In March 2022, AIA Corporation (AIA), Appleton, Wisconsin, brought together nearly 70 owners for its two-day Marketing Lab, a virtual hands-on learning event focused on marketing solutions. This year’s event centered on developing a brand’s digital footprint, advancing their social media presence and creating strategic content.
“There is so much opportunity in social media, but to fully capture that opportunity requires strategy and focus,” said Nancy Schmidt, CEO at AIA. “This month, AIA hosted our annual Marketing Lab that explores the various social channels, building your digital brand presence and content creation. The potential is endless, the future is faster than you think and this Marketing Lab provided great resources to empower AIA’s Owner Community for lasting effectiveness on social media.”
This year’s Marketing Lab featured keynote speaker Jeremy Picker, creative director and CEO at AMB3R Creative, a Colorado-based apparel design firm. He is also a cancer survivor and co-founder of ÉSTAINE, a high-end accessory line to support cancer education.
As a small-business owner, Picker experienced struggles throughout the pandemic like many other SMBs, but continued to maintain a strong social presence and actively engaged with the communities he built. His keynote speech, “Building Your Influence & Business Through Social Media,” highlighted how to utilize social media to showcase owners’ services and expertise and help grow their business.
Breakout sessions were geared toward owners leveling up the content quality and strategy of their social media channels. Sessions included the fundamentals of getting started on social media, outlining a content strategy, design for social media and strategies for utilizing video content.
“The Marketing Lab event provided incredible value both from a standpoint of very specific resources, such as Canva and Coolors, but also a broad stroke view of design creation,” said owner John King, LogoMotions. “As someone who at has been in the promo world for over 20 years, I’m always seeking growth and knowledge. I have already started to look at images and advertising in a much different way.”
AIA Marketing Lab was produced by the AIA marketing team, a full-service, agency-formatted department that partners with owners to help grow their businesses. Through the Experience AIA platform, all owners have access to AIA’s On-Demand Promo Library, which offers email templates, digital flipbooks, custom presentations, supplier sales materials and more. Additionally, owners can opt-in to AIA’s monthly campaign management offering, or engage AIA for custom marketing project support.
“AIA’s two-day Marketing Lab focusing on how our owners can use social media to increase their business was a huge success,” added Rich Berg, senior vice president of owner success. “This type of program is a great example of how AIA helps our Owners grow faster than they could on their own.”
Marketing Lab is just one example of AIA’s robust educational programming, which aims to meet the evolving needs of today’s distributors. Other programming includes supplier webinars and AIA University, a digital learning platform for the AIA staff and owner community, along with Ask the Expert, a webinar series that connects owners with experts on a wide range of timely topics.
“After Marketing Lab, there were a few key takeaways for me, such as posting to my social media stories daily and adding more videos and live videos,” said owner and swag strategist Brian Ensign, Be Branded. “Prior to being a business owner, I never saw the value in attending educational sessions related to the industry. However, now I make it a point to attend everything that my schedule allows within the different AIA events. I always come away with at least one thing from every event.”
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Promo Marketing. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Promo Marketing.
