Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and Digital Edge had been working together for over a half-dozen years when they decided to take their relationship to the next level: strategic consulting.
Not only has DE’s partnership with Atlanta CVB evolved, but our collaboration with the Destination Organization’s agencies of record has strengthened, which in turn has provided more support and meaningful cooperation to better aid our client for mutual success.
Atlanta CVB Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Wilson has built a powerhouse in-house content team. Still, the editorial writers needed that meetings & conventions expertise, which he knew they could gain from Digital Edge. So, we started to educate and infuse our knowledge into the ATL CVB content team to empower them to write industry-related content.
Andrew has also formed a strong team of agencies to provide specific services for the CVB. With many of them offering a wide gamut of services, he decided it was time to maximize their contributions and give each a definitive, specific focus. DE’s role: Creating value through our meetings & conventions intel, audience expertise and strategic recommendations.
So, how do you translate what’s in your brain into a client deliverable? As part of our strategic consulting partnership with ATL CVB, sometimes it’s just time and communication. Digital Edge Vice President of Client Strategy & Development Mae Bodine makes herself available on-demand to jump on a phone call with the internal team or other partner agencies. In addition, Mae — and often other members of our team — travels quarterly to the destination to meet with the client’s sales & marketing departments, as well as research and email platform teams. Digital Edge Founder Mya Surrency, Director of Content Strategy Kerrie Yancey and Mae went in-market last year to hold a meetings marketing workshop that included trends and challenges for planners.
Kerrie has supported the account through strategic content advisement and development, including key industry pages: supply chain, Fintech, tech and medical. Other support has been providing the ATL CVB team with content guidance aligned with specific planner audiences, devising an internal linking strategy and creating meeting content pillars so that the Destination Organization’s editorial writers can create website content pieces around them.
Digital Edge’s Strategic Program of Work for ATL
Consulting + Collaboration = Happy Client.
The strategic consulting that Digital Edge has provided through specialized, customized support has helped Atlanta CVB raise awareness for Georgia’s capital as a top meeting & convention destination and supported the ACVB team in reaching their booking goals. The content strategy has helped elevate the destination’s brand for B2B marketing purposes, leading to relevant, informative, entertaining and brand-consistent content experiences across all meetings-focused channels.
With Digital Edge focusing on the meeting & conventions consulting and content strategy and ACVB’s other agencies tasked with other marketing aspects to take the load off the internal teams, the CVB has had more freedom and bandwidth to concentrate on more impactful goals and objectives and accomplish even more successes, like hosting ASAE’s 2023 Annual Meeting & Exposition and launching a MICHELIN Guide on the Discover Atlanta website.
With the partner agencies working as strategic partners without the CVB having to act as a facilitator or mediator, there has been more trust and successful agency relationships. Now, we do not look at each other as competitors — but as partners coming together for the success of the destination.
