The State of B2B Event Marketing

1

State of B2B Event Marketing

Perception vs. Reality and

the Future of Event Marketing

December 2011

sponsored by:

BOB FELSENTHAL Publisher BtoB Magazine

OUR SPONSOR

CHRISTOPHER HOSFORD East Coast Bureau Chief BtoB Magazine

TWEET

#B2BWC

Our Panel

Maria Pergolino

Senior Director of

Marketing

Marketo

John DiStefano

Research Director

BtoB magazine

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Outline

I. Introduction

II. The State of B2B Events

III. Challenges and Opportunities

IV. What Marketers Want

V. Value Propositions

VI. Exploring Possible Solutions

IV. The Event Management Marketing Automation Value Proposition

V. Triggers & Obstacles

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Introduction

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•In a 2011 study the true population of B2B marketing professionals in

the US was researched via a 30 question online survey.

•A representative sample of the BtoB marketers audience was invited to

participate in the survey via email.

•A sample of 309 completes was achieved.

•Confidence Interval: 95%

•Margin of Error: +/- 5.6%

Methods and procedures adhere to the standards and ethics established

by the Market Research Association (MRA-net.org). Individual

participant or participant company names are not disclosed. Results are

reported in aggregate only.

Fair Use Policy

All rights reserved. Crain Communications BtoB magazine. BtoB magazine grants the right to use when attributed to Crain

Communications/BtoB magazine. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

Methodology

BtoB magazine

Poll Q #1

As We Enter 2012- What Does Your Event Marketing Budget Look Like?

A) Increasing

B) Decreasing

C) Remaining the Same

D) Not Sure Yet

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The State of B2B Events

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Key Statistics

Live and Virtual

Company Events Per Year: 14

Third Party Events Per Year: 12

Live Events: 16 Events Per Year

Virtual Events: 12 Event Per Year

Dedicated Events Sales Team: 35%

Responsible for

All Events: 71%

Offline Events: 29%

BtoB magazine

Events Share of Marketing Budget

Question: What percentage of your marketing budget, including all costs (e.g. salaries, advertising, overhead,

etc), do you allocate to events?

N=309

Source: BtoB magazine: State of Event Marketing, July 2011

Percentage of Marketing Budget Allocated to Events

1%

15%

18%

14%

13%

10%

7%

6%

7%

4%3%

3%

0%

1%-5%

6%-10%

11%-15%

16%-20%

21%-25%

26%-30%

31%-35%

36%-40%

41%-45%

46%-50%

Greater than 50%

Average: 20%

BtoB magazine

Highest Revenue Activity All Events

Question: In thinking about your events (i.e. physical and virtual), which category most accurately describes

your highest revenue activity?

N=309


Highest Revenue Activity of All Events

44%

61%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Self-produced events

Third party events

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Sales Lead Funnel for Events--Trends

Question: How would you describe your organization's trend of involvement with measuring the sales leads

funnel in reference to events? Participation ...

N=309


Trend toward Measuring Sales Lead Funnel for Events

65%

28%

2%5%

Increasing

Remaining the same

Decreasing

None

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What Marketers Want

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Event Program Goals

Question: What are the goals of your event programs? (Check all that apply).

N=309


Event Program Goals

83%

72% 72%

57%

46%

32%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Generate

leads

Customer

engagement

Build brand Product

education and

training

Drive demand Customer

upsell

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Marketing Automation Tools

Used for Events

Question: Which of the following tools do you use for the marketing automation of event management? (Check

all that apply).

N=309


Tools Used for Events

11%

16%

24%

85%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Virtual event softw are

(e.g. INXPO, On24)

Payment softw are (e.g.

RegOnline, Cvent)

Marketing automation

softw are (e.g. Marketo,

Eloqua)

Webinar softw are (e.g.

Webex, Gotow ebinar,

ON24)

BtoB magazine

Top Ranked Value Proposition

Question: Please select the ONE most important reason you would you consider using a marketing automation

program applied to events?

Source: BtoB magazine/btobonline.com: State of B2B Event Marketing, July 2011

Top Ranked Value Proposition

25%

18%

11%10%

8%

8%

7%

7%

5% 2%

Measure ROI

Drive attendance (i.e. lead

generation)

Deploy post-event campaigns

Integrate w ith CRM softw are

(e.g. Salesforce.com)

Increase aw areness

Streamline logistics

Scalability

Personalize communication

Manage registrations

Integrate w ith w ebinar softw are

(e.g. Webex)

BtoB magazine

Poll Q #2

On a scale of 1-5-How likely are you to use a marketing automation tool to facilitate your event and marketing programs?

(low) 1-2-3-4-5 (high)

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Exploring Possible Solutions

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Measuring Sales Lead Funnel for Events

Question: Please select which stage your company is at in reference to measuring the sales leads funnel for

events.

N=309


18%

38%

27%

12%

5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Stage One: No

integration. We do

not measure the

sales leads funnel

of our events.

Stage Tw o:

Somew hat

integrated.

Stage Three:

Moderately

integrated.

Stage Four: Very

integrated.

Stage Five: Fully

integrated. We

center our events

on sales leads

funnel

measurement from

aw areness to

conversion.

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Marketing Automation Applied to Events-- Value

Proposition

Email Triggers (invites, reminders, post-event

deployments, tracking, etc.)

Measure ROI

Drive Attendance (Lead Generation) Enabler: CRM:

Salesforce.com

•Marketing Automation Has Become Mission-critical For B2B Firms

(Forrester Research, April 2011)

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Marketo Example

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Value Proposition for Marketing Automation for

Events

• Measure ROI --#1

•# 2 Drive Attendance

•Tied for #3, #4

•Deploy post-event campaigns

•Integrate with CRM

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Marketo Example

26

Go

od

B

ette

r B

est

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Marketo Example

Screenshot: Marketo Revenue Cycle

Analytics

First-touch allocation, multi-touch

allocation, investment, volume, etc

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Role of Automation in Events

Question: How do you use automation to prepare for a successful event?

N=309


How Automation Contributes to Successful Event

6%

27%

31%

32%

35%

40%

42%

52%

53%

65%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Cloud-based lists

One-to-one invitations

Prospect targeting

Social media

Tracking invitees

Event landing pages

Tracking registrants

Event reminders

Event invites

Email invitation campaigns

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Role of Automation in Follow-up after Events

Question: How do you use automation to follow-up after events?

N=309


How Automation is Used to Follow-up After Events

19%

21%

27%

30%

50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Nurturing

Prioritizing sales follow

up (lead scoring)

Tracking attendees

Not at all

Event follow ups

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Obstacles to Marketing Automation for Events

--Cost Issue

• Resources or cost primary obstacle

•Inability to find trained staff non-issue

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Maria Conclusions @Inboundmarketer

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Thank You!

December 2011 sponsored by:

Business

The State of B2B Event Marketing