Ultimate Guide to B2B Event Marketing - Best Practices

Building strong B2B relationships can be incredibly effective for attracting a loyal customer base and developing a competitive advantage. But when you really want to connect with your customer base, you'll want to look beyond asynchronous channels like email and social media.

With B2B event marketing, you can organize experiences and engage your target audience in real time.

Mapping out your organization's event marketing strategy and need to present a compelling case to leadership? Use our B2B event marketing guide to spark ideas and read up on best practices.

How can B2B event marketing benefit your business?

Whether your team focuses on in-person, virtual, or hybrid events, they can make a measurable impact on marketing and business goals. A successful B2B event strategy allows your team to:

• Interact with customers and prospects in small groups or one on one. These personal connections can create deeper relationships and an increased sense of loyalty.
• Educate your target market about your solutions. From large-scale demos to hands-on tutorials to in-depth seminars, events are great for showcasing your products and services.
• Guide prospects toward the next stage of their buyer's journey. Virtual and live events are great for lead generation, and both event formats can also drive conversions.
• Establish authority in your business's industry or vertical. By hosting high-quality events with in-demand speakers, you can also build trust among prospects and customers.

5 Types of B2B events

From industry-wide happenings to small gatherings, there's an event for every marketing goal.

1. Conferences

Great for networking and education, B2B conferences tend to be large multi-day events. Whether you opt to host in-person, hybrid, or virtual conferences, these events can include multiple panels, talks, or seminars.

For example, SaaStr is an annual gathering for B2B SaaS founders, executives, and venture capitalists (VCs). The multi-day event includes a full agenda of keynote speeches, hands-on workshops, and mentoring sessions.

2. Webinars

Webinars are ideal for educating customers and establishing authority in a niche. These virtual events can feature multiple speakers, and they often allow for viewer engagement via live chat and interactive activities.

As an example, Livestorm recently hosted a webinar to educate our audience about webinar distribution. While the event was live streamed, it's now available as an on-demand event that customers can watch any time.

3. Trade shows

Trade shows allow businesses in a specific industry or vertical to showcase products and services in a dedicated space. They're ideal for building brand awareness and generating leads among in-market buyers.

For instance, Total Product Expo is a major B2B trade show for independent retailers. At the show, attendees can buy wholesale products directly, attend educational seminars, and network with retailers and sellers.

4. Product launches

Product launches are ideal for promoting new products and services. In some cases, they may simply generate interest and buzz, but in other cases, they may coincide with the product's release for B2B consumers.

Apple Events are some of the best known product launch event marketing examples. These allow Apple to announce new products and demonstrate them for a largely virtual audience.

5. VIP dinners

While many of the event types above are easy to scale for large audiences, VIP dinners are the opposite. Instead, these small group gatherings prioritize quality over quantity, a key event marketing trend.

For example, the Game Changers Dinner was an invitation-only event for B2B SaaS leaders. This private event was held at a large B2B conference, creating a space for a select few people to build relationships.

Best practices for a successful B2B event marketing strategy

B2B events can be pricey to pull off, so it's important to make sure they deliver the intended results. Design a thoughtful B2B event marketing strategy to ensure you get the return on investment (ROI) you need.

Clarify event marketing goals

Before you begin brainstorming session names or speaker lists, get clear on your goals. The objectives you need to achieve will inform every element of the event.

First, clarify the primary goal for the event. This goal should align with your organization's B2B marketing strategies.

For example, do you need to improve awareness of a new product, generate leads, or nurture a few high-value prospects? Let this answer determine your event format.

Then, work with your team to set key performance indicators (KPIs):

• How much of your primary metric do you need for the event to be considered a success?
• How many attendees do you need to achieve your goal?
• How many visits to your event website do you need to secure those registrations?

Define your target audience

Next, specify the audience you want to attract to the event. If the event is exclusive to your customer base, your buyer persona may be a good place to start. If you're hosting the event with other businesses, you may need to expand or narrow this description.

To clarify your ideal customer profile (ICP) for the event, consider factors like:

• Industry, vertical, or niche (e.g., deep tech)
• Company size (e.g., 100 to 250 employees)
• Job title (e.g., executives or individual contributors)
• Company location (e.g., North America or New York City)
• Annual revenue (e.g., $1 million or more)

Once you know who you want to target, you can begin building a list of people to invite. Use customer lists to nurture existing relationships—or use prospecting tools to reach out to new potential customers.

Plan a compelling agenda

Now that you've decided on an event format and a target audience, plan an agenda. The details will vary widely depending on the type of event you host.

Here are a few general rules to keep in mind as you plan:

• Focus on education or promotion, but leave plenty of time and space for engagement and networking. Organize networking sessions for in-person events or set up virtual speed networking.
• Prioritize event content that attendees can't find elsewhere. Provide exclusive content to give your ICP a great reason to attend.
• Invite external speakers to attract a wider audience. Seek out public figures with their own built-in audiences to boost registration and get your event in front of more people.

Choose the right technology

Whether you're planning an in-person or virtual format, you need the right event marketing tools to pull it off successfully. Here are few types of tools you'll need:

• Virtual event software to live stream the event as it happens. For example, Livestorm can live stream virtual events to up to 3,000 attendees for up to 12 hours per session.
• Marketing automation software to promote the event to your target audience. For example, social media and email marketing tools can boost awareness and drive registrations.
• Customer relationship management (CRM) tool to handle contact information. With a CRM, you can track attendees and plan follow-ups after the event.

Offer a virtual or hybrid option

If you're planning an event in a physical location, you'll likely want to prioritize in-person attendees. But if you want to attract more registrations, consider opening the event up to virtual attendees.

A hybrid or virtual event marketing strategy can boost your attendance numbers and generate more value from your efforts. To succeed with this format, live stream sessions and offer virtual networking opportunities.

Promote the event across marketing channels

Once you've planned the event, make sure your target audience knows about it. Some of the best channels for B2B marketing include:

• Email marketing: Send an invitation to your contact list. Segment your list to ensure you only invite people who fit your ideal attendee for the event.
• Social media marketing: Announce the event on social media and publish teaser videos. Include links to registration pages to make signups easy.
• Influencer marketing: Partner with B2B influencers in your niche for added promotion. In some cases, speakers can double as influencers.

Set up a lead nurturing system

Your marketing opportunities don't end when the event concludes. Instead, turn the event into a lead generation opportunity by following up with attendees afterward.

If you hosted a virtual or hybrid event, email attendees a link to the recording so they can rewatch or catch sessions they missed. Use email segmentation to send additional nurturing emails to in-market prospects.

You can also retarget attendees with social media or display ads. With this tactic, you can continue to engage interested prospects across channels.

Measure and analyze results

When the event ends, compare the results to the KPIs you set. Whether you successfully reached your goal or your team over- or under-performed, take time to understand why. Ask questions like:

• Which tactic or channel drove the most and least registrations?
• Which tactic or channel had the highest and lowest ROI?
• Which speaker or session generated the most engagement?
• What would you do differently when planning future events?

Livestorm for B2B event marketing

From online conferences to webinar series to product launches, Livestorm makes it easy to run successful B2B events. With Livestorm, you can:

• Live stream events and host on-demand asynchronous events
• Interact with attendees via live chat, polls, and Q&As
• Create custom registration pages for B2B events
• Send email sequences to improve attendance and lead generation
• Use thousands of app integrations to sync with your marketing and sales tech stack

Ready to try our video marketing platform for your B2B event? Sign up for a free account and host your next webinar in minutes.