Best of LinkedIn: Field Marketing CW 38/ 39

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgeier and Frennis, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about field marketing in Kalinor's weeks, thirty-eight and thirty-nine.

00:00:09: Frennis is a B to B market research company, helping enterprise field marketing teams with precise, targetless research and database-driven segmentation, as well as event attendee acquisition.

00:00:20: Welcome back.

00:00:21: Our mission today is, well, to really sift through the most critical, high-impact conversations happening in field marketing over on LinkedIn right now.

00:00:29: Yeah, we're looking strictly at the last couple of weeks, calendar weeks, thirty-eight and thirty-nine.

00:00:33: Exactly.

00:00:33: And the overwhelming feeling.

00:00:35: Field marketing is definitely entering a bit of a pressure cooker era.

00:00:38: It absolutely is.

00:00:39: You can feel it in the post.

00:00:40: There's this massive pullback towards, you know, hard revenue impact.

00:00:43: For sure.

00:00:44: The core themes jumping out are pretty clear.

00:00:47: It's about moving away from those surface-level vanity metrics, demanding smarter, much more strategic execution.

00:00:54: And interestingly, a real emphasis on the enduring power of human connection in B to B.

00:01:01: It's that classic paradox, isn't it?

00:01:03: Be warm, be human, connect, but prove it all with cold, hard data.

00:01:08: Mm-hmm.

00:01:08: How do you square that circle?

00:01:10: Exactly.

00:01:11: That's what we're diving into today.

00:01:13: the top trends, the strategic pivots, really dominating the conversation.

00:01:18: Okay, so let's start with the money.

00:01:20: Because that seems to be where a lot of the pressure is coming from.

00:01:23: The definition of success, it's had a seismic shift.

00:01:27: Oh yeah.

00:01:28: Field marketing, you know, it's just not allowed anymore to define success by that old metric of butts and seats.

00:01:34: That's

00:01:34: dead.

00:01:35: You see it across the board, folks like Kimberly Kaye, others too.

00:01:39: They were really clear.

00:01:41: Stop reporting on registrations.

00:01:43: Stop reporting on booth visits.

00:01:44: Right.

00:01:45: Start focusing on accounts engaged, deals advanced, and, crucially, revenue impacted.

00:01:51: That's the only way events, you know, earn their keep strategically.

00:01:54: And

00:01:54: what's fascinating is expectations are soaring, right?

00:01:57: But budgets, they're being squeezed at the same time.

00:01:59: Totally

00:02:00: squeezed.

00:02:00: Even though costs are just going up dramatically.

00:02:02: Alexandra Panukena made a really important point, though.

00:02:05: What was that?

00:02:05: She said, look, even if the conversion rates aren't always statistically higher than digital, Events are still absolutely crucial.

00:02:12: Ah,

00:02:13: for those hard to reach accounts.

00:02:14: Exactly.

00:02:15: Those high value ones that maybe just won't respond to a cold email.

00:02:19: You need that FaceTime.

00:02:20: Makes sense.

00:02:22: And you mentioned rising costs.

00:02:24: Richard Riggs pointed out something pretty troubling on the logistics side.

00:02:27: Yeah.

00:02:27: He said the cost split between like services and the actual fabrication building the booth.

00:02:35: It's almost flipped since twenty twenty.

00:02:37: Flipped.

00:02:37: Wow.

00:02:38: Mainly because raw labor fees are up like twenty percent.

00:02:42: That's huge.

00:02:42: So that means less money for the cool stuff, the creative build.

00:02:46: Exactly.

00:02:46: More cash is just sinking into, well, showing up, existing at the show.

00:02:51: That budget squeeze, it just forces this ruthless look at where the money's actually going.

00:02:56: You

00:02:56: have to.

00:02:56: If you're like hemorrhaging cash on logistics, you can't possibly hit those new ROI targets.

00:03:02: And Dave C shared what he called an unpopular opinion.

00:03:05: Oh, I saw that one.

00:03:06: He basically said, thirty percent of most trade show budgets, pure waste.

00:03:09: Pure

00:03:09: waste, tied up in hidden fees, things people don't always understand until the bill hits.

00:03:14: What kind of fees are we talking about?

00:03:15: Well, industry jargon stuff, right?

00:03:17: Like rigging just the cost to hang anything from the ceiling.

00:03:21: Light signs, whatever.

00:03:22: Okay.

00:03:23: And ray ash, which is basically the non-negotiable fee to get your crate from the loading dock to your little patch of floor space.

00:03:31: Non-negotiable.

00:03:32: Ouch.

00:03:33: Yeah.

00:03:34: And for listeners, maybe not deep in execution, these costs can be unpredictable and massive.

00:03:41: Dave C's point was, you have to audit that show services kit early.

00:03:44: Treat it like a treasure map, not a black hole.

