Hosting a Virtual Charity Event in Minecraft
Cubed! is a virtual charity event fundraising for SpecialEffect, an organisation making gaming more accessible to physically disabled people. Through the power of community, social and gaming, Cubed! has raised tens of thousands of dollars for good causes since 2012.
As the Head of Marketing for Cubed!, I aimed to expand the event's reach by working closely with the team of volunteers, the existing Cubed! community, and content creators.
Cubed! 2023 Social Strategy
Cubed! is only a three-day event, but the event was in the works for the better part of a year - requiring extensive marketing strategy planning, custom Minecraft plugin development, web development, and to top it all off - this year, we hosted Cubed! in person, travelling from around the country and working together in an office.
Cubed! 2023 was promoted primarily through creators and organic reach on social media, with no paid promotion.
Priorities & Goals
Build hype and excitement for Cubed! 2023
Work with creators/influencers to promote the event and their presence
Communicate what events are happening, and where
Communicate important information regarding server status (open/closed/maintenance)
Hosting a Virtual Charity Event in Minecraft
Cubed! is a virtual charity event fundraising for SpecialEffect, an organisation making gaming more accessible to physically disabled people. Through the power of community, social and gaming, Cubed! has raised tens of thousands of dollars for good causes since 2012.
As the Head of Marketing for Cubed!, I aimed to expand the event's reach by working closely with the team of volunteers, the existing Cubed! community, and content creators.
Cubed! 2023 Social Strategy
Cubed! is only a three-day event, but the event was in the works for the better part of a year - requiring extensive marketing strategy planning, custom Minecraft plugin development, web development, and to top it all off - this year, we hosted Cubed! in person, travelling from around the country and working together in an office.
Cubed! 2023 was promoted primarily through creators and organic reach on social media, with no paid promotion.
Priorities & Goals
Build hype and excitement for Cubed! 2023
Work with creators/influencers to promote the event and their presence
Communicate what events are happening, and where
Communicate important information regarding server status (open/closed/maintenance)
Hosting a Virtual Charity Event in Minecraft
Cubed! is a virtual charity event fundraising for SpecialEffect, an organisation making gaming more accessible to physically disabled people. Through the power of community, social and gaming, Cubed! has raised tens of thousands of dollars for good causes since 2012.
As the Head of Marketing for Cubed!, I aimed to expand the event's reach by working closely with the team of volunteers, the existing Cubed! community, and content creators.
Cubed! 2023 Social Strategy
Cubed! is only a three-day event, but the event was in the works for the better part of a year - requiring extensive marketing strategy planning, custom Minecraft plugin development, web development, and to top it all off - this year, we hosted Cubed! in person, travelling from around the country and working together in an office.
Cubed! 2023 was promoted primarily through creators and organic reach on social media, with no paid promotion.
Priorities & Goals
Build hype and excitement for Cubed! 2023
Work with creators/influencers to promote the event and their presence
Communicate what events are happening, and where
Communicate important information regarding server status (open/closed/maintenance)
Marketing Stages
Teaser - Cubed! ARG (June-July)
Date Announcement, Booth Applications Open (July)
Hype Build, Booth Building (July-August)
Guest Announcements (September)
Event! (Early October)
Cubed! ARG
To create organic excitement and engagement for the return of Cubed! in 2023, I spearheaded the production of an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that led the Cubed! community to look through cryptic puzzles to find clues, one after another, until they reached the end and claimed a prize - as well as unlocking the official date for Cubed!'s return.
It began with this post on the Cubed! Twitter page and Discord server:
Scanning that QR code, built outside the Cubed! 2022 venue, reveals this message - along with the first clue in the series.
What followed were clues involving in-game screenshots, a Discord server, a custom-built Discord bot playing audio cues and accepting certain commands, clues posted from guest, partner and sponsors' Twitter accounts, a Minecraft texture pack, a Planet Minecraft account, a cryptic YouTube live stream, a disassembled QR code, a Google Form, a fake Minecraft gameplay video, morse code, a Minecraft skin, and finally, a Minecraft server.
The Cubed! 2023 ARG resulted in various members of the community coming together to solve these puzzles for a week straight, with some even creating their own Discord server to crack the clues more efficiently.
Working with Content Creators
During the build to Cubed! 2023, we worked closely with popular Minecraft creators and influencers to promote their attendance at the event, with many special guests even hosting panels at our virtual stage. We posted a banner to announce each Special Guest on all social pages and Discord.
Working with the Minecraft Community
One of our biggest priorities is to work closely with the Minecraft community to create an event where everyone is represented and included. In the months before Cubed!, Minecraft players are invited to host a panel, or to build a booth - much like at a real convention - to showcase their server, community, or creations.
End Result
As a result of this social marketing strategy, as well as the hard work of many other volunteers in the UK and around the world, Cubed! 2023 raised $12,023 for SpecialEffect and $138 for One Tree Planted. Here are some social stat highlights:
160,000 Tweet impressions - up 55% over 2022
181 new followers - up 6.4% over 2022
4.7% engagement rate
682 link clicks
427 total retweets
2.3K total likes
