The Return of Events
Marketers have spent years trying to replace the role of in-person events for lead generation. So, why is everyone suddenly going back to events?
Prior to the pandemic, events were central to every marketing calendar. In the enterprise space, many field marketers spent most of their time and budget organising local seminars and breakfast briefings. Smaller companies focused their marketing efforts on sponsorship of a small number of industry tradeshows. My own employers at CRMT Digital were no exception.
Since 2019, events have become a much less important part of the marketing mix, as marketing has moved towards digital channels. Eventually, even webinars were superceded by the general push towards content marketing. Again, my own employers are no exception. It is interesting, therefore, that in 2024, CRMT Digital are sponsoring an industry event for the first time in five years. That is one anecdote from one company, but it is reflective of the broader industry trend.