The results
- 1,540+ executive-level VIP conversations with public-sector decision-makers
- 8× increase in qualified decision-maker interest ahead of flagship conferences
- 6 national conferences delivered across 4 years (2023-2026) as official marketing partner
- 300+ pre-qualified public-sector delegates per event - every one intent-checked on live projects landing in the next 0-18 months
- Two engines, one system: funded-VIP delegate recruitment + session-aligned partner & sponsor sales
It’s a two-fold plan of attack. Plan 1 - lead generation and appointment making [partners & sponsors]. Plan 2 - targeting delegates with a funded VIP ticket.
- Lee Etchells, Founder & Event Director, Net Zero Club (campaign brief)
About Net Zero Club
Net Zero Club connects UK public-sector project owners with the private-sector innovators who can deliver their decarbonisation projects - through national conferences, the daily Net Zero News, a Knowledge Exchange, podcasts and awards. Cabinet-level speakers have included Gillian Martin MSP, Fiona Hyslop MSP and Dr Alasdair Allan MSP.
The conference series we have marketed end-to-end:
- 2023 - Net Zero Nations Projects Conference, London
- 2024 - Net Zero Scotland Projects Conference, Edinburgh (23 April)
- 2025 - Net Zero Scotland Projects Conference, Edinburgh (22 April)
- 2025 - Net Zero Nations Projects Conference, Westminster (3 June)
- 2026 - Net Zero Scotland, Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh (3 September) - campaign live
- 2026 - Net Zero Nations, One Great George Street, Westminster (6 October) - campaign live
The audience engine
Event marketing lives or dies on who is in the room. We built Net Zero Club a two-track audience system that fills both sides of the marketplace - and rebuilt it fresh for every edition.
🏛️ Delegate track - public sector VIPs
- Built from official registries: every English council, the NHS provider directory & Integrated Care Boards, mygov.scot public bodies, university & college directories
- Expanded segment by segment: housing associations & registered providers, police forces, fire & rescue, combined & transport authorities
- 60+ mapped job titles across 5 functions - energy & sustainability (down to LHEES officers), transport & fleet, estates & built environment, procurement & governance, housing
- Fully-funded VIP places, qualified one question at a time: “are you involved in live projects in the next 0-18 months?”
🤝 Partner track - session-aligned suppliers
- Sourced from exhibitor & speaker lists of All-Energy, Innovation Zero and Smart Buildings Show, plus trade bodies: ADE, UKDEA, BCIA, HPA
- AI website analysis scores every company against the conference’s three session themes - only relevant suppliers get invited
- AI competitor mapping expands each good-fit company into its whole niche
- CEOs and sales/marketing/BD directors approached in Lee’s voice, converting to Teams calls with the founder
How we ran it
- 1. Audience identification & segmentation - registry-built lists per segment, refreshed for every edition
- 2. AI-assisted qualification - website-analysis prompts classify each company against Session 1-3 themes; personalised invitation emails generated per company, in UK English, referencing their actual solutions
- 3. Outreach in the founder’s voice - sub-300-character LinkedIn connection notes and follow-ups written as Lee, never as a marketing agency
- 4. Frictionless VIP booking - qualifying delegates reserved directly in-thread (“drop me your work email”) - no forms
- 5. Always-on brand engine - daily Net Zero News posts across LinkedIn, X, Facebook & Instagram, weekly Knowledge Exchange blogs, monthly newsletters to the database
- 6. Tracking & weekly reporting - per-segment tracking sheets, weekly growth reports, monthly performance reviews and quarterly strategy sessions with Lee
What made it work
Relevance beat reach at every step. Delegates were never “invited” - they were qualified on live projects, then offered a funded place that felt earned. Partners were never spammed - they were matched to a session theme where 300+ project owners would be sitting. And everything arrived in the founder’s voice, backed by a daily news brand that made Net Zero Club visible between events, not just before them.
Once we narrowed the focus, the replies improved almost immediately.
- Saeed Ali, Campaign Manager, AISH
What’s next
Both 2026 campaigns are live right now - Net Zero Scotland (Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh - 3 September 2026) and Net Zero Nations (One Great George Street, Westminster - 6 October 2026) - running on the same audience engine, refreshed for a fifth year.
Run a conference or event series? This is the system we would build for you.
