Best of LinkedIn: Field Marketing CW 44/ 45

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgaier and Frennis, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about field marketing in calendar weeks, forty-four and forty-five.

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

00:00:20: So welcome to this deep dive.

00:00:22: Yeah, for the next few minutes or so, we're going zero in on what B to B field marketing leaders were actually discussing on LinkedIn, specifically weeks forty four and forty five.

00:00:33: Right.

00:00:33: And our mission today really is to cut through all the noise, pull out the trends that you can actually use.

00:00:38: We're looking beyond just, you know, the basic logistics of planning an event and focusing instead on this concept that kept coming up, maximizing return on effort.

00:00:47: That's a great way to put it.

00:00:49: If ROI is the financial outcome, then return on effort is more about, well, how efficiently are you using your resources?

00:00:54: Your team's time, their focus, their energy.

00:00:56: Exactly.

00:00:57: Everyone seems to be asking, how do we stop, you know, wasting effort on activities that don't clearly move the needle?

00:01:02: And that focus on efficiency, it seems to be driving a pretty big shift.

00:01:07: We've sort of grouped the key insights we saw into four main areas.

00:01:11: Okay.

00:01:11: Strategic execution, measurement, brand experience, and then the big one.

00:01:17: AI and future infrastructure.

00:01:19: So let's unpack that, see where people's heads are at right now.

00:01:21: Let's do it.

00:01:22: Okay, first up, strategic event execution.

00:01:26: Darcy Bennett posted something that really resonated.

00:01:29: Events aren't just tasks anymore, right?

00:01:32: They're seen as strategic priorities right up to the executive level.

00:01:35: Yeah, definitely.

00:01:36: But, you know, translating that high level view into actual smooth execution on the ground.

00:01:40: Yeah.

00:01:41: That's the tricky part.

00:01:42: It really is.

00:01:43: And it demands what Evan Babin's called professional hygiene rules for the event industry, which I quite like.

00:01:48: Putting

00:01:48: rules okay.

00:01:49: Yeah,

00:01:49: basically non-negotiables, not just nice to haves.

00:01:52: Standards aimed at avoiding that chaos that can just tank an event's reputation, not to mention internal trots.

00:01:57: So what kind of rules are we talking about?

00:01:59: I'm guessing like decent coffee is on the list.

00:02:01: Huh.

00:02:02: Better than that, actually.

00:02:03: It's more about respect.

00:02:05: and minimizing errors, things like mandatory tech rehearsals for all speakers, no exception.

00:02:11: Okay,

00:02:12: that makes sense.

00:02:12: And ensuring event and tech crews get proper breaks, actual meals, not just, you know, leftover pizza grabbed between sessions.

00:02:18: Right.

00:02:19: And this one's key.

00:02:20: Presentation decks are due a full twenty-four hours before stage

00:02:24: time.

00:02:24: Okay.

00:02:25: That helps quality, definitely good for morale, too.

00:02:27: But here's one that made me pause.

00:02:30: Babin's also suggested closing registration, seventy-two hours before an event.

00:02:35: I mean, wait, aren't you just cutting off potential revenue there just to make the check in smoother?

00:02:41: How do you sell that upstairs?

00:02:42: Well,

00:02:42: the argument is you sell it based on reputation and focus.

00:02:46: That last minute rush, the seventy-two hour window, it creates this frantic day of stress.

00:02:50: Yeah, I can picture it.

00:02:51: Long lines, confused staff, maybe name badges aren't ready.

00:02:55: It's a terrible first impression.

00:02:56: So the insight is that the the marginal gain from those very late signups, it's often completely outweighed by the poor experience it guarantees for everyone else.

00:03:05: Ah, okay.

00:03:06: So it's framed as an investment in a smooth start protecting the experience.

00:03:10: Exactly.

00:03:11: Less logistics, more reputation management.

00:03:13: Right.

