By Mark Pinsent, Managing Director, Hoffman Europe
In light of restrictions on movement and the risks of bringing large groups of people together, one of the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the cancellation of tech trade shows and conferences. There’s no real sign of how quickly such industry events might return and with them the opportunity for B2B marketers to utilize them for lead generation.
It’s something that we’ve seen our clients focus on. Given the central point that industry events have traditionally played in their lead generation activities, as well as places to meet existing customers, journalists and analysts, filling the void left by the cancellation of tech trade shows and conferences is essential.
Why virtual events are not the solution
An obvious response has been for B2B marketers to switch from physical trade shows and conferences to virtual events and, in doing so, from third-party events to online events organised by businesses themselves. But do virtual events alone stack up as a replacement strategy?
The value of industry events that bring together the ecosystem around industries and topics — from huge tech trade shows such as Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to hundreds of smaller, niche events — is in the fact that numerous organizations are brought together in a single location. In that, it creates an efficient environment for information gathering and research. A ‘single brand’ virtual event will struggle to replicate that value.
B2B marketing lead generation during the Coronavirus pandemic
Ultimately, B2B tech companies should focus on the valuable outcomes of the industry events they invest in attending, rather than the mechanics alone. Primary among these are lead generation and prospect nurturing, with meeting media and industry analysts also high on the list.
In our free eBook — “Why Your Event Replacement Strategy Probably Isn’t An Event” — we highlight the key B2B marketing activities that you should focus on in order to not only replace, but also improve the positive results previously achieved through attending tech trade shows and conferences. Here’s a quick sneak peek:
5 ways to replace B2B event marketing leads lost due to COVID-19:
- Optimized owned online content
- Inbound marketing and prospect nurturing
- Account-based marketing
- Media and analyst engagement
- Robust and connected analytics
Click to download your free copy of “Why Your Event Replacement Strategy Probably Isn’t An Event”:
