Report: B2B Event Marketers Striving for Increased Customer Engagement

Marketers allocate a large portion of their budget to event marketing, and new research suggests that they want to see more engagement from prospects. A recent Demand Metric survey consisting of responses from primarily B2B marketers has found that customer engagement is one of the top goals for event marketing.

According to the data, B2B marketers dedicate approximately one-third of their budget to event marketing. Additionally, 63 percent use four or more types of events, with conferences, trade shows, and webinars at the top of the list. However, two-thirds claim that they come across less than 50 percent of new customers during their buying journey at an event.

The survey revealed that event management technology may be able to help struggling B2B marketers. When this type of technology is in use, the average ROI of event marketing is within the 36-to-45 percent range. Without it, the average ROI for event marketing drops to between 25 and 34 percent.

Despite these findings, only 28 percent of respondents said they were using an event management platform to handle event registration, check-in, email and metrics tracking.

Making an Impact with B2B Event Marketing

In addition to focusing on customer engagement, a report released earlier in 2015 by FreemanXP found that B2B marketers are interested in making a viral impact with their events. About 65 percent stated that it’s somewhat important to their efforts, but only 13 percent claimed that their viral marketing tactics had been successful.

In terms of engagement, 73 percent said that they use social media to promote aspects of their events, and 55 percent utilize it to share photos. Approximately 87 percent stated that their attendees typically share event experiences or content.