00:03:14: And speaking of managing complexity, Manny Hinchin brought up the the hybrid complexity tax.

00:03:20: Big one, right?

00:03:20: Oh,

00:03:21: yeah.

00:03:21: And that tax is paid in errors, rework, stress, all the bad stuff.

00:03:27: What you pointed out is when you're dealing with tech providers for hybrid events, planners often just send the basics.

00:03:33: date, location, number of people.

00:03:35: Standard stuff.

00:03:36: Right.

00:03:37: But the technical needs are way deeper.

00:03:39: They need to know the content format, who's controlling the slides, the specific streaming platform, Zoom, Teams, whatever bandwidth needs, what happens afterwards with recording, editing.

00:03:50: So

00:03:50: the complexity tax is basically the cost of that misalignment.

00:03:54: When you treat a complex hybrid event like booking a simple room.

00:03:57: You got it.

00:03:58: You're making the vendor guess.

00:03:59: Yeah.

00:03:59: And with plans getting that complex, Todd Helton had a really interesting point.

00:04:03: He said successful teams don't obsess over a flawless plan.

00:04:08: Because it's going to change anyway.

00:04:09: It always changes.

00:04:11: Instead, they focus on having an intentional planning rhythm.

00:04:14: Okay,

00:04:14: I like that distinction.

00:04:15: The rhythm is the process, the discipline.

00:04:18: The plan is just the output at a point in time.

00:04:20: Exactly.

00:04:21: And maintaining that rhythm, that cadence of checking in and adjusting, that's what keeps things aligned when, you know, a speaker cancels or the Wi-Fi goes down.

00:04:31: Makes

00:04:31: the team adaptable.

00:04:32: It does.

00:04:33: And this focus on quality over just complexity, it also applies to the audience.

00:04:38: KRK noted that smaller, more curated gatherings, they're increasingly seen as the best way to get real ROI and networking value.

00:04:46: So less is more.

00:04:47: Kind of, yeah.

00:04:48: It's about intimacy and relevance.

00:04:50: The trend is towards really exclusive attendance lists, tightly defined agendas, basically content you couldn't just get from chat GPT.

00:04:58: Right.

00:04:59: No generic fluff.

00:05:00: Which leads to more authentic conversations and, crucially, a much better return on effort because you know exactly who you're talking to and why they're there.

00:05:07: Okay, that makes perfect sense.

00:05:08: Intentional execution leads right into the big question.

00:05:11: How do we prove it worked?

00:05:13: Let's get into measurement and this whole data trust gap issue.

00:05:17: Yeah, this is where things get really interesting.

00:05:19: Tristan Tully summed up the dilemma perfectly.

00:05:22: What was his take?

00:05:23: He basically said digital marketing feels efficient, you know, easy to track clicks and stuff, but often feels ineffective in driving real deals.

00:05:31: Whereas face to face events, they feel like they work best, but they're the absolute hardest to measure in ways that satisfy the execs.

00:05:40: Right, you feel the connection, the handshake, but you need that hard data trail for the CFO.

00:05:45: Precisely.

00:05:46: And that's forcing a shift, maybe a controversial one, in what we actually measure.

00:05:51: The new benchmark for event yield.

00:05:53: It's not just booth traffic anymore or pounding heads.

00:05:56: Okay.

00:05:56: So what is it then?

00:05:58: Well, Declan Mulkeen was pretty blunt about it.

00:06:01: He basically said event badge scans are a scam.

00:06:04: Ouch.

00:06:05: That's strong.

00:06:05: Why a scam?

00:06:06: His point was, if your whole plan relies only on that scan, you're just collecting names like baseball cards.

00:06:12: You're not actually building influence or pipeline.

00:06:14: The real yield, the valuable part, is determined before the event even starts.

00:06:19: It's in the pre-event outreach, the qualification, the meeting acceptance rates.

00:06:23: So getting the right person to commit to a specific meaningful conversation beforehand.

