B-to-B Events

When virtual events first came on the scene nearly a decade ago, their main purpose was to mimic physical events. But in the last couple of years that has changed. Virtual platforms have begun to evolve as their very own medium and not just as a substitute or supplement to a physical event. The newest iteration of the virtual event is the perpetual environment, also referred to also as an “always on,” “evergreen” or “365” environment.

Thanks to the evolution of modern technology, event and trade-show marketers no longer have to stand idly by as consumers peruse their exhibits, waiting for the right moment to engage and wondering what they’re interested in and where they are in the purchase funnel. Widely available tech tools like GPS, RFID, QR codes and smart phones now enable you to track prospects and customers at multiple points along the journey while making the live experience fun and engaging for them. Here’s a look at four ways to track—and attract—consumers.

EM brings you tips and tricks from pros and experts who’ve been eating social media marketing for breakfast. So eat up, and check us out on Twitter @eventmarketer and facebook.com/eventmarketer for more.

Anyone who has ever worked a trade show has seen his or her fair share of glassy-eyed corporate presenters, reciting their pre-rehearsed spiels along the aisle with plenty of energy and polish, but little in the way of genuine conviction. The presenters, who are often fed a script via an ear prompter and a micro cassette they control with a remote control in the palm of their hands, have been a trade-show standard for decades now. But their role is evolving as companies look for new ways to make more authentic connections with attendees.

In our Then and Now series, EM revisits old event marketing trends to find out where they’ve gone since we first reported on them. Are they old hats and has-beens? Or is that past up-and-comer a future best practice that’s now an industry standard? In this eco-installment, we re-examine green-friendly trade show booth materials, which we began covering in our earliest issues.