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In France, two out of three B2B companies have allocated a budget for participating in and/or organizing trade shows and professional events in 2024. Even better: an overwhelming majority (87%) of French companies have maintained or increased the budget allocated to this lever compared to 2023, according to our study on the investments of French B2B marketing departments.
Contrary to what one might think, public speaking is a powerful acquisition channel. According to an empirical study conducted between 2018 and 2023, it is even the top lead generation channel in terms of return on investment, with an estimated ROI of 856%, ahead of Thought Leadership (748%) and webinars (430 %).
But beware: merely being present or setting up a booth is not enough to unlock this triple-digit ROI. You need to make your booth or presentation stand out among the crowd of exhibitors, choose the right participation format based on the message you want to convey and the abilities of your representative, and turn every interaction into a business opportunity.
In a context where B2B shows unprecedented enthusiasm for trade shows and professional events, we have decided to dedicate a multi-part series to this lever. On the agenda:
- Episode 1 – Participation in B2B trade shows: what’s in it for your business?
- Episode 2 – Three challenges to overcome to maximize your participation ROI
- Episode 3 – How to generate interest around your participation
- The checklist for a successful event and maximizing your visibility
- Expert Opinion – An interview with Patricia Raphel, Sales Director of the Industry Division / Specialists Division at Infopro Digital Media
1. Participation in B2B trade shows: what’s in it for your business?
Participating in events is primarily a powerful acquisition channel, an opportunity to advance well-identified leads along their journey, and a chance to build loyalty with your best clients by involving them in your presentations.
Participating in trade shows, whether through a booth, a speaking engagement, or both, also means humanizing your brand, embodying your values, and developing a more natural, personal, and engaging storytelling approach. This is especially important in an age of information overload and generic AI-generated content.
In-person participation brings a certain freshness and adds depth and authenticity to the company’s message. This is a demand expressed by audiences, as evidenced by the success of short videos, first-person posts on LinkedIn, and subjective content such as editorials, columns, and testimonials.
Trade shows also provide an opportunity for a company to enhance its brand awareness and visibility. This can be achieved through visual elements that embed the brand in the minds of a highly qualified audience, relevant contributions in round tables and workshops, networking, and potentially through nominations or awards that offer social proof.
🔗 Episode 1
In the first episode of this series, we detail the five main benefits of a well-prepared participation in carefully selected B2B events.
2. Three challenges to overcome to maximize your ROI
Of course, it’s not enough to book a booth, print a few flyers, post on LinkedIn, and send your sales team to achieve that elusive triple-digit ROI. If your participation has business objectives and you aim to derive tangible value from it, you will need to tackle three major challenges:
- Stand out among the exhibitors and generate interest in your participation in an age of information overload. The goal is not just to inform people about your presence, but to highlight what additional value you will bring to participants and peers: a new approach? Insight into a complex topic? An innovation? In essence, you need to convince hurried visitors to stop at your booth rather than the one next door.
- Choose the right format for your presentation (Keynote, panel discussion, client case study, etc.) based on the message you want to convey, the profile of your audience, your participation objectives, and possibly the qualities of the person representing your company. The challenge here lies in finding the right balance: content that is too technical may be unsettling, while an overly vague or basic presentation may fail to engage experts.
- Direct actions during the event to generate leads and turn each interaction into a tangible opportunity (such as a sale, partnership, or progression in a longer sales cycle).
🔗Episode 2
In the second episode of this series, find our analysis of the three major challenges to overcome in order to maximize your participation ROI.
3. How to generate interest around your participation?
Will your booth at the next B2B event be a real business driver or just a backdrop with no ROI? The impact of your participation on your pipeline is determined before the event. It all starts with crafting your promise as an exhibitor. This promise must tick several boxes:
- Avoid the temptation to be exhaustive ;
- Focus on a single, clearly articulated message that runs throughout the communication plan;
- don’t be deceptive, by ensuring that the promise can be kept on the spot
- Link the message to an immediate, specific action. Rather than “Come and talk to our experts”, say “Drop by stand 42 for a free 15-minute diagnosis”.
Once you’ve formulated your promise, you’ll need to put together your content mix to communicate your participation. The must-haves are the press release (classic but effective), short video clips (to stand out in the massive flow of content), the blog article (to develop more rigorous reasoning) and teaser posts on social networks.
After content, turn your attention to the levers that will promote your participation in the event. Emailing is powerful if you have a good database. If not, consider working with the event organizers.
You can also use display advertising in collaboration with a leading medium in your sector. Co-marketing actions with another participant and off-media activations can also be relevant to boost the reach of your communication.
🔗 Episode 3
Retrouvez In the third episode you’ll discover the steps to follow to generate interest in your presence at a B2B event: the art of formulating a promise, the content mix and the levers to activate.
4. The checklist for a successful event and maximum visibility
In France, two out of three B2B companies have invested or plan to invest in events and trade shows in 2024, and 87% have maintained or increased the budget allocated to this performance lever compared to 2023.
It has to be said that participation in trade shows, whether via a stand and/or a speaking engagement, enables the company to unlock several benefits along the entire marketing value chain, from LeadGen to brand awareness, loyalty and benchmarking.
Discover the checklist to make your event a success and maximize your visibility.
5. Expert Insight – Communication: a key lever for maximizing a B2B event
Whether it’s a trade show, conference, VIP dinner, or even a roadshow, the event is an opportunity to drive lead generation, enhance brand awareness, build loyalty with your top clients, or evangelize new concepts—provided it is organized to the highest standards and supported by a strong communication plan.
To discuss this, we spoke with Patricia Raphel, Sales Director of the Manufacturing Division / Specialists Division at Infopro Digital Media. She works daily with companies on developing and implementing their multichannel communication strategies.
She provides insights into communication strategies for Event Marketing, including the challenges to address, common pitfalls, and best practices for unlocking the ROI of your events. Read here.