00:03:46: Exactly.

00:03:47: Find the savings there.

00:03:48: So if you're spending all that cash navigating that logistical minefield.

00:03:52: Yeah.

00:03:53: The return better be big.

00:03:54: Huge.

00:03:55: Rob Johnson was super direct about it.

00:03:56: He framed events like a slot machine.

00:03:58: Okay.

00:03:58: Put a dollar in.

00:03:59: You should expect at least ten dollars back.

00:04:02: That ten X return, that's the expectation now.

00:04:04: Ten

00:04:04: times.

00:04:05: Wow.

00:04:05: That completely changes the game.

00:04:07: It's not, was it a nice event?

00:04:08: I don't know.

00:04:10: Was it a successful business unit?

00:04:12: Did it make money?

00:04:13: And that demand for hard attribution, it's driving a huge shift in sponsorship too, right?

00:04:18: Absolutely fundamental.

00:04:19: Shanji and Kit Hamilton both were hitting this point hard.

00:04:22: Sponsors aren't paying for like logo exposure anymore.

00:04:25: Seeing their name up there, not enough.

00:04:27: Not enough.

00:04:28: They're buying attribution.

00:04:29: They're buying commercial outcomes.

00:04:31: They need pipeline metrics they can actually take to their board meetings.

00:04:34: Verifiable

00:04:35: stuff.

00:04:35: Yeah, they need to draw a direct line from their sponsorship span to actual revenue movement.

00:04:43: Okay, so despite all this digital acceleration that you know zoom everywhere The consensus on LinkedIn was really firm.

00:04:52: physical events, especially trade fairs still necessary really

00:04:56: even with the costs and the ROI pressure.

00:04:58: Yeah,

00:04:58: Philip forger argued they're essential and Rami Alka Fajiet of the gray point marketers.

00:05:03: Yeah, we're heavily digital But those traditional touch points they still build trust.

00:05:07: trust trust in a way a click just never will so hybrid often wins.

00:05:12: But as Sophie Gehrig said, trust is fundamentally built in person.

00:05:16: But the strategy, it has to be absolutely flawless because the logistics, they create these like invisible risks.

00:05:22: Invisible risks, I like that.

00:05:24: Lisa Gehr highlighted the danger of timing.

00:05:26: You can prep for weeks meticulously, right?

00:05:30: And then it all fails instantly if your event date accidentally lands on a major holiday or the start of vacation season.

00:05:37: Or worse.

00:05:37: A competing industry event pulls your audience away.

00:05:40: Exactly.

00:05:41: And Julia Slara has pointed out that registrations are actually flat for a lot of events.

00:05:46: Why that?

00:05:47: Competition, partly, but also an audience shift.

00:05:51: Especially, he noted, among younger attendees, they consume information differently, expect different things.

00:05:57: That competition, it just forces marketers to shift focus.

00:06:00: Completely.

00:06:01: Away from just logistics execution.

00:06:03: Cords.

00:06:04: Towards the quality of the experience.

00:06:06: Ken Skye advocated treating corporate events less like a checklist.

00:06:10: Right.

00:06:10: And more like a three-act narrative.

00:06:12: A rival, experiential finale.

00:06:14: A lot.

00:06:14: He needs to tell a story.

00:06:15: Make

00:06:15: it memorable.

00:06:16: Exactly.

00:06:17: And Ali Hickox really doubled down on this.

00:06:19: She encouraged exploring option C. Option

00:06:21: C.

00:06:22: Yeah, basically moving away from the standard predictable corporate event formulas, creating something unique, something human-centered.

00:06:28: Okay,

00:06:29: speaking of telling a story, Lance Newton drew this really key distinction.

00:06:34: Brand broadcasting versus brand storytelling.

00:06:37: Ah, yeah, that was good.

00:06:38: Explain that.

00:06:39: Broadcasting is, you know, the wall of flashing lights, the loud videos, the mass giveaways, just volume.

00:06:46: Visual noise.

00:06:47: Storytelling though is about meaning.

00:06:50: Purpose.

00:06:51: Like maybe it's a quiet demo area intentionally set up for just two people to have a deep dive conversation.

00:06:57: Less noise, more signal.

00:06:58: Precisely.

00:06:59: Gerberby emphasized that too.

00:07:01: Intentional booths that prioritize a sharp, clear message over just noise or, you know, mountains of junk giveaways.

00:07:09: The most

00:07:09: expensive booth doesn't always win.

00:07:11: No.

00:07:11: The one that actually enables real conversations does.

00:07:14: And that need for real conversation, it's driving this measurable shift towards Intimacy

00:07:20: at big trade shows.

00:07:21: Yeah, or maybe instead of big trade shows sometimes.

00:07:23: Yeah, Zooey Hart's field noted a strong trend towards community building and smaller more localized Micro events and

00:07:29: micro events.

