How Destination Augusta Made a Strategic Bet on Smarter Meetings Growth

Augusta, Georgia — known as the “Feel Good City” and set along the Savannah River — is a compelling meetings destination with diverse offerings and Southern charm. As Destination Augusta continued to elevate its group sales strategy, the team identified an opportunity to further strengthen the systems and tools to support its meetings business. To accelerate prospecting, expand data intelligence, and maximize internal capacity, Destination Augusta sought a solution that would complement its existing expertise and help scale sales efforts for even greater impact. 

Elevating an Already Compelling Meetings Destination

As performance metrics revealed an opportunity to strengthen RFP volume and rebooking capture, Chief Marketing Officer Karen Lee Davis proactively evaluated how Destination Augusta could further optimize its meetings sales approach. Rather than placing additional strain on a lean team, she championed an investment in a more advanced, scalable meetings strategy — one designed to enhance productivity, sharpen targeting, and drive sustainable long-term growth.

“We knew Augusta was highly competitive as a destination, and we wanted our systems to better match that strength,” Davis said. “Our goal was to reach the right planners with the right message at the right time, and we were looking for a partner who could help us modernize and elevate our approach in a way that fit seamlessly into our team’s workflow.”

A Deliberate Move to Build a Smarter Meetings Pipeline

Davis engaged MediaOne to support a full-funnel sales enablement strategy that would enhance Destination Augusta’s prospecting precision, data intelligence, and pipeline velocity. The objective was to pair Augusta’s strong sales execution with Media One’s strategic data optimization and targeted digital activation, creating a more intelligent, scalable pipeline engine.

MediaOne worked closely with Destination Augusta to strengthen the integrity and usability of the meetings database, prioritizing data cleansing, enhanced segmentation, and strategic lead qualification. Leads were refined based on venue capacity alignment, meeting segment fit, and sourcing cycle timing — ensuring outreach focused on opportunities with the highest likelihood to convert. In parallel, Augusta’s sales team concentrated on advancing and closing priority opportunities already in the pipeline, creating a synchronized top- and bottom-funnel approach.

This division of focus allowed Destination Augusta’s sales professionals to spend more time selling, while MediaOne, through its sales enablement strategies, continuously surfaced new, well-aligned opportunities — driving greater efficiency and consistency across the funnel.

To further fuel future growth, MediaOne layered in targeted digital media campaigns aimed at Destination Augusta’s core planner audiences. These efforts kept Augusta visible during early-stage planning and delivered a steady stream of fresh, qualified prospects into the pipeline.

Supporting the full-funnel strategy, MediaOne also developed planner-centric content and messaging that articulated Augusta’s unique value proposition and addressed key planner needs. Segmentation-specific landing pages and streamlined lead capture forms reduced friction and improved conversion, ensuring interest translated into actionable sales opportunities.

A Sustainable System with Immediate and Strategic Payoff

The enhanced meetings sales ecosystem began producing measurable results quickly, while simultaneously increasing internal efficiency and focus for the Destination Augusta team.

Through MediaOne’s sales enablement strategies, Destination Augusta established a consistent flow of pre-qualified prospects that expanded pipeline depth and helped stabilize RFP activity. With greater confidence in lead quality, the sales team was able to prioritize the most viable opportunities, strengthening overall pipeline health and productivity.

From multiple high-intent leads delivered through MediaOne, Destination Augusta secured 2,410 room nights at an average daily rate of approximately $169 — translating to more than $400,000 in room revenue. This performance represents an estimated 800% return on investment based on room nights alone, prior to accounting for food-and-beverage spend, ancillary revenue, broader economic impact, and additional warm opportunities currently in development.

“MediaOne delivered more than incremental RFP volume,” said Davis. “They helped us implement a scalable sales enablement strategy that allows our team to work smarter, stay focused on high-value opportunities, and grow with intention.”