Report: Most B2B Event Marketers Focus on Customer Engagement

Many B2B marketers engage in both hybrid and in-person events to resonate with their target audience. Now, new research indicates that they are using this tactic to drive customer engagement more than ever before.

On24 recently published “The Future of Events Report,” and statistics showed that the most important goal for events among B2B marketers is customer engagement (51%). This is followed by revenue growth (43%), product awareness (41%) and sales pipeline growth (40%).

To gauge the impact of their efforts, the majority of B2B marketers (58%) look to attendee-level engagement at events. Opportunities/pipeline generated (53%), total number of events/sessions attended (51%) and information/content downloads (50%) are some of the other key performance indicators used by B2B marketers.

Finding Alternatives for B2B Marketing Events

Amidst the global pandemic, B2B marketers have been forced to shift how they reach out to their target audience, particularly through events. Postponements have not been uncommon, according to previous research.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research conducted a survey back in 2020 to gauge how COVID-19 is impacting B2B exhibition marketers. As of April 2020, about 62% of marketers had been forced to cancel at least one B2B exhibition. This percentage increased to 73% in June.

That being said, many B2B marketers have been able to find an alternative via the internet. Nearly 63% of B2B marketers said at the time that they had at least one digital alternative in place for postponed events.