More Than a Machinery Show: Making FTMTA the Industry’s Must-Attend Event
Delivering strategic communications that transformed the return of the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show into a high-impact industry event, generating widespread awareness, media reach and audience engagement.
FTMTA needed strong communications to not only announce the return of the FTMTA Farm Machinery Show to its original indoor format but to communicate it would now be a 3-day winter event. The event would need to be targeted as the largest indoor machinery event on offer to machinery enthusiasts. Its success would be measured on the number of machinery brands exhibiting and a high volume of people in attendance.
A budget was agreed from which Green Acre Marketing developed a comprehensive communications, advertising and PR plan in two phases.
Pre-show press releases detailed the event’s new date, its biennial staging and revised format. This included a launch at Punchestown attended by then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD. Extensive PR copy was provided which featured in a digital and print media and featured co-ordinated radio interviews. A series of advertisements were placed across Ireland’s most prominent farm-relevant titles with digital advertising campaigns running across four different outlets. A four-part highly targeted paid social media campaign promoted awareness of the event, showcased a variety of exhibitors coming to the show and encouraged pre-event ticket sales; split into the two separate campaigns.
The final element was showcasing from the event. Live feeds and coverage of the event from the moment the gates opened on Day 1 was provided through shooting a series of video interviews posted on the show’s social media streams while the event was running.
The digital advertising generated approximately 5 million impressions via four different outlets. Our social media campaign generated approximately 2.7 million impressions across four different digital outlets while print/online agrimedia generated approximately 30 individual pre-and post-show reports/photo coverage across six different titles. Meanwhile, our e-newsletter campaigns achieved solid engagement across various email sends, demonstrating that the audience’s receptiveness to targeted and action-driven messaging.
“We’re extremely happy with how the show has been received, as illustrated by the fantastic crowds we attracted every day,” said Michael Farrelly, the FTMTA’s Executive Director.
