“LinkedIn didn’t just help us fill seats –
we attracted quality attendees from
our targeted industries.”

Margaret Shepard
Executive Director, Communications and Strategy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce uses LinkedIn to bring sellout crowd to aviation conference

  • Challenge

    Challenge

    Attract high-level attendees to an aviation-focused event in targeted industries

  • Solution

    Solution

    Sponsored InMails and Spotlight Ads

  • Results

    Results

    2X attendee increase; quality audience drives high ratings for event content

Challenge

Industry-specific conferences sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are prized for their
networking opportunities and thought leadership discussions. “Our events are intended to engage our membership and complement our policy work,” says Margaret Shepard, the Chamber’s Executive Director of Communications and Strategy. “They showcase us as a convener of decision makers and influencers.” When the Annual Aviation Summit was moved from the Chamber’s headquarters to a nearby hotel, potential capacity doubled from 350 to 700 attendees – driving the need to market the summit to a wider audience, while still attracting industry leaders.

Solution

“We wanted to build a high-level audience of aviation decision makers – not just get bodies in seats,” says Laura Bonavita, the Chamber’s Director of Communications and Strategy. LinkedIn Sponsored InMails and Spotlight Ads, combined with targeting based on LinkedIn’s accurate and up-to-date audience data, helped the Chamber market the event to and reach aviation professionals in more cities, as well as people in associated industries such as agriculture and aerospace.

“Sponsored InMails allowed us to introduce people to the Summit in a more substantive way,” Shepard says. “We had a robust conference agenda to share, and text is limited in ads – but with Sponsored InMails, we could clearly sell the event’s advantages.”  The sold-out summit drew more than 700 people: “Our attendees told us how great the networking was, and that they wanted the day to go longer – that’s a big endorsement of both the quality of our summit’s content and the type of attendees we attracted,” Bonavita says. “It told us that Sponsored InMails are a key marketing tool for our events.” Spotlight Ads also helped the Chamber get attention for the summit, since they included LinkedIn member photos to create a personalized pitch.

Results

●     Sellout event attracts 700+ attendees

●     42% open rate for InMail, 9% CTR

●     Spotlight Ad CTR was 83% higher than North American LinkedIn benchmarks for display ads

●     Executive-level audience gives high ratings to summit