00:06:28: That's the new primary metric.

00:06:30: The work before the event is where the value is locked in.

00:06:32: Interesting.

00:06:33: So field marketing is becoming less about buying floor space and more about designing the right audience.

00:06:39: That's a perfect way to phrase it.

00:06:40: But then how do you bridge that gap, you know, between the human interaction at the event and the digital proof needed back at HQ?

00:06:47: Yeah,

00:06:47: the classic problem.

00:06:48: Manpreet Waddan tackled this head on.

00:06:50: The core issue.

00:06:53: If sales doesn't trust the data marketing brings back from an event, the whole thing's basically a write-off, right?

00:06:59: The dueling scorecards problem.

00:07:01: Exactly.

00:07:02: And that's where tech, specifically AI, is starting to play a huge role.

00:07:06: AI is becoming essential for real attribution.

00:07:09: How so?

00:07:09: By automatically connecting different engagement points, booth visits, sessions attended, maybe notes from a meeting logged in an app directly to opportunity stages in the CRM.

00:07:20: So sales and marketing are literally looking at the same dashboard, the same numbers.

00:07:24: One version of the truth, as Manpreet called it, it gets rid of the finger pointing.

00:07:28: That integration alone must be a massive accelerator.

00:07:31: which explains why Henry Braithwaite was emphasizing that the work before and after the event, that's what really determines ROI more than the actual day itself.

00:07:42: It totally shifts the focus.

00:07:43: Rebecca Carmody had a great line about treating the booth as a revenue engine, not just a fancy billboard.

00:07:49: Right.

00:07:50: Active, not passive.

00:07:51: And the budget is following.

00:07:52: We're seeing less spend on just sheer square footage and more investment in that precise audience assembly, the tech for meeting operations, content capture, anything that feeds that revenue engine directly.

00:08:05: Okay, let's shift gears slightly to theme three.

00:08:07: brand, content, and experience.

00:08:10: Emily Dilbeck made a great point.

00:08:11: that field marketing is where the brand gets felt, not just seen or heard.

00:08:16: That physical, tangible experience, it builds trust much faster, turns passive awareness into something more solid.

00:08:22: But that feeling, that experience, it needs to be consistent, right?

00:08:25: David Lemke stressed how vital it is that event creative aligns with the main brand guidelines.

00:08:30: Oh, absolutely.

00:08:31: He said, ignoring them kills more brand equity than bad coffee and broken Wi-Fi combined.

00:08:37: which is saying something.

00:08:39: Yeah, broken Wi-Fi is definitely a trust killer in B to B.

00:08:42: His point was, the event should expand on the brand's DNA, maybe evolve it slightly, but never feel like a random departure from it.

00:08:50: Makes sense.

00:08:51: And that ties into the creative paradox Tamara Machado mentioned.

00:08:54: Yeah, that was interesting.

00:08:55: The paradox is... You give your creative teams clear objectives, clear KPIs, here's what we need to achieve business-wise.

00:09:02: Right.

00:09:03: But then, you have to trust their process, give them ownership of the how.

00:09:07: You set the strategic destination, but let the experts navigate the creative journey to get there.

00:09:12: Trust the specialists.

00:09:14: Okay.

00:09:14: Now, thinking about the content delivered at these events, Mohsen Siddiqi observed a common pitfall.

00:09:19: Which was... That a lot of... BDB event organizers, especially founders, maybe, they create content assuming everyone attending is ready to buy right now.

00:09:28: Ah, jumping straight to the most aware state.

00:09:31: Exactly.

00:09:31: They forget the journey.

00:09:33: Good event content needs to guide people through those five stages of awareness.

00:09:36: Unaware, problem aware, solution aware, product aware, and then most aware.

00:09:41: Right.

00:09:42: You need to educate and nurture, not just pitch product features relentlessly.

00:09:46: And this focus on quality, on credibility.

00:09:49: It even impacts who you allow on your stage.

