Attention-Grabbing Marketing for ATL’s Convention Center and Citywide & In-House Meetings
Here’s how we’ve helped Atlanta CVB drive citywide and self-contained meetings & conventions business leads and interest to Atlanta for five years (and counting).
Author: Kerrie Yancey
THE NEED
Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) needed a meetings-focused agency to provide an effective digital approach to their group business marketing efforts. The challenges were finding an agency that would:
- understand Tier 1 destination marketing for group business
- create strategies and assets with subsequent value for ACVB
- recognize the specific needs of citywide meeting planners
- effectively market the most significant development for M&C business in over 40 years
- seamlessly integrate brand-leveraging marketing into ACVB’s sales efforts
- complement ACVB’s inter-agency relationships and work
THE PARTNERSHIP
Digital Edge creatively heightened awareness and increased visibility for Atlanta’s top attributes over the years through layered digital strategies supported by sophisticated media planning, snatching design, and intentional content.
Meeting planners were paying more attention to Atlanta’s citywide diversity, connectivity, convention center transformation, the convention campus and its new and future developments, meeting districts, in-town neighborhoods and group entertainment options.
Going beyond digital awareness, we helped ACVB continue to engage meeting planners through multiple marketing campaigns, a content marketing approach and sales support.
THE CAMPAIGNS
Convention Center Expansion
The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) transformation – which created more than 1 million square feet of contiguous exhibition space – was the most consequential development to happen to Atlanta’s convention business since the opening of GWCC (in 1976).
Before and after the transformation, we managed the expansion marketing campaign to create awareness for the new meeting possibilities – attracting planners of groups who had outgrown Atlanta or were previously too large for Atlanta to host.
Citywide Meetings
For citywide meetings, we focused on creating attention around Atlanta’s convention center business. We provided relevant marketing to meeting and event professionals that planned meetings with 1,500+ rooms on peak.
In-House Meetings
This marketing program focused on driving meetings better fit for Atlanta’s individual hotels to host internally – groups with less than 1,499 rooms on peak and wouldn’t use the convention center for meeting space. The strategies and assets developed self-contained meeting leads for the ACVB sales team to work and develop into business opportunities for Atlanta.
PROJECTS
- Convention Center, Citywide & In-House Campaigns
- Trade Show Email Communications
- Website Strategy & Audit
- LinkedIn Sales Team Training
- Attribution & Reporting
- Third-Party Marketing
ASSETS & DELIVERABLES
- Always-On Digital Media for Citywide & In-House Campaigns
- 8 Campaign Landing Pages
- 50+ Meetings Website Pages & Articles
- 75+ Trade Media Content Pieces
- 130+ Monthly & Trade Show Emails
- 88 Sponsored Social Posts
- 10 Trade Show Geofencing Campaigns
- 8 Meetings Videos
- 1 In-Market Content Mission
- 36 Sales Team LinkedIn Posts
Key Metrics
42 Million
Total Media Impressions
1,169
Leads Generated for In-House Team
10,000+
Meetings Site Pageviews from Digital Edgeʻs Landing Pgs, Email & Paid Social
24.85%
Email Average Open Rate
2.14%
Email Avg. CTR
“I cannot thank the Digital Edge team enough for taking on our planning and running with it to make it successful for marketing, sales and ACVB as a whole. I appreciate how involved and engaged the team is with me and most especially our sales team. This has been quite a welcome change from agency relationships that we’ve had in the past.”
-Lauren Dismuke Rushing Director,
Group Markets, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
Let's Chat
Digital Edge has managed the meetings marketing strategies, trade media buys, digital marketing, strategic partnership marketing, and content marketing for Atlanta Conventions & Visitors Bureau for the last five years.
Reach out to put our expertise to work for your DMO.
