Bath and Bristol-based PPC and paid media agency Floresco has helped Bath Christmas Market – named Best UK Christmas Market 2024 by European Best Destinations – reach a national audience and grow its influence over who visits the city each festive season. 

In the market’s most recent independent visitor survey, 45% of attendees said marketing had shaped their decision to come, up from 34% the year before and 19% the year before that.

A market with no clicks to count

Most paid media campaigns live and die by real-time data: clicks, conversions, return on ad spend. As a free-to-attend event, Bath Christmas Market offered none of that; there is no way to trace an individual ad back to a visitor perusing the stalls.

Instead, success would be judged once a year, through the market’s independent January visitor survey – and on a limited budget. And the goal was clear: reach people beyond the local area, and encourage the kind of visitors who stay longer, come midweek, and spend more across the city’s hotels, restaurants and shops.

Backing the fundamentals

Floresco ran the paid media and paid social campaign across Google and Meta, targeting audiences further afield and testing creative to learn what actually moved people to make the trip. London – targeted for the first time in 2024 and expanded in 2025 – was a particular focus, and has since become one of the market’s main visitor locations.

“Floresco Media has been a fantastic partner for Bath Christmas Market. Lisa and Harriet took the time to really understand our event and what we wanted to achieve, bringing smart, data-led strategy alongside creative ideas that helped us reach the right audience at the right time.

“Their Google and Meta campaigns played a big part in driving footfall and awareness throughout our festive season, and their support made a real difference to our small team. They’re proactive, easy to work with, and always deliver strong results. We’d happily recommend them to any organisation looking for a reliable and friendly paid media partner.”

– Hannah Batey, Digital Marketing Manager, Bath Christmas Market

The story in the survey

When the January results came, the picture was pretty unambiguous. Marketing’s influence had climbed to 45% of all visitors, representing a steady, year-on-year rise from 19% two years earlier.

The effect was strongest among newcomers. Six in ten first-time visitors said they’d decided to attend after seeing marketing, and social media advertising proved as persuasive as a personal recommendation.

“This is exactly the kind of brief we love—a brilliant and renowned event with a real commercial goal, and the discipline to measure success even when it’s tricky. This proves again that intelligently delivered paid media with robust targeting can drive increased footfall.”

Lisa Sargent, Account Manager, Floresco

Building on success

The foundation is now set for the market to go further. This year’s plan – 2026 – will focus the London targeting to suburb level, broaden the audience to dual-income households, and continue the creative testing that revealed what works.

About Floresco Media

Floresco Media is an independent paid media agency based in Bath and Bristol, UK. Our aim is to think differently about your digital advertising, bringing new perspectives that uncover what others miss and turn it into momentum.