CLIENT SUCCESS STORY
ALSD BREAKS COMPANY SALES RECORD, LED BY $219,000 IN NEW SPONSORED CONTENT REVENUE
Team Objective:
ALSD contracted Seat 36’s Jared Frank for 13-plus years to lead the company’s content and marketing strategy and execution, routinely breaking records for membership and sponsorship revenue along the way.
Services Used:
Content Strategy
Video Marketing
Project Management
APPROACH
The Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD) is a professional trade association for the sports and entertainment venue marketplace. Serving the corporate hospitality niche, its membership consists of salespeople, service leaders, foodservice providers, and architects, as well as the vendors and suppliers whose products are found in premium seat environments within stadiums and arenas.
Since 1990, ALSD has been a trusted platform for sharing best practices. Its primary member benefit is a year-round knowledge center. The content calendar consists of webinars, video tours and tutorials, as well as virtual events, culminating in the annual in-person ALSD Conference and Tradeshow.
For more than 13 years, ALSD contracted Seat 36’s Jared Frank to lead its content and marketing efforts. In the early days, Jared served as editor of the ALSD’s print publication. Through the years, he transitioned the company to a digital content strategy to best serve members and advertisers with a modern offering, which spearheaded record-breaking revenue generation.
Seat 36 delivered success by:
Eliminating $40,000 in annual print and postage costs while introducing a new sponsorship tier producing $219,000 in its first year.
Migrating all content and integrating legacy print advertisers into a menu of scalable digital content offerings, including videos, case studies, webinars, and virtual panel discussions.
Creating three new video marketing content products generating $24,500 in incremental revenue in their first year.
Jared is a trusted ally to the business and the most thoughtful and intentional leader I know. As the overseer of all things content, he leads with an entrepreneurial mindset and recognizes the importance of balancing budget and revenue outcomes with creative goals.”
CONTENT STRATEGY
As head of content for ALSD, Seat 36’s Jared Frank had three primary responsibilities: 1) Build attendance for the annual ALSD Conference and Tradeshow, 2) provide a year-round platform for vendor partners to maximize reach with intended audiences, and 3) generate awareness and conversation to convert new members and renew existing ones.
To fulfill these ends, Jared executed a multichannel content marketing strategy focused on video promotion, social media engagement, and digital case studies. This effort resulted in the most-attended conference and tradeshow in the ALSD’s 30-year history, which increased attributable revenues by 12%.
Jared first shifted the print publication to an email newsletter. The changeover drove demand for online content and sponsor participation through paid native content and advertising assets, generating an incremental $7,400 per issue.
Next, Jared provided a new member benefit – the ALSD Training Center. This robust online repository of curated blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and webinars connected members with the industry’s top trainers and executive coaches.
The new education hub quickly became a win-win. Members now had access to online, on-demand training. And the trainers had access to a valuable channel to promote their paid services and capture high-value leads. ALSD then inserted many of these top trainers into conference agendas at no cost via trade agreements valued between $10,000 and $25,000 per event.
As an organization whose origins reside in print, Jared defined and led our transition to a digital-first strategy in a period of less than two years. This overhaul gave the sponsorship team a new set of products to sell and increased our average contract size, with heavy adoption among our top 10% of sponsor accounts.”
VIDEO CONTENT
To catalyze the digital content transition, Jared hit the road along with ALSD’s in-house videographer. The duo traveled to 30 cities to nurture member relationships, identify critical industry trends, and interview key leaders from across all facets of the marketplace. These road trips improved content relevancy to members, enhanced breadth of content, and developed a holistic content experience delivered through new mediums, namely video.
The Seat 36-ALSD team leveraged video to reach new audiences and augment its content offering. Jared created three new video content products around the themes of venue tours, member tips, and executive interviews. This variety enabled integration of multiple sponsors from different industry categories.
Jared concepted each video product and show formula, as well as wrote all scripts. He also conducted all interviews and directed all post-production edits. Performance metrics immediately increased, and video became the primary channel for delivering content to members, while placing sponsor messages natively within the storytelling.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Jared managed all content-related projects for ALSD. He never missed a deadline in 13 years, always delivering content on-time, on-budget, and on-quality.
From assigning task owners to deadlines, Jared managed a project team of 20 contributors, consisting of in-house and freelance writers, graphic designers, production managers, and distribution managers. He also liaised with the ALSD’s print partner on any applicable projects.
Under Jared’s leadership, the print publication grew its circulation by 250%, increased its page count by 350%, and optimized editorial-to-advertising ratios to ensure quality and cost containment. This success built the trust with staff and advertisers that was required to launch the new digital content initiatives and propel ALSD into its next 30 years.
In one instance, Jared spearheaded a digital video campaign that generated 10X more impressions for a partner than we were capable of the year before. This initial case study changed the game for the types of offerings we now present to prospects and existing partners.”
SEAT 36 IMPACT
About ALSD:
Since 1990, the ALSD has served as the premium seat industry’s trusted platform for aggregating best practices and fostering community interaction. ALSD membership has grown to now comprise all sides of sports and entertainment venue development and represents all corners of the $10 billion corporate hospitality marketplace.
Project References: AMANDA VERHOFF AND MAX SNYDER
Update: Max Snyder has since departed ALSD to become a Loan Officer at RWM Home Loans.