00:07:30: And

00:07:30: this isn't just theory.

00:07:32: Michelle Blazer give a brilliant example airs conference.

00:07:34: What

00:07:34: did they do?

00:07:35: They hand selected only two hundred attendees deliberately kept it small prioritized intimate settings and focused everything on deep conversation real debate not just sitting through PowerPoints passively.

00:07:47: Wow, that sounds way more valuable.

00:07:50: Right,

00:07:50: and that focus on human-centric intimacy leads right into how people are making connections memorable too.

00:07:56: Like,

00:07:56: beyond just the event format itself.

00:07:58: Yeah.

00:07:59: Andrew Coelho offered this practical survival guide for trade shows.

00:08:03: Oh yeah, like what?

00:08:04: Simple stuff, but important.

00:08:05: Comfortable shoes, compression socks.

00:08:08: Basic self-care so you can actually function and connect.

00:08:11: Makes

00:08:11: sense.

00:08:12: You can't network if your feet are killing you.

00:08:14: Exactly.

00:08:14: And skipping outdated business cards.

00:08:16: Moving to intentional digital capture instead.

00:08:19: Smarter.

00:08:20: And what about swag?

00:08:21: Still matters.

00:08:22: It does, but it needs to reflect this strategic pivot away from noise.

00:08:26: James Everall shared a fantastic example.

00:08:29: Go on.

00:08:29: Speckright and Formic.

00:08:31: Instead of junk pens or stress balls, they gave out actual, insightful literature.

00:08:35: Like

00:08:35: books.

00:08:36: Yeah.

00:08:37: Something useful, something that adds value, not just clutter.

00:08:40: Think useful, not noise.

00:08:42: I like that.

00:08:43: Useful, not noise.

00:08:44: And one more on connection.

00:08:46: Tim Jadzim confirmed the value of deliberately creating quiet spaces within noisy trade shows.

00:08:52: Like

00:08:52: a little oasis?

00:08:53: Kind of.

00:08:55: He noted it really enhances meaningful conversations and, get this, demonstrably boosts deal closure.

00:09:01: People need a place to actually talk business.

00:09:04: Okay, so... This level of strategic depth, the focus on experience, the ROI pressure.

00:09:09: It all demands incredible organization.

00:09:12: Oh,

00:09:12: absolutely.

00:09:12: Kayla Drake called organization the Field Marketers Superpower.

00:09:16: You're juggling vendors, multiple events, crazy deadlines,

00:09:20: all at once.

00:09:20: It's intense, and that operational burden.

00:09:22: That's why we're seeing organization increasingly powered by, you guessed it, AI.

00:09:27: AI

00:09:27: stepping in to help manage the chaos.

00:09:29: Pretty much.

00:09:30: An AgaPlate and Trifon showcase something really cool, building an AI production assistant.

00:09:34: Okay.

00:09:34: To manage tasks, budgets, even sales deliverables.

00:09:38: All...

00:09:38: Inside Slack.

00:09:39: Inside Slack.

00:09:40: Not another tool.

00:09:41: Exactly.

00:09:41: That's the brilliance.

00:09:42: Avoids tool sprawl.

00:09:44: It lives where the sales and marketing teams already are.

00:09:46: Reduces friction massively.

00:09:48: That's smart.

00:09:49: So what else?

00:09:50: What specific AI use cases are popping up?

00:09:53: We saw several really actionable ones.

00:09:55: Alex Adkins detailed how event marketers are using AI for faster processes.

00:10:00: Like brainstorming event concepts, doing initial venue sourcing, drafting content and messaging drafts, creating planning templates, docs, basically accelerating the prep work.

00:10:11: Getting the basics done faster so you can focus on the strategy?

00:10:14: That seems to be the idea.

00:10:16: But the biggest impact, I think, is in measurement.

00:10:19: Ah, connecting back to ROI.

00:10:21: Always.

00:10:21: Manpreet Wadden explained how AI is replacing those vanity metrics we talked about by tracking real-time engagement signals.

00:10:28: Real-time engagement signals?

00:10:30: What does that actually mean on the ground?

00:10:32: It

00:10:32: means tracking things like QR code scans that are tied to specific offers or measuring the duration of time someone spends at an interactive display and getting real-time integration with event app data.

00:10:44: So planners get clarity much faster.

00:10:45: They can start proving ROI without waiting winks for surveys or trying to stitch together spreadsheets manually.

00:10:51: That promise of real-time data, though, it means the technical foundation has to be rock solid, right?

00:10:55: Absolutely critical.

00:10:57: Yeah.

00:10:57: Mandy Hineshin highlighted that classic mistake.

00:10:59: Yeah.

00:11:00: Relying on non-professional gear for hybrid events.

