Event-Led Growth (ELG) stands out in today's go-to-market (GTM) strategies as a data-driven powerhouse that delivers unique, immersive experiences and drives solid business results. ELG offers a comprehensive blueprint that consistently boosts revenue, enhances customer engagement, and strengthens customer relationships through effective event marketing. Let's explore the critical role ELG plays in forging deeper customer connections and its impact on the customer journey.
On our recent webinar, Mastering the Event-Led Growth Playbook, Camille White-Stern, Director of Experiential at Splash, stated, “Event-led growth is more than a tactic; it's a holistic go-to-market strategy.” This innovative approach leverages events as primary channels for customer acquisition, retention, and lead generation, fundamentally reshaping traditional marketing strategies. It's about creating scalable, data-driven programs that drive tangible value and growth, integrating marketing efforts across various channels like social media, content marketing, and more.
Today's target audience demands more sophisticated and personalized touchpoints for effective engagement. Businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to create more meaningful customer journeys. The landscape has evolved, requiring approaches like leveraging social media, content marketing, and personalized messaging for effective lead generation and customer engagement. This shift in strategy includes understanding pain points, optimizing outreach, and utilizing platforms like LinkedIn for targeted marketing efforts.
For example, when Splash is hosting a webinar, it’s not just a webinar. Take this blog, for example; we’re writing it as a follow-up to the great content shared in our recent webinar, Mastering the Event-Led Growth Playbook. Talk about meta, right? In addition, we’ll be sharing numerous video clips — the a-ha moments and golden nuggets — on LinkedIn. Our account managers, CSMs, and sales teams can also potentially use these clips in their communications with customers and prospects.
A savvy marketing team can also leverage the content from something like a webinar or keynote talk to fuel sales outreach or nurture campaigns, inform infographics, provide the foundation of a podcast episode, or inspire conversations within their community. The possibilities are endless when it comes to repurposing the content of your event programs!
Discussing the integration of AI and marketing automation in events, Camille emphasized how technology fosters deeper personalization and engagement. “Leveraging AI for events ensures each interaction is relevant and impactful,” she notes. This tech integration allows brands to tailor experiences for potential customers, current customers, employees, partners, and any other audience they might need to target.
Events are game-changers for building trust and standing out in a crowded market. Think about it: They offer unique opportunities to showcase not just what a company does but who they are. It's like lifting the corporate veil and letting people see the faces behind the brand. That personal touch goes a long way in fostering connections.
Events also let businesses shine in a way that digital ads or emails can't match, differentiating in a crowded market and establishing strong customer relationships. No more generic pitches; events provide opportunities to flaunt expertise, share solutions to pain points, and embody corporate values in a more engaging and personal manner. Attendees get a firsthand experience, and that's gold.
Think of events as your trust-building, differentiation superheroes. They're not just marketing; they're relationship builders that set you apart in the market.
Camille also dug into event strategy, explaining how events can be integrated at each sales funnel stage. Each type of event serves a distinct purpose, from webinars and podcasts at the top of the funnel to in-person and virtual events in the middle of the funnel. Camille stresses the importance of selecting the right event type to match the marketing goal, whether it's driving demand generation, moving opportunities through the funnel, offering valuable insights, or fostering customer loyalty through effective event planning and management.
One of the primary challenges in implementing an event-led growth strategy is aligning marketing and sales objectives. Camille suggested practical tips for alignment, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and shared goals for a successful strategy. For example, marketing and sales might have shared conversion rates or revenue generation objectives.
These common goals are crucial for ensuring that marketing efforts are closely tied to sales outcomes and overall business growth strategies. Many marketing and sales teams, like Splash’s, operate together under a single Revenue Team umbrella, working together to achieve shared goals.
Camille recommended a flexible approach to measuring ROI, especially in long sales cycles. Utilizing CRM tools (like Salesforce) and tracking metrics post-event can help evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and optimize future marketing efforts. She advises on the importance of thoughtful post-event follow-up and using analytics to measure success and refine strategies for future marketing campaigns.
Recently, the director of field and partner marketing at Gainsight, Emily Wilks, a current Splash customer, shared the stage with Splash CMO Kate Hammitt. Their conversation clearly demonstrates that event-led strategies have significantly increased win rates, deal closures, and average contract values.
These real-world examples highlight the tangible benefits and valuable insights gained from well-executed event-led strategies. Such success stories serve as powerful testaments to the efficacy of this approach in the B2B marketing world.
The roadmap for modern B2B marketing includes a strong focus on event-led growth. This strategy aligns with the latest trends in digital marketing, leveraging everything from LinkedIn for networking to sophisticated event management platforms for organizing and tracking the impact of events.
Businesses can unlock new growth potentials by strategically integrating events into the marketing plan, personalizing experiences through technology, and aligning marketing and sales efforts, ensuring a robust and sustainable path to success in the competitive B2B marketing arena.
For a more in-depth look at event-led growth, check out Mastering the Event-Led Growth Playbook on-demand.
