International Conferences and exhibitions

International Conferences and Exhibitions is a premier event organizing company specializing in the education and hospitality sectors. The company curates a select portfolio of high-impact events annually, with its flagship event, the Global Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX), standing out as a leading student recruitment event in the education industry. Through its meticulously organized events, International Conferences and Exhibitions fosters meaningful business connections, drives innovation, and facilitates sustainable growth across the industries it operates in.

work completed

Marketing Management
Content
Creative

Events managed

Global Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX)
International Coffee and Tea Festival (ICTF)

Marketing Management

Being responsible for the year-round marketing of its shows, I led the complete 360 degree marketing effort at this organization to drive success, enhance event visibility and attract attendees from target markets. This broadly included exhibitor and visitor promotion aimed at increasing global participation at the shows.

Strategy

For each show cycle, a tailored marketing strategy was developed to drive promotion. This involved designing and overseeing the implementation of annual, monthly, and weekly marketing plans, partnerships, media placements, and various other promotional activities. A key component of the strategy was advising on and allocating the marketing budget across different channels to maximize impact.

Market research

In-depth market research was conducted to gather valuable insights into industry trends, consumer behaviors, and competitor activities. This research played a crucial role in shaping the marketing strategy by providing data-driven intelligence to inform key business decisions and conceptualizing event experiences. The findings not only guided strategic planning but also helped refine marketing approaches to better meet customer needs and preferences. By understanding the evolving landscape, the research contributed to enhancing customer experiences, optimizing marketing tactics, and ultimately improving overall marketing performance. This comprehensive analysis ensured that all initiatives were aligned with market demands and positioned for maximum impact.

Social media

The management of social media platforms for each show was a key responsibility. During off-peak seasons, weekly organic posts were created and shared, accompanied by carefully curated visuals to maintain engagement and brand recall. In peak seasons, external agencies were contracted to manage posts and activate paid advertising campaigns. Content was closely monitored, reviewed, and edited to ensure accuracy and consistency with brand messaging and business objectives. This approach maintained a steady online presence while maximizing exposure and audience engagement during critical promotional periods.

Media buy

During peak show seasons, targeted media placements were strategically sourced in relevant trade publications to amplify reach to industry-specific audiences. Additionally, advertising space was purchased at preferential and discounted rates in prominent newspapers, top websites, and radio stations across key target markets. This multi-channel approach ensured broad coverage and effective message delivery, helping to maximize visibility and engagement with the desired audience.

Partnerships

Partnerships are essential for the success and growth of events, playing a pivotal role in expanding reach and enhancing credibility. A range of strategic partnership agreements were carefully negotiated, refined, and finalized with key stakeholders such as media outlets, knowledge partners, influencers, and other relevant organizations. These collaborations helped amplify promotional efforts, ensuring broader visibility and access to specialized networks. By leveraging the strengths of each partner, these alliances contributed to creating a more impactful and well-rounded event experience.

Paid campaigns

A comprehensive multi-channel digital campaign strategy was developed and executed in partnership with specialized digital marketing agencies. These agencies managed the backend setup, activation, and continuous optimization of campaigns across various digital platforms, ensuring maximum reach, engagement and performance. Regular performance reports provided by the agencies were diligently analyzed internally to monitor key metrics, track budget allocation, and assess overall campaign effectiveness. Insights from the data were used to identify areas for improvement and recommend strategic adjustments, optimizing campaign outcomes and ensuring alignment with business objectives.

content

I spearheaded brand development and campaign execution for one of the largest student recruitment exhibitions in the MENA region, managing the full cycle from strategy to execution with granular relevance per target country. By blending creative vision with strong communication skills, I successfully launched and scaled the company’s exhibitions in digital-first spaces. I also produced highly customized content for marketing campaigns, adopting a bold storytelling approach that cut through social media noise and generated viral engagement.

creative

A wide range of business reports were meticulously researched, written, and briefed to designers to be professionally designed. These included sales decks aimed at presenting key event participation benefits to prospective clients, post-show reports that analyzed event performance and outlined key metrics, and business plans that detailed strategic goals, market insights, and growth opportunities. Each report was tailored to its specific purpose, combining compelling content with visually appealing layouts to effectively communicate data and insights, ensuring clarity and impact for internal and external stakeholders.

Achievements and impact

Digital strategy

Managed all online/digital and print campaigns including paid, owned and earned.

Content

Developed content strategy, with particular focus on micro content pillars and thought leadership.

Social media

Drove high impact social media campaigns (across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube), introducing new video assets that secured consistent customer engagement across organic and sponsored posts. Social engagement rates on popular posts rose by as much as 1200% year on year during comparable/peak campaign durations.

Service level agreements (SLAs)

Collaborated with and managed international and local agency/vendor SLAs to deliver all campaigns successfully.