The events and conference industry has kicked off to a nice buoyant start this year and we're seeing lots of enthusiasm and commitment for change. We set out to identify the most talked about key trends, predictions and insights that have the conference and events industry buzzing and will most likely impact your business in the not too distant future (if not already!). 

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.

Recently we've been running a series of marketing audits for various conference companies and to be honest have been surprised to see that a lot of B2B email practices from 15 years ago are still being used today.

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.

Arising from our previous post New Rules For Subject Lines in B2B Email Marketing where we looked at some of the key trends affecting email performance that emerged from the 2013 Adestra Subject Line Analysis Report: “Keywords for killer subject lines”, we found a lot of good information that it gave us room to focus on the sub-set of the results that particularly affects you - B2B event marketing and B2B publishing.

We thought we'd get together a simple guide to help event marketers out there looking to boost their marketing exposure at no extra cost. That's most of you right?

In the business world in North America the name Brian Solis is everywhere. A serial entrepreneur and business visionary he is a very well respected source of opinion when it comes to social media and marketing.

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.

Marketo recently launched their "definitive guide to event marketing" - a 122 page document covering pretty much everything you need to know about event marketing.

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.

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) have released their 2011 index results – it usually serves as a pretty good barometer for the overall B2B exhibitions/events industry – and it’s good to see some positive news for the industry this year, especially given all the economic doom and gloom.

Marketingsherpa’s 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report has been published – a great piece of ammunition for your budget meetings as ”Lack of resources (budget, staff, time) presents greatest barrier to B2B marketing success.” The report includes endless charts to illustrate trends and findings – and most importantly shares best practice on how to attract and convert more leads.