Best of LinkedIn: Field Marketing CW 06/ 07

00:00:00: Welcome back to The Deep Dive.

00:00:01: We have a massive stack of research on the desk today, and honestly I'm glad we do!

00:00:17: This episode is provided by Thomas Alguyer and Frennis, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about field marketing from calendar weeks six and seven.

00:00:24: Frennes is a BDB market research company helping enterprise Field Marketing teams with precise targetless research in database-driven segmentation as well as event attendee acquisition.

00:00:34: It's good to be here And we are looking at very specific slice of time, right?

00:00:39: The conversation happening.

00:00:40: Right now week six and seven of twenty-twenty-six And you can really see the tension in the industry just from this snapshot.

00:00:46: You know we aren't seeing posts about brand awareness or just getting your name out there anymore.

00:00:51: It feels like everyone is waking up.

00:00:52: the days are showing up being enough art.

00:00:55: Well they're over!

00:01:01: We are not talking about booth swag or carpet colors, we're looking at what the smartest people on LinkedIn are saying.

00:01:07: About where field marketing is going right now.

00:01:10: and spoiler alert it's moving from logistics to revenue.

00:01:14: That Is The Headline Isn't It?

00:01:16: The whole landscape is shifting From How Do We Get People To The Booth To How Does This Actually Drive The Bottom Line?

00:01:22: I mean if you're still treating events as just a brand play in twenty twenty six You Are Basically Setting Money On Fire.

00:01:29: The data suggests we have to be much, much more tactical.

00:01:32: Okay let's unpack that first major theme.

00:01:34: We're calling this from Logistics To Revenue Motion And I want start with a post from Kati Kay Adams That really i think set the tone for whole thing.

00:01:43: She argues events aren't marketing tactic at all.

00:01:46: They are revenue motion

00:01:47: and thats such crucial distinction.

00:01:50: A tactic is just check box right?

00:01:52: You buy the booth you print flyers.

00:01:53: done A revenue motion is a whole system.

00:01:57: Coddy points out this trap.

00:01:58: that, I mean let's be honest every marketer listening has probably fallen into it at least once.

00:02:02: You know marketing plans the perfect party.

00:02:04: The booth looks incredible sales shows up a bit late scan some badges And then what

00:02:10: happens?

00:02:10: Oh, show crickets.

00:02:11: Yeah!

00:02:11: The silence is deafening

00:02:13: Exactly.

00:02:14: and the big insight from Caughty Is that if nobody owns the revenue outcome... ...the event it's just an expensive brand moment.

00:02:21: You're just renting attention you are not capturing any real value.

00:02:28: That hurts to hear, but it is so true.

00:02:31: And this connects perfectly with what Minas Medarato was saying from the financial side.

00:02:35: He notes that you know CFOs simply do not care about engagement jumps.

00:02:39: right and why would they?

00:02:40: You can't pay salaries with better visibility or brand love.

00:02:44: Maranis highlights This uh...this language barrier that exists.

00:02:48: marketing talks pipeline sales talks velocity.

00:02:51: ops is worried about headcount But finance!

00:02:53: They're just asking one single question How does this show up in the model?

00:02:57: It's the ultimate.

00:02:58: so what question.

00:02:59: Precisely, if you tell a CFO that had great engagement That is just noise.

00:03:04: They see tech and events as strategic investments not like discretionary spending.

00:03:09: If can't model risk cost return You lose all credibility.

00:03:13: Just look at party planning committee Not growth lever.

00:03:16: So we stop counting badge scans And engagement.

00:03:20: What should be counted?

00:03:21: Nick Bennett laid out framework.

00:03:24: We need to stop reporting on activity and start reporting an actual ROI.

00:03:28: Nick is so spot-on here, he lists the metrics that really matter.

00:03:32: First ICP accounts attended.

00:03:34: So not just how many people but did the right account even show up?

00:03:39: He doesn't care if five thousand people walked by If none of them can actually buy your product.

00:03:43: Then meetings books and he's specific about this actual calendar invites, not just good chats.

00:03:50: I love that distinction.

