This is one of those questions that has a multitude of answers but based on my own experience, Conference and Exhibition companies can specifically start with 6 areas of focus in order to make a step change in their top line performance: I’ve been out talking to bosses of small and medium size conference companies lately about their most pressing challenges and, if I was to distil things down to the one most common question, it is, in essence “how do we sell more stuff?”! 

What is currently happening in the conference and events industry? 

Where are we heading?

Well, like any other fast-growing and successful industry, this is always the topic of conversation when we meet with industry folk or overhear the banter at conference industry events. Every director of a conference, event or exhibition company is asking these questions and it's clear that anyone not thinking ahead will surely be left behind. As successful as the events industry is, nobody can afford to be complacent especially in this entrepreneurial, digital era. 

So we have partnered with CatchTalk.TV (formerly known as Xavy) to bring you precisely that. The most talked about predictions for the conferences and events industry in the near future.

How many times have you filled in a survey and never received the "promised report"?

Some organisations don't ever seem to follow up and make the end user (me and you) feel used and abused. All smiles, bells and whistles when they need me but once they get what they want, then they forget me.

Last week I received a couple of requests to fill in a questionnaire from two well known organisations. The surveys in question were actually very interesting and just before I was disposing myself to answer the questionnaires, I came to realise that "I have filled in questionnaires for these guys before and have never received anything!". Never got the discount, never got told who actually won the free ticket to their conference, not even a thank you message. But worst of all... I never got to see the results of the report! Did it actually materialise? Or was it just a cover for internal intelligence gathering with no intention of sharing?

Before you embark on surveying your customers, followers, leads and your own prospect databases be sure to consider these 7 things you must really do when conducting b2b online surveys.

2 for 1, discount, early bird, free, offer, save, exclusive, last chance, still time…these words are the back bone of so much event marketing copy. Some of them were probably in the list of “powerful” words you were issued with when you started marketing.

Time out of the office is great to rest and have a good old read of all the things you didn't get around to - a taste of my festive break! As a bit of a marketing geek I love to catch up on what's out there on the web and for me one of the best reports from last year was the Adestra Subject Line Analysis Report: “Keywords for killer subject lines”

Last week we attended the much awaited Funnel event by Econsultancy - it's a pretty exciting gathering in a marketers calendar and if you're serious about your job and like us, a bit of a marketing geek, then this is an event to indulge in.  While we got value out of attending, I have to say previous years have been better - nonetheless it was great being there, seeing some familar faces and meeting new ones.  

Chances are, if you built your B2B business website in the last 5-6 years, you will either have a blog or at least have been asked whether you wanted one included in the build, even if you said no. Blogs have become ubiquitous, one of those items that is a “must do” for the modern B2B site.

Earlier this week, in Part 1: Facebook for B2B Marketing we looked at some key statistics from research conducted by Marketo that indicated that many businesses don’t get exposure to most of the people who’ve liked their page.

Most people using Facebook for B2B don’t realise that 80% or more of their fans never see their posts. This shocking statistic has been around for just over a year now but when we read the new Facebook research produced by Marketo, published this month, "Contagious Content for Facebook: What people share on facebook and why they share it" we decided the time was ripe to do an article on how to beat it.

We all know that direct marketing is a very effective marketing channel, if you do it correctly of course! This post is inspired by an uninspiring mailing I received in the post recently that completely fails the basic principles of DM whilst also totally failing to make me feel like a valued customer - in fact it achieved the exact opposite! My objective isn't to name and shame necessarily but to share the inexcusable mistakes.

According to a recent survey of 840 B2B marketers by Holger Schulze, 25% don’t know their lead coversion rates and 41% don’t know the average cost per marketing qualified lead (MQLs). 

There has been a very interesting discussion going on in the "B2B Marketing" LinkedIn group around the topic of how many times to email or call a lead before it's considered dead.

According to Marketingsherpa 72% of B2B marketers believe events still pack a punch! In fact good old traditional outbound methods are definitely not dead - but that's another blog for another time.

Hard to believe another week is behind us and we're fast approaching month two of 2013! Well here's our Friday round up of some of the most useful B2B marketing and event marketing stories we've come across this week.

Going through the vast amount of content available in our industry, here is what's sparked our interest in our inbox and tweeter feeds relevant to our B2B marketing and event marketing industry this week.

At this time of year most B2B marketing directors are creating their strategies for the year ahead, working on the aggressive growth plans set by senior management and figuring out how far their budgets will stretch this time around.

It's hard to believe that another year has gone and we're kicking off 2013. With mince pies and mulled wine season out of the way, there's a real sense of excitement, optimism and change in the crisp winter air.

With a little effort, LinkedIn Events can become a powerful tool in your events marketing strategy. If you have an event to market, make sure you cover the following basics to create a listing that works and generates new leads.

I scheduled some time in my diary this morning to start the week a little differently – simply read. There’s so much great stuff out there to inspire and educate that sometimes one just needs to break the pattern! The workload and the deadlines will always be there, so why not create your day in a way which will bring out your best.