CASE STUDY |
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complex scenarios . There are always creative solutions to be found .” |
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engagement and reduce PPC costs ; changed printed materials to sustainable digital resources and leveraged economies of scale through bookings for multiple events .
Lakhiani says the event ’ s marketing strategy involved an innovative and integrated approach , which harnessed digital and traditional marketing techniques , including above-the-line marketing , PR , SEO , email campaigns and social media to engage in effective ways .
“ With growing competition , we focused intently on each target audience , including students , parents , teachers , postgraduate applicants , to differentiate and tailor our campaigns .”
Knowing your audience To resonate with its digital savvy audience , the Najah team used featured articles on ‘ trending topics ’ to
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place advertisements which were featured in the digital versions of leading newspapers . They also created a parent-student social media series with interviews on topics important to Gen Z students and used a wide range of formats including posts , video , GIFs , reels and stories to engage the audience .
“ Our digital content was tested in various formats for each audience ,” says Lakhiani . “ The campaigns were optimised for the bestperforming and the messages were constantly refined .” She adds : “ The most important thing was that we tried to make our event sustainable , which is important to Gen Zs who are often environmentally focused . We also tried to work with People of Determination [ The UAE ’ s term for people with disabilities ] and give them opportunities at the event .”
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“ Modern marketing techniques can deliver excellent outcomes for complex scenarios ”
Overall , Lakhiani says the combination of quality content , creatively designing the experiences through different touchpoints and dynamic digital marketing efforts resulted in strong performance . The event saw a 32 % boom in revenue , with Najah Dubai revenue up 45.3 %, as well as 64.7 % saving in marketing cost per attendee . “ Our success with Najah is a testament to how modern marketing techniques can deliver excellent outcomes for
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Creativity As for exhibition marketing in general , Lakhiani has nothing but positive remarks : “ Creativity is required in more than one way . This is not necessarily the same creativity you would need when you work in an advertising agency . It ’ s rather the creativity that you need to design attendee and exhibitor experiences before , during and after the event . That is a kind of creative work on multiple levels : meeting design , interaction design , web , advertising , email marketing , social media , print advertising , sponsorship campaigns … there is no end for creative ideas .”
Lakhiani doesn ’ t expect digital media to ever fully replace face-to-face events but see the two as a “ partnership made in heaven ”.
“ People want to meet in real life , they want to know if they can trust a person or a vendor or exhibitor , and that trust cannot usually be built by digital media alone . That said , events are the perfect playground for digital extensions of real-life encounters .
“ Nothing ever stays the same . Every event is different , and re-inventing the wheel is part of our fantastic journey as event marketers . ‘ That ’ s how we always did it ’ is a sentence I don ’ t believe you will hear from any great event marketers .”
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Summer — 35 |