Make the Most of Events for a Productive Q2
At a tech conference back in 2018, a young entrepreneur, unable to secure a scheduled meeting with a potential investor, decided to wear a name tag stating “Looking for investment”. This simple act garnered significant attention from potential investors, leading to several conversations that led to meetings scheduled within days. Long story short, the entrepreneur got his first funding round.
This is how industry events can create unexpected opportunities, especially when being proactive and creative.
Industry events are known to be an invaluable channel for efficiently connecting, building trust, showcasing expertise, generating qualified leads, and gaining valuable insights into the market and competitors. As such, events significantly boost sales and help achieve long-term growth objectives.
This is not new. Events have been a cornerstone of marketing efforts for centuries, much predating the digital era. Their origins can be traced back to the dawn of commerce when merchants gathered in bustling marketplaces to showcase their wares and interact with potential buyers. Notably, the core goals of these early sales events haven’t changed much: generating leads, building brand awareness, fostering customer loyalty, and establishing partnerships.
The rise of the digital age hasn’t diminished the importance of events. While we live in a hyper-connected world with countless online offerings, face-to-face interactions and social selling remain crucial. This human element is essential for building trust and developing meaningful relationships, something virtual interactions often lack.
Events for B2B Tech Companies: A Targeted Approach
It’s important to acknowledge that different industries benefit from events to varying degrees. While B2C businesses like consumer electronics companies may rely heavily on online sales, events hold particular significance for B2B companies selling software and tech services, especially those targeting decision-makers. Quantifying the exact impact of events on the sales funnel can be challenging. This is because events often indirectly influence sales by generating leads, fostering brand awareness, and building relationships, which can later convert through brand recall triggered by outbound campaigns, online ads, or social media posts.
Industry event strategies according to different business models:
Not all events are created equal! While industry gatherings offer valuable opportunities for businesses of all shapes and sizes, the most impactful approach will vary based on your business model. B2B, B2C, and C2C businesses can maximize their success at industry events, helping you navigate the conference scene and achieve their unique goals.
| B2B | B2C | C2C | |
| Immediate objectives | Relationship building and lead generation | On-the-spot sales and brand engagement. | Facilitating transactions and enabling the exchange of goods or services between individuals. |
| Overall goals | Fostering long-term partnerships and connections, driving sales, showcasing expertise, and influencing decision-makers. | Brand awareness and experience, product launches, and engaging existing customers. | Fostering a vibrant community, facilitating peer-to-peer interaction, community building, and enabling exchange sales between individuals. |
| Activations | Product Demos; Facilitated connection spaces to foster networking. Booth design highlighting solutions. | Engaging entertainment and influencer marketing activations to attract attention and build brand affinity. | Marketplace platforms and/or physical event spaces to connect buyers and sellers directly. |
| Content | Interactive workshops, educational sessions, and thought leadership presentations | Interactive product experiences and live demonstrations. Photo opportunities to encourage brand sharing and user-generated content. | Educational sessions and workshops focused on navigating the marketplace platform or best practices for safe and successful C2C transactions. |
| Target | Decision maker: Typically a decision-maker within the organization (department head, CEO, purchasing manager). | End buyer: anyone who makes purchasing decisions for themselves or their family. | End buyer: an individual seeking a product or service and willing to engage in a direct transaction with another consumer. |
Strategic Planning: Making the Most of Your Time and Resources
While pinpointing the exact sales impact of events is difficult, B2B software and tech service companies targeting decision-makers should undoubtedly consider events a vital part of their marketing strategy. However, attending every event isn’t an optimal approach. Except you have Hermione Granger’s Time Turner and Richie Rich’s wallet, resources and time are limited, requiring a strategic planning process to identify the events offering the greatest potential return on investment.
Sharing Our Experience: A Look at Q2 2024 Events
As a B2B startup offering tech services within the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry, we strive to identify and attend relevant industry events to fuel our growth. To make informed choices and select the most impactful events for us, we’ve established a set of criteria. Witnessing the positive outcomes of this approach, we’d like to share it with the broader community.
A Curated List of Q2 2024 Events
Below, you’ll find a curated list of Q2 2024 events categorized by date, location, participating companies, attendee count, attendee seniority, covered topics, and registration information. We hope this qualitative database proves as valuable to you as it has been to us.
Public AEC Works Event Database Launched!
We’re excited to announce the launch of a public database featuring all upcoming events in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry! Building upon our previous efforts, this comprehensive resource allows you to:
- Explore information about every AEC event, regardless of the date.
- Filter events by date and location for easy searching.
Visit the database on the AEC Works e-verse portal.
About AEC Works:
AEC Works is your one-stop shop for all things AEC! This e-verse portal centralizes information on AEC startups, investors, and events. All data is filtered and enriched with high-quality information, catering to the needs of diverse stakeholders and players in the AEC industry.
We trust this information empowers you to make informed decisions and participate in the most impactful industry events, building a powerful marketing strategy through networking. Remember, “a goal without a plan is just a wish” (Edwin Locke & Gary Latham). Choose wisely, and best of luck!
