Why Are Traditional Business Events Back?

By Andrew Kyrejko, VP Director of Strategy, NY, Momentum Worldwide

While business events and activations continue to roar back, we’ve been investigating why.

Is it really because of what we keep telling ourselves: That there’s nothing more valuable and impactful than experiences? Or, are typical event types growing again because we still haven’t found a better way to make the connections we need?

It turns out that both are true.

Yes, coming together is more necessary than ever. Sales cycles with more steps and more decision makers have increased the need for digital and in-person human interactions by over 50% YoY. People want to better understand a brand’s values, ways of working, and collaboration styles; to balance good business sense with the feelings of a meaningful, long-term partnership.

Yet, too many conference, tradeshow, and hospitality approaches remain the same:

• Packed keynote halls
• Endless trade show floors
• Pre-planned session content
• Lounge-like services
• Concert-style entertainment

The stakes are too high to lean on traditional tactics, especially as budgets increase along with pressure to prove ROI. We need new insights to drive new impact.

We Asked 1,000 Business Event Attendees Around The World

Almost all attendees are frustrated with all kinds of business events.

While 95% have at least one frustration, 60% have at least five.

Even worse, 8 in 10 attendees find these frustrations too challenging to overcome on their own. But here’s where things get alarming: 3 in 10 attendees told us that their frustrations with business events were so difficult to overcome, they may attend other experiences instead. To pinpoint specific weak spots, we used a tension matrix to plot where frustration and the difficulty to overcome those frustrations converge. Across 20 common business activation factors, we found significant tension everywhere.

5 factors caused the most tension:

1. I tend to get bored because keynotes are too broad, long, and passive.
2. I feel that breakout sessions don’t leave enough time for active collaboration and conversation.
3. I find that brands take up too much time talking at me or over-selling to me.
4. After a business event, I have too much information and not enough time to distill it for my colleagues.
5. I never have enough time or opportunities to enjoy myself within the tight agenda of a business event.

So why is there so much tension?

Today, Business Events Do Not Treat Attendees As Humans

Instead, most experiences are too controlling, passive, and preachy. The lengthy keynotes, lecture-style sessions and flashy headliners will not land the loyalty brands need to grow in a new reality with new generations of decision makers.

Just because attendees show up, doesn’t mean they feel like brands are all in for them, doing more than meeting them where they are: Understanding them. Respecting them. Supporting them.

We need a new brand advantage that sets the stage for short, mid, and long-term change. An approach that refocuses us all on what should be different.

Let’s Do B2B With A B2H Mindset.

A B2H (Business to Human) mindset creates human-first business activations where attendees are more than “business people” or “customers.” Everyone is welcomed as a unique individual with inspiring interests, identities and learning styles that should be embraced and empowered.

3 shifts are at the core of B2H experiences:

1. From ‘Selling’ to ‘Solving’
2. From ‘Talking at’ to ‘Working with’
3. From ‘Broad networking’ to ‘Intentional connection’

Attendees Shared Their Ideal B2H Experiences

While it’s one thing to define a mindset and stop there, it’s something else entirely to land on specific B2H experiences to start solving for right away. We tested 10, each designed to relieve the tension that attendees feel.

5 B2H experiences were the most appealing:

1. Dedicated agenda time for breaks and excursions with a focus on relaxed networking.
2. Access to simple analyses of event sessions and content captured by industry thought leaders.
3. Breakouts that prioritize walking away with solutions that I can use right away.
4. Dedicated networking services and technologies that lead to more targeted connections.
5. Having a choice of smaller entertainment experiences over one large experience.

But we found something more valuable.

Attendees Went On To Share That B2h Experiences Would Motivate Them To Take Significant Action 

From spending more time at events and giving more personal information to improving their opinions of brands, the amount of potential impact on attendee action surprised us.

• 71% would spend more time at an event.
• 58% would attend more events.
• 53% would have an improved opinion of the brand(s) tied to the event.
• 49% would have an easier time getting approval to attend.
• 45% would give more personal information.

So, what’s next? It’s time to define your brand’s approach to doing B2B with a B2H mindset. If you focus, prioritize, and then test new approaches, you can create experiences that drive new impact and deliver more of the value needed to grow.

Sources: 

Momentum Worldwide 2024 Proprietary Global B2B Study
Forrester Q1 2024 B2B Event Trends
Amex GBT 2024 Global Meetings and Events Forecast
Gartner B2B Buying Report