B2B events are in a bind – the sector is healthy but delivery lacks

• Read more from our B2B focus week

While the outlook is rosy, more events present a massive challenge because of one resounding truth: too many B2B experiences are variations on the same theme, framework, or elements. Another series of long-form keynotes. Another catalog of classroom-style breakout sessions. Another crowded trade-show floor or a single moment of entertainment. When too many events look alike thanks to the same traditional approaches, what differentiates one from another? And, what’s the key to delivering a standout experience?

It’s time that B2B event innovators found new magic to bring a next-gen edge to these experiences. But a powerful edge doesn’t lie in variations on acquisition tactics, more headline-grabbing keynote speakers, flurries of playful activities, or a different superstar performer. It lies in putting aside the things we have bolted onto business experiences to make them more appealing so that we can reimagine their core.

It’s about pushing beyond broad recommendations like “revisit objectives” or “consider interactivity” to land on specifics.

Improving events

When we began expanding our proprietary Business2Human (B2H) datasets, we audited sources around the world to get a sense of what kind of intelligence already existed. The most common deep-knowledge gap we found regarded the problems facing events and what improvements might do for attendee action.

With this focus in mind, we tailored our research to create a tension matrix on which we plotted how the most common features of business events cause frustration for attendees. We found that some of the most common aspects of events often lead to the most tension. Attendees told us that keynotes are too long, passive, and broad. And they said that breakout sessions are often too much like lectures.

With so much effort going into these moments, flipping the switch to create fully interactive keynotes and collaborative breakouts across an entire event can be hard to achieve immediately. Sourcing or training talent differently or reimagining content and environmental design can require a lot of transformation. To pull it off, it’s key to develop strategic approaches and set achievable goals at a pace teams can handle. These are seismic shifts in how to create experiences, so everyone must bring patience, persistence, and partnership to these efforts.

In preparing to make changes to experiences, messaging is also crucial. Marketing for events can over-promise attendees that they will be able to truly customize their journey, make lots of valuable connections, collaborate on solutions, and more. Our data tells us that business decision-makers around the world do not feel that enough of what events say they will do actually happens, leading to doubt and disappointment.

The strategic insight and creativity we apply inside these experiences must also be used to shape how the attendee acquisition campaign inspires attendees to see the appeal of an event from afar.

Way ahead

This is just a glimpse into a new approach to business experiences. To succeed in the long run, marketers across different regions and categories must work closely with experiential partners to address long-standing, undetected gaps in business event strategies.

When we first began our research on business experiences, we were driven by a pursuit of a powerful edge to make events more successful. We discovered that prioritizing fresh audience insights, mapping out a long-term plan to evolve event programming, and maintaining a genuine commitment to attendees are all key factors in creating attendee-centered experiences.

With data revealing how much these innovations can increase attendee action, the evolution of business experiences looks to have an exciting future.

Read more hot takes and cool analysis of B2B marketing over at our dedicated focus week hub.