Posts

The $1,000,000 News Conference

With the announcement of a $1 million dollar grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub needed a polished and attractive backdrop for the press conference stage.  Not only would it be in the spotlight of the media, but also be host a number of important local, state and federal leaders.  SignsXM provided them with a 9’ x 7’ step and repeat backdrop, as well as two 3’ x 6’ foot retractable banner stands. customxm_hubconference_casestudy2

“In addition to helping us prepare for a major news announcement, we looked to the creativity of CustomXM to give our new location a sense of permanence. The interior and exterior signage and graphics they produced accomplished both with great success.”  – Warwick Sabin 

SignsXM also provided The Hub with window decals to add additional exterior branding to an exterior that is still a work in progress. A large acrylic contour cut Launch Pad sign greets the guest from the entrance facing Broadway.

customxm_hubconference_casestudy3

“The banners and backdrops created by CustomXM not only allow us to brand internally, we also use them for events and activities outside of the Innovation Hub.” – Warwick Sabin

The $1 million dollar grant will allow the Hub to complete building renovations, including establishing the Silver Mine co-working space.

 

Resurrecting Funeral Directors Association Membership

The Challenge

The Arkansas Funeral Directors Association (AFDA) works to establish, cultivate, and promote programs and policies that strive to mark the passage of life with dignity and instill high standards for ceremonies that are sensitive to the special needs of those who survive.

With approximately 300 funeral homes in the state, and membership currently at about 80 members, the Association was exploring ways increase statewide membership, while retaining and increasing engagement with its current members. A membership of 150 funeral homes was the desired goal. While cost of membership is often the reason given for those who decline membership or renewal, the association also wanted to explore ways to promote the value of the membership itself.

The Solution

CustomXM, a North Little Rock, Arkansas direct mail and print provider, proposed a concentrated effort to promote the value of membership in AFDA in conjunction with their upcoming 2015 Annual Convention. Because of the small existing membership and potential membership population, we recommended the following:

  • A direct mail campaign consisting of a well-organized and visually attractive brochure. This piece highlighted member benefits and included the conference event schedule, as well as member testimonials. The brochure would feature an incentive offer that reflected a substantial savings for members if they acted before the registration deadline.
  • The brochure mailing also included a well-organized registration form encompassing membership renewal and the conference registration.
  • A series of personalized postcards followed the brochure mailing. The postcards highlighted membership benefits and the available training opportunities. The same call to action incentive was also included in these direct mail pieces.
  • A segmented email campaign was launched just before the incentive offer expiration which targeted A) non-members and B) existing members thanking those who renewed early, and asking them to attend the conference and training. Lastly, an informative email that included the conference schedule was sent to the entire database prior to the registration deadline. All emails contained a link to the AFDA website with event information and links to a downloadable version of the registration form.
The Results

As a result of the campaign, AFDA membership reached new levels and the conference had a record number of attendees. Jeff Smith, President of the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association had this to say:

We had a record crowd this year and exceeded our projected attendance for the banquet, Thursday and Friday Continuing Education, and increased membership 20%.
Thank you! Your creative work with our efforts yielded great results.

Garver Engineering Trade Show Success!

Garver is a multi-disciplined engineering, planning and environmental services firm. Garver utilizes exposure through industry trade shows targeting government, municipal, transportation and energy-related entities as a primary marketing channel. They wanted to improve trade show presence, increase awareness of the company’s services, drive traffic to the booth, social media outlets and hone in focus on qualified leads.

CustomXM developed a cross-media campaign utilizing email blasts and postcards personalized to each attendee. The communication encouraged recipients to follow Garver on social media outlets, and enter an iPad giveaway contest via a personalized website. Printed cards with a generic URL and QR Code were distributed at the show allowing attendees to register while visiting the Garver booth. Once in the website, they were asked to give general contact information, as well as potential interest in Garver’s engineering services, to which 28% of survey respondents indicated they did in fact have a need for the services.

“We are so excited to see that we have people who are in need of an engineer and are interested in knowing more about us, and we know that BEFORE the tradeshow. This is so awesome!” says Garver’s Kerrie Diaz

Overall, the campaigns drove a 29% response rate and increased traffic to their booth by 10 to 50% from the previous year. At one show, it was publicly announced that more attendees than ever before had stayed through to the end of the conference, credit was given to Garver’s iPad giveaway winner announcement.

“We’ve had a really positive response to this campaign from both our people here [at Garver] and visitors to our booth!” added representative Alan Watsongarver_tradeshow_2

 

Arkansas Department of Human Services

 

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) was participating in the  Arkansas Early Childhood Association Conference. Their goal was to introduce “Better Beginnings,” a new Quality Rating Improvement System for childcare providers. They wanted a campaign that would drive conference attendees to the DHS booth, introduce the new childcare rating system and educate attendees about online resources available to assist them in meeting federal standards for childcare providers. They needed to gather valuable data about the attendees’ knowledge and raise awareness of the new regulations through the list of survey questions.

Utilizing CustomXM’s interactive tools, attendees of the conference were given printed cards encouraging them to visit the DHS booth and access a survey via either a unique URL or a QR code. 900 cards were printed and handed out to attendees. 282 people visited the booth and completed the survey, which resulted in a 31.3% response rate from the survey of attendees. DHS learned that there was a great need to educate childcare givers.