According to new research, 67% of B2B marketers expect their experiential marketing budgets to increase before the end of 2020, with a projected budget growth of around 24%.

What’s driving this growing investment? Well, three-quarters of B2B marketers think experiential marketing was their most successful tactic in the last year. Clearly, experiential is working.

Trade shows may be a tried-and-true B2B faithful, but trade show marketing has morphed into an entirely new creation. Welcome to the world of experiential marketing, where the exhibition floor is a stage and every brand is a player, looking to captivating their audience with ever-more unique and memorable interactions.

When done right, trade shows can be a great source of leads, revenue and brand awareness for B2B businesses. It’s a fantastic opportunity for salespeople to meet their clients and target audience face-to-face and, with 81% of trade show attendees having buying authority and 92% actively looking for new products, it’s a channel that is hard to beat.

Exhibitions have been a long-standing fixture in the B2B world, but is there still a place for them in the modern world? As the next generation of B2B buyers comes to the fore, brands will need to make sure that they are creating content that resonates with them, on channels that they use, in a language that they engage with – all on the trade show floor.

Trade shows and exhibitions have been a mainstay in the B2B world for such a long time now, surely there’s no need to question their effectiveness in the buyer’s journey? Think again: in this increasingly digital age, we need to take another look at their impact on ROI for businesses, who are having to go bigger and bolder with exhibition offerings in order to appeal to younger and more digitally savvy customers. 

With limited budgets, it’s important to get it right without breaking the bank. But how? Experiential (or engagement) marketing could hold the key. It creates memorable experiences between brands and their consumers, using an activation – anything from stunts, to immersive events or product sampling – and allows brands to directly interact with or ‘wow’ their customers or prospects.

To help b2b marketers get the most out of tradeshows and exhibitions, we’ve created a guide on experiential marketing with key considerations and advice.

What’s covered?

• The potential of experiential
• Appealing to modern b2b buyers
• Preparation for your big day
• Cultivating a brand story
• Smaller events you shouldn’t ignore