Marketing NEW Meetings Opportunities in Columbus, GA

By Melanie Cornwell & Colette DuChanois

The partnership between VisitColumbusGA and Digital Edge has raised awareness and brought in requests for proposals (RFPs), leads and site visits for the Georgia destination through strategic digital marketing campaigns targeting the right planners.

NEW Results

Increasing Leads & Site Visits

Bolstering RFPs Through Sales Support

Distinguishing Columbus, GA, From Others

Raising Awareness of New Hotel Product & the Convention Package

Your expertise is in marketing to conventions and meetings, and other companies out there aren’t focused like that, and that’s, to me, the dramatic difference.

Peter Bowden

President & CEO, VisitColumbusGA

Challenge

This isn’t Columbus, Ohio. This is Columbus, Georgia, and this destination needed to let meeting planners know that. VisitColumbusGA also needed to let them know about the meetings offerings in Georgia’s second-largest city — from NEW hotel product and a convention package in the city’s downtown area, known as the Uptown District, to its cool cat vibes and community-based approach to events.

Enter Digital Edge.

Solution

VisitColumbusGA and Digital Edge began working together in fall 2019, and soon after came the pandemic. This led to the development of a phased meetings marketing recovery strategy, and we utilized this approach to test the marketplace, increase planner awareness, generate soft meeting leads and communicate key messaging.

We continued to engage major group segments ideal for Columbus, Georgia, through our content and creative while also methodically reaching new markets to fit the growing destination’s new hotel product and driving interest in the convention package.

In fall 2022, we shifted into a lead generation campaign to encourage planners to travel in-
market for site visits and experience the destination and offerings firsthand. Now, our marketing continues to focus on lead generation and targeting meeting planners, along with the continued focus on raising awareness, which has been expanded to include all four meeting districts within the city: Uptown, Victory, Midtown and North Lake.

Throughout it all, the copy and design always include “Georgia” after “Columbus” for recognition.

Campaigns:

Under the Radar, Over the Top Lead Generation Campaign
Two-Phased Awareness Campaign During & Post-Pandemic
- Phase 1: Support + Reengagement
- Phase 2: Expanded Reach + New Normal
Meet in the NEW Columbus, GA
New (and Only) in Columbus, GA
Meet Columbus, GA, Differently

The NEW Columbus, Georgia, campaign gave us legs to work with, from starting with the initial campaign to the refreshed version. Being named ‘Georgia's Cool Cat City’ by Forbes was a terrific launching pad to stylize a retro-modern aesthetic providing motion and emphasis to the anchor word 'new' for this campaign. The ‘60s/’70s layered color shadow effect allowed us to use more of Columbus' expansive brand color palette to not only accent the word 'new' but also provide color blocking to create visual segments within collateral to highlight specific content and a way to marry the different mediums we've designer for them in, including banners, email, social posts and informational videos. A great example of being able to stay in touch with overall design trends and showcase Columbus as a destination even the younger generations will dig.

Caroline Cirillo | DIGITAL EDGE

Interactive Media Designer

Deliverables

Digital Media for Awareness & Lead Generation Campaigns
Social Distribution
Sales Kit
Sales Activity Program for Trade Show Support
Email Marketing
Content Strategy & Development
Design, Creation & Refresh of Landing Pages

Post-Show Email

Awareness Landing Page

Results

Throughout this partnership with one of our legacy clients, we’ve been able to raise awareness and shift perceptions about Columbus, Georgia, as a meetings destination by showcasing the new meetings product, the convention package, unique attractions, top group activities and culture. We’ve also generated leads with the individual site visit campaign targeting the right planners and moving them through the sales funnel. And we drove interest in the destination and RFPs through sales activity before and after trade shows.

From the recent trade shows, which we’ve helped work into our sales activity—from pre- and post-emails, as well as LinkedIn graphics—has really helped bring planners by their booths. ASAE was a huge success with how we helped with that—the Aflac Duck being at the booth and drawing attention that Aflac is headquartered there. But it really helps bring people in for something new and a different type of activation. They walk away with RFPs.

Kim Ritten | DIGITAL EDGE

VP of Client Strategy

By-the-Numbers Success

(July 2022–September 2023)

Awareness Campaign Digital Media

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Impressions

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CTR

Individual Site Visit Campaign Digital Media

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Impressions

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CTR

Reach out to Digital Edge directly to see how we can work with you to market your destination’s offerings — from a convention package to intimate experiences to new product — to reach the right audience with the right message and drive results.