Case Study: Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau

This is the second in a series of case studies for those who read our blog. I think it’s a nice opportunity to share examples of our work.

Promoting Corporate Event Planning in Wilmington, DE

Client: Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau (GWCVB)

Situation
For the first half of 2009, the GWCVB asked AB&C to promote its B2B efforts by increasing awareness of its meetings program. The GWCVB had traditionally promoted events planning in a 300-mile radius, their primary and secondary target geographies.

Strategy
Event planning has traditionally been a secondary focus of the GWCVB, and its marketing allocation reflects this. We wanted to maximize marketing budget while satisfying the demand of professionals already reading about and researching places to hold corporate events.

Execution
AB&C managed a paid search campaign utilizing keywords focused around the concerns of business meeting planners. We targeted the ads to appear only to an audience within 150 miles of Wilmington, Delaware, their primary target geography, which remains close enough to make an in-person trip to view facilities and weigh the wealth of options that Wilmington presents.

Results
By focusing on active planners within a tighter geography, we were able to stretch our resources while having a bigger splash with our select audiences. During the campaign, 41% of all visits came courtesy of the web media campaign. The campaign also reversed a trend of declining visitors, bringing in 30% more visits than First Half 2008 and a staggering 72% more visits than Second Half 2008. Unfortunately, with the end of the program at the wrap of First Half 2009, the downward trend returned, with a dramatic 40% drop in visits for Second Half 2009.