00:03:51: a Good Chat does NOT pay the bills.

00:03:53: No

00:03:53: it is not.

00:03:54: And then finally Qualified Pipeline.

00:03:56: These are hard numbers.

00:03:58: Connor Jeffers takes it even further with what i'd call kill metric.

00:04:00: He basically says stop taking photos of badges.

00:04:03: Yes Conner very direct at this.

00:04:04: he suggests measuring time to first touch.

00:04:07: It's a metric that exposes all inefficiency right?

00:04:10: If you're taking photo of badges or waiting for CSV export Your time to first touch is measured in days, maybe even weeks.

00:04:17: In twenty-twenty six that needs to be measured minutes...maybe hours.

00:04:21: If you're not capturing the data digitally and syncing it instantly You are already behind

00:04:25: That speed so critical.

00:04:28: But there's also a more nuanced take on return.

00:04:31: I found fascinating.

00:04:32: We always hear ROI but Daz Martin and Brad Langley introduced this idea of ROA Return on attendance This

00:04:38: huge shift in perspective.

00:04:40: ROI all about your company, did we make money?

00:04:44: ROE is about the attendee.

00:04:45: Was it worth their

00:04:46: time?".

00:04:47: You have to remember.

00:04:47: attendees are spending their employers' money to be there sure but they're spending their own time and if that ROA's low-if they feel like their time was wasted...they aren't coming

00:04:57: back.".

00:04:57: Which connects so well with Alan Stein's point.

00:04:59: he distinguishes between ROI & ROE return on engagement.

00:05:03: Right!

00:05:03: ROI is hard data The cost.

00:05:06: ROE has a subjective impact.

00:05:08: Alan argues that one single meaningful conversation with a high-value prospect might be worth more than hundred random badge scans.

00:05:16: It's about depth, not just width!

00:05:18: A deep dive with one key decision maker can change your entire year—a thousand quick hellos probably

00:05:23: won't.".

00:05:24: That is the perfect segue into our second segment because even if you have those deep conversations and drop them right after it meant nothing….

00:05:30: let us talk about the gap in sales alignment.

00:05:32: Ugh... The dreaded Gap This where most event ROI goes to die.

00:05:37: Kevin Meyer and Josh Newman called the seven days after an event, The Most Expensive Gap in Marketing.

00:05:43: And we've all seen this movie marketing waits for the export.

00:05:46: then they spend days cleaning the spreadsheet fixing capitalizations deleting All the test leads.

00:05:52: by time sales gets that list.

00:05:54: The prospect has forgotten who you are rice Alston mentioned This pain explicitly having hundreds of scans but none Of them were In the CRM By Monday morning.

00:06:02: it's just mind-blowing That in twenty twenty six this is still a problem.

00:06:05: But it is, that friction just kills all the momentum.

00:06:09: So how do we fix it?

00:06:10: What's the solution?

00:06:11: It's two things speed and context.

00:06:13: Mojave OJ and Adrian Pi provide the tactical fix here.

00:06:16: they basically argue that Speed Is Your Only Competitive Edge.

00:06:20: if everyone has a booth then Everyone Has Swag.

00:06:22: The winner is the one who follows up first

00:06:23: And They have the stats to back That Up.

00:06:25: Right!

00:06:25: They Do!

00:06:26: Adrian Pi notes that seventy-nine percent of leads get zero followup.

00:06:30: Just think about that.

00:06:31: That is a staggering amount of waste, all the budget spent to get those leads and you just ignore them – his strategy!

00:06:38: Pre-booking feedback calls can boost conversion by seven X And Maja suggests your high intent leads should have a personal video within twenty four hours.

00:06:46: Twenty Four Hours not a week.

00:06:48: so you're talking recording it in the hotel room or airport lounge?

00:06:51: Exactly.

00:06:52: Ensure low intent leads go into an nurture sequence.

00:06:55: but the key is follow up has happen while memories are fresh.

00:06:59: If you wait until Wednesday to scrub the list from a Friday event, that lead is cold.

00:07:03: You're starting from scratch!