00:09:52: Kara Dickerson shared a really powerful strategy about protecting the stage.

00:09:56: Protecting the stage?

00:09:58: How so?

00:09:59: It's about knowing when to say no, or at least not right now.

00:10:03: Even to a potential sponsor, or maybe even a big customer.

00:10:06: If their proposed content doesn't actually add genuine value to the audience and the agenda.

00:10:11: Ooh,

00:10:12: that takes guts.

00:10:13: Saying no to money or a key client?

00:10:15: It does, but her argument is... Doing that strategically actually strengthens the event's credibility in the long run.

00:10:21: It makes the truly high impact speaking slots even more valuable because people know they're curated for quality, not just pay to play.

00:10:28: That's

00:10:28: smart, counterintuitive maybe, but it builds prestige and audience trust.

00:10:32: I love that.

00:10:33: It's playing the long game.

00:10:34: Yeah.

00:10:35: And Aditi Agarwal kind of wrapped this whole theme up beautifully.

00:10:38: She concluded that events, when done right, are really Movement design functions.

00:10:45: Movement design functions.

00:10:46: Okay, unpack that a little.

00:10:47: It sounds academic, but it's quite practical.

00:10:50: She means events are intentionally designed to move people.

00:10:54: Move them from skepticism to belief.

00:10:56: Maybe move them from being a cold lead to a warm opportunity.

00:11:00: Ah, okay.

00:11:02: Engineered experiences.

00:11:03: Exactly.

00:11:04: It requires real intentionality, a deep curiosity about who's in the audience and what they need and being adaptable depending on your company's stage.

00:11:12: You know, maybe you're building signals early on or multiplying pipeline in a growth phase or controlling a specific narrative when you're at scale.

00:11:19: That's a really sophisticated view of field marketing's role.

00:11:22: It really is.

00:11:23: Okay.

00:11:23: Final theme, technology, AI and future infrastructure.

00:11:26: Big topic.

00:11:27: If the goal is human connection, how is tech making that connection smarter rather than just, you know, replacing it?

00:11:33: Well, we saw some pretty amazing examples of AI enabling really lean operations.

00:11:39: St.

00:11:39: John Doglish shared details on how Jason M Lemkin built a huge multi-million dollar event business with, get this, only a five person team.

00:11:50: Five people for a multi-million dollar event business.

00:11:53: How is that even possible?

00:11:54: AI agents, they used AI for a lot of the heavy lifting, vetting attendees, managing ticket pipelines, handling routine outreach emails.

00:12:02: and follow-ups which freed up the small human team to focus only on the high-value complex stuff.

00:12:09: Basically, closing the big sponsor deals.

00:12:12: It's like rebuilding event ops as a tech product focused on leverage.

00:12:15: So the human touch is reserved purely for the highest impact interactions.

00:12:19: If it's perfectly what Baptiste Bullard was saying, exhibitors want now, which is not just more leads.

00:12:24: They want curated, meaningful business relationships, quality over quantity.

00:12:29: Absolutely.

00:12:29: And that's driving innovation in event tech platforms.

00:12:32: Swapcard, for instance, launched an AI-powered, hosted buyer module.

00:12:36: What does that do?

00:12:37: It gives organizers really fine-grained control over matching rules, multiple layers deep.

00:12:42: It's designed to move way beyond just swapping spreadsheets for matchmaking.

00:12:46: The goal is maximizing that return on effort for both the buyer showing up and the exhibitor paying to be there.

00:12:53: Making

00:12:53: the connections count.

00:12:54: Now, thinking about the attendee experience with tech, Michael Belliasini from highbar.ai had a good point.

00:13:02: formerly a ten to five.

00:13:03: That's

00:13:03: the one.

00:13:04: He noted that because events can be high-stress environments anyway, even tiny UX failures like struggling to log into the event app feel massively frustrating to an attendee.

00:13:13: Oh yeah, small friction feels huge when you're trying to navigate a busy event.

