Event marketers like to think they’re pretty savvy when it comes to all things email-related. However, from my experience, most of them seem to forget to leverage one fundamental (and free) marketing channel that could be put to use in growing awareness of their brand, their blog and ultimately their own profile. What is it, you ask? The personal auto signatures, of course!

As an event professional, there’s simply no excuse for not knowing the numbers and relevant statistics that indicate whether your event will be successful or not. This does not just apply to the marketing team, and even if you are not directly responsible for tracking these metrics, it’s crucial that you retain a regular awareness. B2B event planners that don’t bother to find out are just relying on wishful thinking to guarantee success; now what kind of strategy is that? Here are the most important numbers to help analyse the success of your event before it even takes place!

Conference companies love to brag that they’re “a purely online organisation now” or that they “only do digital”; but has the digital revolution taken the event world a step too far? In the case of traditional event brochures, we think it has. There are several benefits to printing your agenda that simply cannot be overlooked, despite your decreased collateral costs and greater green credentials. Here’s a list of our top reasons why you shouldn’t stop printing:

Email is the holy grail of event marketing, and that doesn’t look set to change just yet. Chances are you’ve got a healthy and reasonably responsive email database, but event companies can’t afford to rest on their laurels – growth is key, and sustaining a consistently increasing number of sign ups is a must. There are a number of ways to go about this, but if you try even one of these tips in the next couple of weeks we’re certain you’ll see the kind of results which will undoubtedly aid your event email marketing strategy for 2015. 

Trade shows and exhibitions are a lucrative environment, for the exhibitors, the organisers, and indeed the attendees. They provide the perfect opportunity to reach key decision makers, grab a moment of their precious time and assess on the spot how qualified they might be as a lead. But how fruitful are these meetings in reality? There are several steps you must take prior to, during, and after the exhibition to guarantee maximum value from such events. Here’s my guide on how to make the most of your expo opportunities:

As an experienced marketer, you’re no doubt aware of the power of LinkedIn as a B2B marketing tool. But are you making the most of it for your events? If used correctly, social media (and LinkedIn specifically) can aid your event marketing strategy enormously, building the credibility of your conference portfolio, and you as an individual event industry leader.

Here are our top ten LinkedIn to-do's to help you raise your profile, engage with your community and ultimately generate leads for your B2B event.

Event marketers are wising up to the fact you need to think about optimising for mobile. Usablenet have revealed that 52% of B2B customers now use smartphones to research products for their business, and mobile users now account for 16% of B2B website traffic. Those numbers are only going to increase.

I recently took part in a panel at Event Tech Live in Shoreditch. My fellow panelists and I were talking all things social media – the current landscape for events, how to effectively market events using it, and what the future holds. You can watch the video here, or if you’d like a quick summary, here are my top takeaways from the session: 

Email marketing is a tricky business. It seems to be most event companies' go-to tactic for spreading the word about their events. They love it. Ironically, they also happen to be rubbish at it. No offence B2B event marketers, but take a look at your conversion rates and tell me I’m wrong!

There are several simple dos and don’ts for increasing your email conversions, and the sales guys will probably buy you a round if you not only find out what they are, but put them into action.

The term "event producer" is old, tired and needs to be retired. Aside from being outdated, it has so many meanings now that it’s not really a position you can effectively recruit for. What one company deems an event producer is another event organisation’s content officer, project manager, planner... the list goes on and on!

You need to seek the kind of individual that lives and breathes the industry your event is based around, and is very active within it. These are the people who will truly know what our prospects want, and how to package and deliver it. To get these high quality experts on board you’ll need to discover them at work. The best way to source an industry expert is to think like one – so these are the places you’ll find them:

Your event homepage is a really important platform for promoting your B2B event, and getting it spot on will make you stand out from the competition. There’s some cool stuff you can do, and some really innovative approaches to tackling both the layout and the functionality – but first you must perfect the content, and the elements and steps that are absolutely imperative.