00:07:05: This all leads to the idea of ghosting.

00:07:07: Ruby Allen Taylor warns that event Ghosting kills ROI and she makes the point.

00:07:12: this can't be one-off panic.

00:07:13: it needs to be consistent strategy which champions with the order.

00:07:17: collective approach Can't just wing after show

00:07:20: And consistency requires sales involved way earlier.

00:07:25: Molly Stahl makes great points here.

00:07:27: If sales isn't at the table during the strategy phase, it's not really a strategy.

00:07:31: You can just ask sales to work-the-booth and hand out pens... They need help shake their message—they need understand why they are there!

00:07:39: It is about respect, right?

00:07:40: Sales wants to close deals… So if you see an event as revenue play that they will engage in….

00:07:45: If they see this party, then hangout with the bar… Precisely

00:07:48: —if they helped build the plan – they'll actually own its execution!

00:07:51: Now …to get that speed ...that twenty four hour video follow up instant CRM sync You need help.

00:07:57: Yeah, and that brings us to our third theme AI in events.

00:08:01: But importantly the sources this week suggests we are moving from AI is cool To AI as operational.

00:08:08: This is my favorite part of the source material because it's just so grounded in reality.

00:08:12: We're seeing a rejection of the flashy stuff.

00:08:14: people don't want AI chatbots pretending to be human at the booth.

00:08:17: They want AI to handle the boring stuff.

00:08:19: Kelly

00:08:19: burhop absolutely nailed this.

00:08:20: she talks about operational tedium.

00:08:22: yes

00:08:24: She describes the nightmare of a global tour.

00:08:26: You know, twelve cities same email templates but different addresses, different hours, different venues.

00:08:32: doing that by hand is a recipe for error.

00:08:35: you leave Macau in The Madrid Email and you just look so unprofessional.

00:08:39: Kelly argues the real opportunity for AI is automating that grunt work.

00:08:43: So literally cannot make those copy-paste mistakes.

00:08:46: Alexander Panakina calls this the execution wheel.

00:08:49: It's a very relatable term.

00:08:51: Event pros get stuck knowing flight prices and catering menus instead of focusing on strategy.

00:08:56: Alexander point is you have to block time for strategy And the only way to do that is to let AI handle the execution details.

00:09:03: You have to elevate yourself out-of-the logistics.

00:09:05: Kayla Drake offered some really practical use cases For this using ai to draft promo emails create agendas even summarize notes for slack updates, it's all about buying back your time

00:09:16: Exactly.

00:09:16: It's operational enablement, but we do have to look at the tech stack critically.

00:09:20: Pedro goes had some fascinating predictions about what survives and dies in this new era.

00:09:24: I love this list.

00:09:25: Let's run through it.

00:09:26: What survives?

00:09:27: AV & physical production.

00:09:29: You can't ask chatGPT To hang a light rig or unloada truck Badge printing also survives.

00:09:35: Hardware breaks paper jams.

00:09:36: you just need humans And payment and ticketing because its so compliance heavy and high risk.

00:09:42: You do not want a hallucinating AI-handling credit card processing.

00:09:46: And what dies?

00:09:47: Event mobile apps, Pedro calls them a commodity.

00:09:50: and honestly who wants to download a separate app for two day conference?

00:09:53: it's just friction.

00:09:54: also gamification platforms he notes that kids can code these now.

00:09:59: if the seven year old can build your leaderboard in an

00:10:01: hour

00:10:01: you probably shouldn't be paying a premium for it.

00:10:03: That is harsh reality check from some vendors out there.

00:10:07: But there's a warning flag here too.

00:10:09: Thorben Grocer raised an important point about what he calls Vibe-Coded Tech.

00:10:14: This is the dark side of AI boom, just because it looks pretty and generated by AI doesn't mean its secure!

00:10:21: Thorben warns.

00:10:22: we're seeing these startups that are basically prototypes missing privacy policies.

00:10:26: they have broken links no encryption...

00:10:28: And The Risk Is Real.

