flirting with larger events (mehfils) of up to 400 attendees. Over four to five months, we increased the ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) from 3.54 to 30.09 and the average Outbound Click-through rates (CTRs) from 1.6% to 2.6%.

A Meaningful Connection Is Made

When the opportunity to collaborate with Once Upon India was presented, it was a welcome reminder of our early days as a performance marketing agency when marketing for events was our mainstay. While we were first onboarded as consultants, by our third consultation call, the Once Upon India team asked us to take over their performance marketing, and that's where things got fun!

What excited us about this brand was their niche content and audience – home baithaks that celebrate Indian artists and regional music, packaged for an older, elite crowd that is seeking meaningful connection and community.

Once Upon India’s events have spanned everything from Punjabi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Pahadi and Bengali folk to Sufi, Qawwali and Kathak. And with us, they have grown from intimate gatherings, baithaks of 70 to 80 people, to flirting with larger events of up to 400 attendees.

The Challenge Was to Speak to the Right Audience

We knew right away that there would be several challenges, which we were ready to tackle head on.

These were not events that would appeal to a mass audience. They’re intentionally curated to attract a discerning audience that is looking for exclusivity. From the brand’s perspective, they too wanted an engaged audience, which would then become volunteers / advocates for the brand.
Given the audience, the events were priced far higher than average compared to events with a similar artist profile. It then fell on us to target the right audience and differentiate the events by communicating them as curated experiences.

How We Scaled the Brand from Baithaks to Mehfils

Between September 2024 and February 2025, our aim was to help the brand identify what messaging worked and hone in on the right targeting to help them expand from baithaks to larger mehfils. And we succeeded in increasing ticket sales even as the ticket prices went up 4X.

The only ads the brand had ever run were traffic campaigns, and though they had a decent Outbound Click-through rates (CTRs) of over 3.14%, they only received 1 purchase, with the rest coming from organic channels. We wanted to run Purchase Conversion ads for improved lead quality, which also meant we would be starting at a much lower Outbound CTR.

We were able to increase their ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) from 3.54 in September 2024 to 30.09 in January 2025 and their Outbound Click-through rates (CTRs) from averages like 1.61% in October 2024 to 2.67% in January 2025.

Balancing Creative Diversity With Focused Targeting

We made the most of the invaluable insights we received from the Once Upon India team to hone in on the winning messaging and targeting. Experimenting with a combination of open targeting and custom audience ad sets helped us sell out two shows on the same weekend each seating 300 people with ticket prices ranging from ₹2,500 to ₹12,000.

We went both wide and deep in our creative testing, and tested various messaging whether focusing on the theme of the event, spotlighting the artists, or USPs of the location.

Testing formats showed us video carousels gave results in the remarketing funnel, while even simple static creatives led to purchases in the top of the funnel. In our video assets, we found layering music from live performances, with voiceovers that built a mood and a narrative, resonated with our audience. Our best-performing video ads pulled hook rates and hold rates well above 30%.

Reflecting on Our Journey and Future Collaborations

With our efforts we have been able to show the brand the various possibilities they can pursue to scale their unique concept. As they assess their way forward, we look to aiding them – whether to build their in-house capabilities or directly collaborate on more campaigns in the future.