00:11:04: Like

00:11:04: what?

00:11:04: Using your laptop webcam?

00:11:06: She specifically called out the ubiquitous... Owl camera, the other one, sits in the middle of the table.

00:11:12: Ah,

00:11:13: yeah, she knows.

00:11:14: Her point was quality.

00:11:15: hybrid isn't just zoom calls in big.

00:11:17: You need proper multi-camera setups, decent microphones.

00:11:21: You have to ensure the remote experience feels strategic, not like an afterthought, not second-class.

00:11:27: Makes sense.

00:11:27: Treat the online audience like real attendees.

00:11:30: Exactly.

00:11:31: And this all speaks to needing simplicity and confidence in the execution side.

00:11:35: Tim Kerbavaz, talking about the technical producer role, he said the job is ultimately to deliver the client's outcomes with simplicity and confidence.

00:11:44: It's about balancing safety, reliability, and what the client actually needs, not just chasing the newest, shiniest tech, if it doesn't serve the purpose or fit the budget.

00:11:54: Okay, so ultimately all these pressures we've discussed, the rising costs, the Tenex ROI demands, the tech integration, they all kind of funnel back to one critical question.

00:12:04: Which is?

00:12:04: What is the actual role of field marketing today?

00:12:08: Emily Dilbeck argued pretty forcefully that the function is often misunderstood.

00:12:12: How so?

00:12:13: Relegated to just admin tasks or purely event planning logistics, like party planners.

00:12:18: Yeah, I've heard that stereotype.

00:12:19: She insists no.

00:12:21: Field marketing must be recognized as a strategic weapon, a revenue engine.

00:12:25: Its job is creating demand, aligning every single dollar spent back to a specific deal or a target account.

00:12:31: That sounds great in theory, but the reality on the ground often seems different.

00:12:36: Frustratingly different.

00:12:37: Matt Kleinrock observed that senior directors of events, they're often totally overwhelmed, stuck purely in execution mode.

00:12:43: Fighting

00:12:43: fires all day.

00:12:45: Exactly.

00:12:46: Because leadership isn't giving them enough support or resources.

00:12:49: So if you're constantly scrambling with logistics, you simply cannot focus on the bigger picture on strategy and ROI.

00:12:56: Which leads to problems.

00:12:57: Huge strategic pitfalls.

00:13:00: Warwick Davies provided a really neat summary of mistakes to avoid.

00:13:04: Like what?

00:13:05: Things like chasing event size over actual substance, ignoring the ROI for your exhibitors, treating sponsors like ATMs just there to give cash, and, crucially, failing to innovate the event format itself.

00:13:17: So

00:13:17: the core message there is, strategy has to come first, before you think about scale.

00:13:21: Always.

00:13:22: Strategy before scale.

00:13:23: And stepping back even further, we need to remember the context, right?

00:13:27: Where do events fit?

00:13:29: Exactly.

00:13:29: Lathcasses had a great reminder for founders, but it applies to everyone.

00:13:33: Trade fairs, they're just one brick.

00:13:34: One

00:13:34: brick.

00:13:35: One brick in the much larger architecture of your go-to-market strategy, your GTM.

00:13:39: Ah,

00:13:40: okay.

00:13:41: The GTM dictates the event strategy, not the other way around.

00:13:44: Precisely.

00:13:45: The GTM tells you which accounts matter, which prospects to target.

00:13:49: If you just start planning an event without that foundation, you've already lost the strategic high ground.

00:13:57: So Wrapping this deep dive up the message from the field marketing community just looking at these last two weeks on LinkedIn It's defined by paradox really

00:14:06: feels that way.

00:14:06: you're fighting rising logistics costs compressed timelines But at the same time you're being forced to be more human more connection focused while also being rigorously measurement driven and strategically aligned.

00:14:19: More

00:14:19: than ever before.

00:14:20: It's an incredibly demanding environment.

00:14:22: It really requires marketers to master both that high touch intimacy and high tech operational rigor.

00:14:27: It's a tall order.

00:14:28: And here's the thought I want to leave you our listener with.

00:14:31: It connects strategy and revenue directly.

00:14:33: OK.

00:14:33: Omar Kay noted something stunning.

00:14:36: Sixty five percent.

00:14:37: Sixty-five percent of European HealthTech VC deals in twenty twenty four started at conferences.

00:14:42: Wow not online.

00:14:43: started at conferences not in virtual meetings not in boardrooms initially.

00:14:46: But if the biggest most critical deals are still being forged in person

00:14:50: then the real question is

00:14:51: the real question is whether your go-to-market strategy is truly built around Meeting your most critical high-value accounts where they actually are which is often in person or Are you relying too heavily on digital channels alone to build the kind of deep trust needed to close those massive game-changing deals?

00:15:10: Something

00:15:14: to think about.