Branding • Marketing • Web Design
Aspire
Maximizing conference attendance in person and online.
Background
Aspire is the premier conference for the built environment to inspire, collaborate, and design the future. Over three days, attendees immerse themselves in the vibrant culture of Asheville, North Carolina, enjoying sessions, tours, events, and networking with some of the brightest minds in design.
The reimagined virtual experience included its signature TED-style Aspire Talks, interactive Aspire Chats, and gamification to combat virtual event fatigue. After virtual success in 2020 and 2021, Aspire returned in-person in 2022. With marketing and design led by Gordon Media Company, Aspire draws over 500 attendees annually from 20+ states.
Messaging
Effective messaging is key to successful marketing, enabling businesses to stand out, convey value, and connect with their audience. During Aspire’s virtual experience, the challenge was to generate excitement and highlight value in the absence of physical connection. The messaging revolved around themes of the future, unity, and envisioning life beyond COVID-19.
The in-person conference offers educational sessions alongside architectural tours, dining experiences, and networking opportunities, fostering interaction and collaboration among attendees. Through strategic messaging, we effectively differentiated these experiences while conveying their transformative value.
Email Marketing
Aspire leveraged its email list to conduct research, using surveys and segmentation to deliver tailored information to subscribers based on their interests. Targeted emails served different objectives, such as driving conference registration for individuals who hadn’t signed up yet, and providing session and event-focused content for those who were already registered.
These emails strategically combined logical and emotional appeals, addressing key challenges faced by the audience and presenting the conference as the definitive solution. Email marketing proved to be the most effective channel, successfully engaging and motivating recipients. We also increased the average email open rate from 19.6% to 38%.
Ad Strategy
In addition to email marketing campaigns, we utilized Instagram and Facebook ads to increase website traffic and generate valuable email leads for Aspire. We implemented retargeting ads to reconnect with individuals who had previously visited the website, resulting in an impressive return on ad spend that was nearly 20 times the initial investment. Remarkably, these retargeting efforts accounted for 15% of conference attendees, showcasing their significant impact.