Institute for Family-Owned Businesses

CHALLENGE

For over 20 years, the Institute for Family-Owned Business (IFOB) has honored local legacy with the Maine Family Business Awards. But even with a rich history and strong media buzz, they faced two key hurdles.

First, the nomination process was too clunky. A long, web-based form discouraged submissions—especially from folks on mobile. And while IFOB had tried Meta Ads in the past, engagement remained low.

Second, despite strong awareness and goodwill, converting that energy into ticket sales for the awards dinner proved tricky. The challenge? Reaching the right people in Maine; those who wanted to show up, cheer loudly, and celebrate the state’s incredible family-run businesses.

To make it work, we needed to simplify how people nominated their favorite businesses and spark real interest among potential attendees. Our goal: a packed house and a powerful night of recognition for Maine’s family-owned standouts.

SOLUTION

To set the 2025 Maine Family Business Awards up for success, we launched a two-phase campaign built on early planning and smart targeting. With the event scheduled for early October, we began campaign planning in late April and had Meta ads live by May 1.

Our first mission was: generate more nominations from more voices.
Instead of limiting our reach to business owners and employees, we targeted Maine residents aged 22 and up with interests in local events, small businesses, community service, and entrepreneurship. This community-first approach paid off.

Over the course of two months, we collected more than 600 form submissions. Of those, 505 were fully completed. The nominations came from across the state and represented a wide range of industries, including daycare centers, dental practices, construction, and local food markets.

Thanks to the strong response, IFOB was able to connect with dozens of family-owned businesses to let them know they had been nominated and invite them to apply. The result was 44 completed applications, the highest in the event’s history, with most coming from new, non-member businesses.

By simplifying the process and expanding the audience, we helped IFOB bring even more of Maine’s remarkable family-run businesses into the spotlight.

Our second mission was: generate more awareness & ticket sales for the event.
To drive ticket sales for the 2025 Maine Family Business Awards, we focused exclusively on LinkedIn, and that decision paid off.

We built our audience using precise targeting based on location, job role, job title, and interests related to business in Maine. We then retargeted users who had previously engaged with our nomination ads, creating a warm, high-intent audience just in time for ticket sales.

The campaign delivered more than 79,000 impressions and drove 666 website visits, with a strong engagement rate of 1% and a cost-efficient $2.02 per click. These metrics reflected not just reach, but relevance; every click came from someone likely to care about the event.

Most importantly, we sold over 500 tickets and filled the room. By staying focused on LinkedIn’s business-minded audience and using data from Phase 1 to guide our approach, we helped IFOB turn a statewide celebration into a sold-out success.