00:13:18: So the push isn't just stuffing more features into apps, it's about creating really smooth on-ramps to experiences.

00:13:24: Right, and prioritizing what he called passive features.

00:13:27: Things that deliver value without the user having to do much work like well timed push notifications with relevant info or personalized session recommendations.

00:13:36: Less burden on the user.

00:13:38: Simplicity is key.

00:13:39: Simplicity is defined by what the user doesn't have to do.

00:13:43: That focus on robust quality experiences leads into Ivan Ferrari's pretty provocative idea about the future of the industry.

00:13:51: What did he suggest?

00:13:52: He basically

00:13:52: wondered if the B to B events world needs to follow Big Tech's playbook and shift from being asset light to becoming more asset heavy.

00:14:01: Meaning significant investment in foundational infrastructure.

00:14:04: He threw out a number like a hundred billion dollars potentially needed for the industry to build out his own sophisticated platforms, matchmaking engines, data ecosystems, basically the digital backbone required to deliver truly personalized high value experiences at scale.

00:14:20: Wow, that's a massive shift in thinking from renting venues to building core tech.

00:14:24: It is.

00:14:25: And speaking of tech platforms, Muhammad Yunus made a crucial point about localization, especially for fast-growing markets like, say, Saudi Arabia, one size fits all.

00:14:33: tech just won't cut it.

00:14:34: Right.

00:14:35: Different needs, different regulations.

00:14:36: Totally.

00:14:37: You need solutions that offer proper local onsite support, comply with local data hosting laws, and this is critical or provide true bi-directional language support, like proper Arabic right-to-left rendering in the interface.

00:14:49: Essential for usability.

00:14:51: And finally, rounding out the tech theme, we saw Christine Turner and Daniel Shapiro both confirming something many are seeing.

00:14:58: The rise of LinkedIn as a central hub for B to B digital events.

00:15:02: using its event ads for that incredibly specific professional targeting.

00:15:06: Right.

00:15:06: And then seamlessly integrating the registration data directly into CRM systems using platforms like ON-Twenty-Four to connect the dots.

00:15:14: It's about closing that attribution loop from the inale ad targeting right through to Pipeline Impact.

00:15:19: Makes sense.

00:15:20: It brings that digital precision to the event

00:15:22: world.

00:15:23: Okay, so let's try and synthesize all of this.

00:15:25: We've covered execution, measurement, brand.

00:15:28: tech, what's the big picture takeaway from LinkedIn in weeks forty four and forty five for field marketing?

00:15:34: I think it's pretty clear.

00:15:35: the discipline is really evolving, isn't it?

00:15:37: It's moving decisively beyond just event logistics into something much more like strategic business design.

00:15:43: It's definitely not just about planning parties anymore.

00:15:45: No, it's about being an architect, really.

00:15:47: It demands that forward-thinking planning months in advance, like Jada Paul mentioned, and a real commitment to building genuine human connection.

00:15:55: We heard that from Mason Brady and Adam Levitt.

00:15:57: And maybe most importantly, mastering the event data, like Tristan Tully emphasized, to actually prove the impact in a way that resonates with sales and finance, making it measurable and tying it

00:16:08: to revenue.

00:16:09: That's the key, proving the value.

00:16:11: If you enjoyed this deep dive, new episodes drop every two weeks.

00:16:14: Also, check out our other editions on account-based marketing, go-to-market, channel marketing, MarTech, social selling, and AI in BDB marketing.

00:16:22: Yeah, thank you for diving deep with us.

00:16:24: I guess the final thought, the challenge for you listening, is to think critically about where your own event budget is shifting.

00:16:30: Are you still mostly buying square footage, like those billboards Rebecca Carmody mentioned?

00:16:35: Or are you strategically investing in building and proving that revenue engine?

00:16:40: Something to think about.

00:16:41: Definitely.

00:16:42: Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss our next analysis.