How CIENCE's Targeted Outreach Doubled Lead Generation For An Event Services Firm
About Imagecraft
Imagecraft Exhibits is a full-service manager and custom designer/fabricator of trade show exhibits, marketing centers, and custom interiors and environments. With a foundation in commercial art and craftsmanship, Imagecraft Exhibits works with clients to create unique elements that bring a company's brand and products to life.
Imagecraft Exhibits also offers a variety of portable displays by Nimlok. The Nimlok line of Fast Solutions portable trade show display products contains everything needed to create unique trade show booths and face-to-face marketing experiences.
Steve Bailey
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Industry
Events Services
Website
Challenges & Scope
ICP: Industry-specific + Geo-targeting. The participants of a particular event. Product: Custom booths for events at a competitive price.
Imagecraft came to CIENCE because they needed to increase sales. They were lacking necessary leads for their sales team.
CIENCE jumped in by specifically working on outbound email campaigns which were event specific. As part of a regular cadence, Imagecraft provides CIENCE with specific trade shows, usually about 5-6 months prior to the event. Then, CIENCE starts data mining to finding attendees for these shows, often without attendee lists. After sleuthing accurate contact data, building bespoke lead lists per event, and vetting titles to target to the outbound email process begins.
Each campaign creates the opportunity for extremely customized messaging, geared primarily around generating engagement. Once prospects respond, CIENCE immediately transfers warm leads and appointments to Imagecraft for immediate follow-up from their Business Development Director.
Steve Bailey, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Imagecraft states, "We're now at double-digit meetings per month." New records continue to be set for the number of meetings per month received.
"(CIENCE is) much more effective than any account executive we could've hired and probably around the same price, too."
Why CIENCE
CIENCE and Imagecraft have weekly campaign review and analytics calls with the team manager. The manager maintains regular communication with Steve, to ensure complete transparency at any given time.
"CIENCE is extremely responsive:I know exactly what's going on with our accounts, prospects and messaging. They're intent on delivering on and executing any requests."
This has proven to be a vital part of an aggressive events schedule that goes year-round. Prospect companies needing booths and displays are always working a few months ahead of actual deployment, so the ability to get onto the radar of decision-makers with a strong value proposition is critical. Imagecraft targets sponsor companies at events as large as CES in Las Vegas and smaller, industry-focused events in strategic geographies to their own operations in Austin and Dallas, Texas.
Results
"The free trial they offered at the beginning gave us confidence in their skills. We didn't look for a different company after seeing how effective they were."
In a sample of 3 months, CIENCE has reached out to 3,557 leads. Out of these leads, the reply rate has been up to 12%. According to other industry averages, this is 12X the results as cold email response rates are often at or lower than 1%.
CIENCE has landed appointments with titles like Director of Global Sales, Director of Operations, VP of Sales Enablement, VP, Director of Business Development, Director of International Sales, President, CEO, and more.
"We're now at double-digit meetings per month, and I'm hoping for continued improvement. They're much more effective than any account executive we could've hired and probably around the same price, too."
Frequently Asked Questions
How many meetings did Imagecraft get with CIENCE?
Imagecraft Exhibits achieved double-digit meetings per month through CIENCE's outbound email campaigns, with new monthly records set on an ongoing basis. CIENCE transferred warm leads and booked appointments directly to Imagecraft's Business Development Director for immediate follow-up.
What email reply rate did Imagecraft achieve with CIENCE?
Across a 3-month sample, CIENCE reached out to 3,557 leads on behalf of Imagecraft and achieved a reply rate of up to 12%. This is approximately 12 times the industry cold email average, which typically falls at or below 1%.
How did CIENCE generate leads for Imagecraft Exhibits?
CIENCE ran event-specific outbound email campaigns for Imagecraft, starting 5 to 6 months before each targeted trade show. The process involved data mining to find attendees without public lists, building bespoke lead lists per event, vetting decision-maker titles, and crafting highly customized messaging to generate engagement from potential booth buyers.
Why did Imagecraft choose to stay with CIENCE after the free trial?
Imagecraft initially took advantage of a free trial before committing to CIENCE. The results were compelling enough that they did not evaluate any competing vendors afterward. Steve Bailey, VP of Sales & Marketing, noted that CIENCE was more cost-effective than hiring an in-house account executive while delivering superior results.
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