Want More Pipeline? Close Your Laptop.

B2B events have long been a cornerstone of B2B marketing strategies, consistently commanding 20–25% of B2B marketing program budgets for a reason: they work. That number of course varies by industry and company size; enterprise B2B and complex-sale industries (like pharma or manufacturing) may spend 30% or more. Moreover, 67% of B2B marketers believe that event marketing is their most effective strategy for lead generation.

Events Offer What Other Channels Are Losing: Signal and Connection

While that investment level has stayed relatively consistent, I expect it to rise in the face of diminishing returns from traditional digital channels driving B2B marketers (like me) to seek alternative avenues for differentiation, market advantage, and efficient pipeline. Third party cookies are disappearing. Intent data is table stakes. AI is reshaping search. And it’s unclear whether that’s going to work in our favor.

The substantial budget allocation to events is increasingly justified. In LinkedIn’s The B2B Marketing Benchmark published in June 2023, in-person events were cited as the most effective B2B marketing channel. 48% of brands realize a return on investment (ROI) of between 3:1 to 5:1 from their events and experiences.

Pipeline from Events Is Likely Undercounted in Common Attribution Models

Even when events show up in attribution reports, their true impact is likely undercounted. During a recent (in-person!) networking event, someone shared: “one thing we see from large events is that they show up a year later as the first touch; we know that the more heavily-weighted last touch is going to be a demo request or whatever, but we also know that events get them into orbit. I spend a lot of time reminding people about that.” Linear or last-touch attribution often obscures what events really do: build long-term pipeline momentum.

Stop Thinking about Events as “Start and Stop”

In addition to incalculable brand benefits (and the fostering of a symbiotic relationship between sales and marketing) the best event marketing teams extract value from in-person events in multiple ways:

Shorten the sales cycle. I’ve never had a peer in sales who didn’t agree that “events collapse time.” A 10-minute live conversation at a booth can do more than weeks of email exchanges. Pipeline isn’t just a volume game – it’s a velocity game.
Capture behavioral and intent signals. Every booth visit, session check-in, or demo tells you something. These real-world signals help marketers understand buyer readiness. At a time when cookies, retargeting, and even email engagement are losing power, data from events will become critical for B2B marketers.
Create content from event assets. Event marketers with an eye toward pipeline should plan for ongoing nurture and brand reinforcement powered by modular assets extracted from event content. A keynote can transform into a thought leadership piece, which can create multiple blog posts and power almost endless social content. A panel topic should translate to a Webinar or podcast. A session can result in multiple video shorts for social. Testimonials can be uncovered and disseminated through every channel you activate. A survey can inform first party research.