Twitter can be a hugely useful tool in the run up to your B2B event. You can use it to shout about any ‘VIP’ speakers, get your delegates involved before the day, and generally create a real buzz around your conference. For old school event marketers, the way twitter, and other social media outlets have revolutionised the events sphere, and B2B marketing generally, is a daunting prospect. But if you want to keep up with the ever quickening pace of the event industry, you need to get on board.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen quite a few examples of event companies jumping on the social bandwagon, just to have a presence. They’re not using it to add value, engage with their audience or even post interesting things about their events – they just populate it with links to their registration pages, standard event information which could be easily sourced online, and repeat tweets of their updates. How likely do you think it is you’ll be trending with this approach? Here are our absolute worst practices for event marketing on twitter – avoid at all costs!

Email marketing is still the majority of event marketers’ go-to tool for promoting their events, and with good reason. When done right the results can be astounding, but in the hands of an old school marketer , email can be an overused (and even harmful) tool.

We’ve observed that the pattern is pretty much always the same: 12 weeks out from the event, marketers start blasting. They don’t segment their lists, meaning they end up sending a blanket email which attempts to provide something for everyone and as a result is pretty lengthy and vague, and try to cram in as much information as possible. The cycle is then repeated until the event takes place, causing recipients to disengage and in some cases even unsubscribe completely.

It's great to see that events specifically talking about "events and conference marketing" are on the up and the newly launched Event Marketing Summit by the Global Conference Network took place just recently. Over 150 people attended - from event marketers to senior management, old friends as well as new faces.

As a content officer, conference producer, event planner or even a CEO for an event company, you probably have a lot on your plate already – and the prospect of striving to become a thought leader might seem daunting. However, as the face of your organisation with your potential delegates, it’s absolutely critical that you outwardly portray that you’re an authority within the industry your event serves. There isn’t a quick fix to ensure you’re regarded as such, but we’ve figured out the ultimate approach to get yourself, and your events, noticed.

These are 17 of the best examples of B2B online communities launched by event organisations, or companies with a strong event presence. Most of them center approach on simplicity. We hope this ebook serves as some inspiration, or a means to show your teams that it doesn't have to be complicated. 

I was recently interviewed by Events Uncovered TV, to share my observations on the ever changing shape that B2B event marketing is taking. The premise of my argument is that while some traditional marketing techniques may have worked superbly in their heyday, the industry is undeniably evolving (and some event marketers are struggling to keep up). Enjoy the interview and please comment away if you have views of your own.

A clear trend is emerging: B2B publishers are becoming increasingly aware that events are a profitable opportunity not to be passed up. Simultaneously, event companies are realising that the industry needs to change. They must think more as publishers do in the battle to fight declining revenues and add value to both sponsors and attendees on a 365 basis.

The current sentiment on both sides is "yes we know we need to behave/think/act more like them", but nobody seems to know where event and publisher paths converge. Neither side knows how exactly how to get to this sweet spot, where to start, or who internally is best placed to drive the change.

Largely, the challenge lies in finding the employee who can be bothered to propel this internal shift in attitudes with different stakeholders, and get their buy in.

The actions publishers and events need to take are clear and they don't have to be complicated! Here's my rundown of where the covergence lies, and what kind of results each side can expect to achieve:

Content marketing is often viewed as a passing fad by B2B event marketers - or ignored completely - but unlike some marketing trends this one is set to stick around. As an experienced marketer, chances are you’re familiar with the fundamentals – but how can you translate the returns of this approach to your event marketing? 

It's all about changing your mindset, and applying the key elements of the content philosophy to your outlook. Ultimately, treating your event as a content offer, rather than a standalone occurrence, will help you to adapt your strategy, generate relevant leads, and increase registrations. 

So we’ve talked about what not to do in email marketing – now let’s address the positives. There are plenty of quick and easy techniques you can employ to ensure the content you so lovingly crafted actually connects with the prospects you intended it for! 

Most of your B2B prospects will receive countless messages about products and services, new content, conferences, discounts, offers, webinars etc. on a daily or possibly hourly basis (depending on how freely they share their email address). As a result, the key to increasing and sustaining your open rate is to stand out by being relevant, interesting and showing a genuine desire to help. Here are our best B2B email marketing tips to improve your metrics and ultimately win more quality leads: