4 Surefire Ways to Boost B2B Event Attendance Rates

Today, event planners and event marketers are grappling with a variety of event management software, terabytes of data, and a host of channels to market their events on.  

In this blog, we share 4 strategies and trends you simply cannot miss if you want a jam-packed audience in your event halls.  

#1 Get the basics in place: objective 

We’ve said this before and we’ll say this again. The goal of any B2B event, whether it’s a trade show, a product launch, a conference or a webinar, is to gain leads and take those leads down the marketing funnel to eventually make them customers. 

So, the first thing you should be doing is to go back to the drawing board and understand the objective of your B2B event, and cross-verify it with your sales team to be sure that you are targeting the right audience.  

For example, we bet you’ve heard of London Tech Week. It’s a well known annual tech event that showcases the city’s vibrant tech ecosystem. The event’s objective is clear; to attract the who’s who in tech and bring them together for conferences, workshops, networking sessions and exhibitions. The event usually takes place over 5 days and records an attendance of 30,000+ tech enthusiasts.  

So, what did they do right? We’d say a number of things from creating a comprehensive agenda that caters to a diverse set of tech audiences, to creating opportunities for participants to engage with and pitch to speakers/ investors for their own ideas.

#2 Know your audience: analyse past records  

Look at data from your past events to understand your audiences’ preferences and expectations. When you analyse demographic data such as job titles, industries, company size and locations, you’ll be able to identify the primary audience segments that participate in your events. Additionally, if you get a chance, assess attendance by session to understand which topics and formats resonated most with your audience.  

A Merit expert adds, “Take time to review post-event surveys and feedback forms to gather their opinions about your event’s content, organisation, and overall experience, which will help identify areas for improvement.” 

Track engagement metrics, such as social media interactions, website visits, and session feedback to gauge the level of interest and engagement among your audience. Finally, armed with this knowledge, tailor your B2B event to meet your audience’s specific needs and deliver a more rewarding experience for all participants. 

#3 Get your marketing and promotion strategy right 

Find out on which platforms your audience is on (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok), and develop multiple content formats to reach out to them and engage with them. 

A great example of a global brand that pulled off a successful B2B marketing campaign successfully on LinkedIn, is Adobe. Adobe’s annual event, Adobe Summit, usually witnesses around 23,000 attendees every year.  

When the pandemic hit, it was forced to cancel the physical conference. Instead of backing out altogether, Adobe quickly adapted, transformed the event into an online experience and revamped its marketing strategy to reach a larger global audience.  

They leveraged LinkedIn’s reach with both organic and paid social efforts, conducting their first-ever LinkedIn Live stream to give an overview of the online experience and new product launches.  

In fact, it offered live events in French, German and Japanese to appeal to attendees in Europe and Asia. The results were outstanding, with pre-event registrations exceeding expectations, over 700,000 online views, and more than 40 million social impressions. 

#4 Stay on top of the game 

Recently, we published a blog on event marketing strategies that are trending this year. It’s important for businesses to stay on top of these trends for the obvious reason that these reflect what the audience wants from a brand.  

For example, one of the strategies that is finding relevance and success this year is sustainable and eco-friendly events. More and more audiences want to associate with brands that follow sustainability practices into their business. There are a number of ways in which you can make your event eco-friendly.  

For example, event marketers can minimise waste generation by implementing paperless registrations, digital event guides, and electronic badges. Choosing sustainable event venues with eco-friendly certifications and easy access to public transportation can further reduce the event’s carbon footprint.  

Utilising renewable energy sources and encouraging exhibitors to use eco-friendly materials and products also play a vital role in promoting sustainability.  

Additionally, adopting responsible catering practices, such as serving locally sourced and organic food with minimal packaging, can contribute to reducing the event’s environmental impact. 

The nitty-gritties of B2B event success you can’t miss! 

While we talked about the important things your business needs to get in place to ensure great attendance for your B2B event, there are a number of micro-strategies that you need to know about too, to run a successful event. Key among these are; understanding objectives and target audience, aligning marketing efforts, leveraging digital channels, engaging with influencers and partners, offering incentives, and sending personalised invitations, highlighting event value and creating interactive pre-event campaigns, simplifying registration and optimising the event website, and finally, following up with attendees and seeking feedback to improve future events.  

By incorporating these tips and consistently refining your event strategies, you can drive higher attendance rates and create impactful B2B events that leave attendees inspired and eager to return year after year. 

Merit’s Expertise in Marketing Data Intelligence 

Using our proprietary technology, we source, filter and qualify marketing data from thousands of online sources. We further enrich the data with expert research to deliver accurate contact lists that yield maximum conversion rates. Merit’s marketing data has proven to: 

• Multiply your event RoI with the best target data possible  
• Drive attendance at niche events and conferences 
• Be accurate, up-to-date and tailored for your exact audience  
• Be fully compliant (GDPR in particular), transparent and audit-friendly  

We are more than just a list broker; with a proven 10-year track record in building and validating over 100 million global contacts a year, our clients can rely on us to target relevant and engaging audience groups. 

To know more about Merit’s marketing expertise, visit https://www.meritdata-tech.com/service/data/marketing-data/