In the current economic context, everyone is trying to preserve their margins and make their business profitable, with that, there is a tendency to move towards a 100% digital marketing strategy. I will try to explain the benefits of in-person B2B marketing events.
In-person vs. Digital: The Reality of ROI
Online B2B events offer major advantages: they are cheaper and their efficiency is easier to measure, it needs nothing more than a form sent by email at the end of your event. And, at first glance, in-person events do represent more work and difficulties for organisers. They are more expensive, requiring both organisational and logistical skills, and an investment that not all companies can afford. However, in the long term, these events provide a bigger and better return on investment.
The Power of Relational Connection and Human Exchange
As a matter of fact, events that take place entirely online lack an element that is yet crucial for a good marketing strategy: relational connection. Only in-person interaction can lead to spontaneous conversations and to the development of a personal bond between your client and you. Meeting in person allows for much better contact than an online conversation; you can get to know each other, truly connect and exchange, sometimes even without talking business – it’s the relationship between people that matters. If you get along well, the collaboration will only be better.
The main challenges of this type of event is to make them memorable and allow everyone to find value in them. The organiser faces two audiences:
- Prospects they need to convince to whom you will present your brand, your products, and to whom you must prove your expertise;
- Clients who have different expectations; you need to retain them, strengthen the bond of trust between you, present them with new developments, and comfort them about their investment.
Conciliating Two Crowds with Different Needs
There lies your problem: you need to speak to these two groups who do not have the same requirements. You can create two events, each targeted for one or the other, but this represents additional costs. Alternatively, you can hold a single event that brings together prospects and clients, but the risk is making the content far too general to bring everyone to satisfaction and ultimately meeting no one’s needs. So, how do you create a single event capable of satisfying these two audiences with different needs, in a time where it is essential to have a marketing strategy that speaks to everyone?
Here’s some solutions:
Option 1: Segmentation by Workshops
A slightly more complex one: create an event with adapted but separate workshops where you can present your company and products to your prospects on one side, and on the other, you can develop the work with your existing clients, comfort them about the investment they made.
Option 2: Client Experience Sharing
The other solution is experience sharing. You can create an event bringing together prospects and clients where the latter share their experience of working with your company and your methods with both groups. Everyone benefits: clients and prospects are interested in how you work with others, and these testimonials are reassuring for those you still need to convince.
This type of event helps create real trust among all stakeholders; your clients’ words lend credibility to your work, much more than a classic product demonstration. You will also strengthen the bond of trust you have with these “convinced users” by highlighting them, thus establishing your connections with them.
Take advantage of the Event to Fuel Your Online Communication
You must create continuity for the event you have organised; it is not self-sufficient. The client relationship must go beyond the exchanges you had; you need to think long-term and imagine the future. You also need to get the most out of the investment you’ve just made; there are many ways to exploit the content created during the event for your online communication:
- You can offer a replay, but be careful, not an unedited full-length video (no one will watch it). It might be wiser to offer an edited compilation of the event’s highlights.
- Organise interviews (no need for expensive equipment, a phone is enough) and re-broadcast them.
- You can also create an event summary, written with the help of AI to save some time, and publish it on your blog and your socials.
- Or, use a chunking solution to create new content (like Distribution.ai).
The key is to give the feeling this is an event not to miss out on !
Post-Event Follow-up: The Key to Conversion
It is also necessary to conduct a follow-up with your clients. You can do an online satisfaction survey, with the risk that no one will respond, but the best option is still to do it on-site straight after the event.
Ultimately, it’s the personalised follow-up that will truly matter to your clients (which implies having the contact details of all participants): you created a moment, a special connection with clients during this event, and you mustn’t abandon it. You need to maintain a personalised relationship: instead of sending a simple, impersonal thank-you email to thirty people with a CRM tool, study the profile of each person present and send specific articles on themes discussed during the event, highlighting your solution. And, if not already done, invite people to subscribe to your newsletter.
These in-person B2B events are essential for creating a network that will allow you to develop your business; it is thanks to them that I, too, have developed my network and trusting relationships with clients and prospects.