Replacing an Open Day With an Account-Based Experience

The Challenge

Previous open-day formats could attract general interest and time-wasters without guaranteeing access to the senior people who influenced large industrial purchases. The manufacturer had a valuable facility and product story, but the invitation and follow-up model needed to match the commercial value of the audience.

What I Did

I helped reshape the event as an account-based warehouse walkthrough. Instead of beginning with broad awareness, the campaign began with identifying priority accounts and influential contacts in the CRM. Personalised invitations and gift packs became the engagement mechanism, with a dedicated landing page and coordinated sales follow-up supporting the experience.

How I Did It

• 01: Defined the audience at account and decision-maker level before creating assets.
• 02: Used CRM data to coordinate invitations, ownership and follow-up.
• 03: Designed the walkthrough around relevant products, people and proof rather than a generic tour.
• 04: Built an approval and action plan across leadership, web, design and campaign support.

The Result

The concept moved from open-ended event idea to an approved, launch-ready account-based campaign with invitations prepared and a landing-page workstream assigned. The most important result was strategic: the business changed the success criterion from foot traffic to access to named, commercially influential people.

Why It Matters

I use account-based marketing when the value of one right relationship is greater than the value of a large anonymous audience.