Case study · Business owner, B2B

he runs a 35-year-old trade-show company. his industry replied in 72 hours.

His company builds trade-show booths for aerospace and industrial brands. 37,777 impressions in his first 12 days, and a competitor's owner in his comments.

37,777

impressions in his first 12 days

posts to get there

20,101

on his best post

72 hours

to the first replies from his industry

Who he is

The second-generation leader of a trade-show exhibit company his father built 35 years ago.

It designs, builds and installs booths across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Its US clients include aerospace and industrial brands.

He is also building an AI tool to help exhibitors get more from trade shows.

Where he started on LinkedIn

For a year, his LinkedIn was company updates. 37 posts in 11 months, about 1,580 impressions each. Nothing was about him, the person who now runs the company.

1. The strategy

he was selling 4 things, to 4 different people.

His boothsto marketing heads at brands that exhibit in the US and Europe.
His companyto the industry: a family business being rebuilt by the next generation.
His AI toolto exhibitors who want more from every show.
His companyto designers who have taste, not just software skills.

A marketing head spending six figures on a booth needs to believe one thing: this man will make the call I would make. So we posted his story: taking over from his dad, and the hard calls he made after.

2. The funnel

what we wrote, stage by stage.

Real posts, as published. Each one had one job.

get discovered

The job: Make people in his industry feel what it took to keep the company alive.

2nd-generation exhibit company leader35-year-old exhibit company

On my dad's birthday, a 10-year client sent one email that wiped out 80% of our revenue.

It was the 29th of September. My mom saw the email at five in the morning her time. Her heart dropped, and then she called me, and mine dropped too.

This wasn't just any client. It was the only real account we had. My dad had chased this company for three years before he ever said yes. He grew that account from a hundred thousand dollars to two million. We had basically become an extension of their company.

Excerpt from the published post.

20,101 impressions

Why it works. A business loss, told through a family moment. People in his industry felt it.

build trust

The job: Show buyers how he decides when real money is on the table.

2nd-generation exhibit company leader35-year-old exhibit company

My first real decision after taking over the company was walking away from a $100,000 project.

My dad had stepped back in August for health reasons. He sent an email that basically said I make all the decisions now.

Excerpt from the published post.

Why it works. A $100,000 number and a hard no. Buyers respect a founder who says no.

convert

The job: Tell buyers his design wins accounts, and tell designers with taste that he wants them.

2nd-generation exhibit company leader35-year-old exhibit company

I hired a photographer to work at a company that builds trade show booths. Everyone thought I'd lost it.

She won us our biggest design account.

For the past two decades our company hired people who knew the software. That was the whole bar. They could run the tools, but nobody ever asked them to have taste.

Excerpt from the published post.

Why it works. A strange hire that worked. It proves the design, and it doubles as a job ad.

3. The process

Every post came from his own stories and opinions. We did the writing. He approved each draft before it went live. 12 days after our first call, his first posts were live.

The results

11,014 impressions in his launch window, 1,829% more than the 7 days before.
37,777 impressions from his first 11 posts, in 12 days.
His best post got 20,101 impressions. Before us, his posts got about 1,580.
Within 72 hours, a competitor's owner commented in public, and a senior peer abroad sent him a message.

The lesson

For a B2B owner, reach is not the point. What matters is who replies. A personal story reached the exact people in his market.

More results

Creator: co-founder of a 1.6M-subscriber YouTube channel →Creator: the history storyteller the Prime Minister named Best Storyteller →Business owner: MD of a ₹1,500-crore manufacturing company →Creator and business owner: founder of a 600K-subscriber podcast →All results →Read more of our posts →

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