Event Management & Data

Six Types of B2B Events You’ll Want to Run

Victoria Rudi
May 7, 2019

Table of Contents

Different organizations have different ways of implementing their event marketing strategy. In this article we will look at the types of B2B events organizations can plan to accomplish their goals and objectives.

Six types of B2B Events you will want to run

Major corporations are starting to realize there is power in hosting live events. Many major B2B brands are increasing their budgets and making events a top priority for the year.

There are many types of B2B events to consider when building out your event marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at the different types of events you should have on your radar.

Here’s the list of B2B events you’ll want to run:

Conferences

Conferences - B2B meetings

Conferences are typically the largest scale B2B event. They are organized by one particular party, but in some cases it could involve a group of companies coming together to plan one event.

These events are planned years in advance. Organizing a conference from the ground up is no easy fete, it takes a lot of manpower and strategic thinking.

If you are planning a conference, you’ll need to determine your budget and source a venue. Once you’ve figured out those two things you’ll be able to assess your staffing needs, vendor-support, how many attendees you can accommodate, the business purpose, and external sponsorships. You’ll also want to make sure the venue will allow for exhibition hall if you want sponsors and vendors to exhibit their products.

Roadshows

Looking to take your event on the road? Roadshows are smaller scale events that occur in multiple cities and are used to penetrate your brand’s message and showcase new products.

Roadshow event marketing is a great way to hit your target audience in multiple cities. It takes a lot of logistics planning to pull it off successfully.

Roadshows are typically half day in-person events where customers, prospective clients, partners, industry leaders are invited to participate in interactive sessions and listen to a keynote speaker. Like a conference, they also require lots of advanced planning and manpower.

You’ll need to source a location, vendors, and staffing needs for each city. Determine how long you want the roadshow tour to last.

Some companies host regional roadshows while others have them in multiple cities around the world. It might seem like a lot of work at the forefront, but it’s worth the thousands of connections you’ll make along the way.

Town Hall Meetings

Town hall meetings - EVENTTIA

Many event experts say town hall meetings are outdated, but if you are a global organization, it’s an excellent opportunity for your executive team to update your employees and customers on business results, new initiatives, and internal announcements.

Town meetings also give your employees the chance to have an open in-person dialogue with senior leaders about their thoughts on the progress of the company and ask any questions they may have.

These meetings are usually held off-site in cities where your company has a presence. They can vary in size depending on how large your organization is. If your company has remote employees, you can live stream the town hall meeting and allow for team members to send questions in advance.

Trade Shows

Trade shows are an opportunity for industry organizations to showcase new product offerings.

These events are excellent networking opportunities to engage with current and prospective customers or partners. Pulling off a successful trade show requires having a solid strategy and advanced planning.

Like conferences, trade shows provide an in-person engagement opportunity that your customers can’t get online and they offer a huge lead-generation for new business. Each attendee is a potential prospect. You’ll want to work to secure exhibiting vendors and sponsors for the trade show months in advance.

VIP Dinners

VIP dinners on meetings and events

VIP customer dinners are another great opportunity to network with current customers, prospective clients, and partners. These VIP events are invite-only and held at a private venue.

This guarantees for an intimate experience so that you can truly have business conversations in a relaxed environment over food and drinks. VIP Dinners can be held during the evening of a conference or trade show where your customer base is already attending.

Offer perks to those attending like live music, a celebrity speaker, lavish gifts, or a chance to attend an interactive experience.

Experience Seminars

In-person seminars are mini-events that customers can attend to receive educational training for your software or product. These are often hosted by industry experts or product marketing managers.

If you are in a professional services industry where customers have to log so many certification hours a year, seminars are a great way to train them on new product offerings while guaranteeing they receive credits at the same time.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of the type of B2B events you can plan to engage with customers and projects. Planning far in advance is crucial to pulling off a successful event strategy and considering how this will impact the business bottom line.

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Victoria Rudi
Senior Content Specialist
With a Master’s degree in Event Management and a keen follower of SaaS technologies, Victoria is an event content master, producing insightful and valuable for Eventtia’s blog and beyond

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