00:10:30: You're handing over all your attendee data names, emails companies to a platform that might just be a flashy front-end with no security on the back end.

00:10:39: Exactly!

00:10:40: Don't trust your data to prototype because landing page looks nice.

00:10:44: due diligence is more important than ever.

00:10:46: you are responsible for those data at the end of day.

00:10:49: So we've got revenue motion and closed gap.

00:10:52: sales automated boring stuff.

00:10:54: AI now have deal people in room.

00:10:58: Let's talk about experience design and the human element.

00:11:01: This is where The Rubber really meets.

00:11:22: Why should they get on a plane?

00:11:24: why Should They Leap In A Hotel?

00:11:25: You Have To Offer Something That Netflix Can't.

00:11:28: And Per Klingwald has beautiful answer to that, he talks about relational momentum.

00:11:32: This is deep insight.

00:11:34: He argues that trust compounds physically!

00:11:37: A day at an event can equal year of digital back and forth because the barrier depth is just so much lower.

00:11:43: Right you're in same room You have a shared context?

00:11:46: You can read body language, you could have those little serendipitous moments that just do not happen on Zoom.

00:11:50: It's all about the velocity of relationship building—that is one thing that beats Netflix!

00:11:55: But humans have limits.

00:11:57: and Katie Mantua-George points out very real biological problem —the two p-meter slump

00:12:03: The cognitive reset By two p meters, your attendees are just fried.

00:12:07: They've met twenty people.

00:12:08: they heard three keynotes and overstimulated.

00:12:11: their cortisol is up there.

00:12:13: attention down.

00:12:14: so Katie argues that instead of throwing more content at them we need to design breaks visualization grounding sessions.

00:12:22: ten-to fifteen minutes reenergize the room.

00:12:25: It

00:12:25: sounds a little bit woo-woo but I get it.

00:12:27: if keeps from mentally checking out its strategic advantage.

00:12:30: Its just

00:12:30: biology.

00:12:31: A tired brain doesn't retain information.

00:12:34: If you want them to remember your closing keynote, You have to let them rest their brains first.

00:12:39: It's not just a nice-to-have it is essential for retention.

00:12:44: Now one final strategic point on who Is driving the decisions?

00:12:48: Liz Lathan points out of blind spot For a lot of agencies and brands.

00:12:52: Yes The rise Of the freelancer And the solopreneur.

00:12:55: Liz notes that Agencies often ignore these people To chase the big Brands.

00:13:00: They Want the logo.

00:13:02: But in twenty twenty six who is writing the RFP?

00:13:05: Who was whispering in the ear of the actual decision-maker.

00:13:09: It does the freelancers!

00:13:10: Exactly, they're the ones guiding this strategy.

00:13:12: If you ignore them because they don't have a corporate email address You are ignoring the actual influencers and buying process.

00:13:18: That's massive shift power dynamics...you can't just hunt for VPs anymore.

00:13:22: No..You need to build relationships with whole ecosystem around decision makers.

00:13:26: that where real influence lives now.

00:13:28: So bring us all together.

00:13:29: we've covered lot ground today.

00:13:30: What's big takeaway from it?

00:13:32: For me, it's that field marketing in twenty-twenty six has finally grown up.

00:13:37: It's not the party planning committee anymore.

00:13:39: It is a sophisticated data driven revenue engine.

00:13:43: but this isn't key and hasn't lost its soul.

00:13:46: all technology AI metrics they all exist to support one human moment where trust actually built.

00:13:53: I love them.

00:13:54: It's less about the booth carpet color and more about the integrated revenue engine using tech to clear The way for a real connection

00:14:01: an acting with speed.

00:14:02: Don't forget this bead.

00:14:03: absolutely speed is the edge.

00:14:06: Well, that brings us to the end of this deep dive.

00:14:07: I hope you're walking away with some tactical moves You can make this week if you enjoyed this episode.

00:14:12: new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:14:14: Also check out our other editions on account based marketing go-to market channel marketing MarTech social selling in AI in BDB marketing.

00:14:22: Thanks for listening everyone, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next deep dive.

00:14:26: See ya then!