Just a couple of months ago the London ExCel hosted the B2B Marketing Expo 2018, one of the biggest of its kind in Europe. The Expo was surrounded by electrifying buzz over both days and by midday there were more attendees than over the whole of last year’s event. At TBT Marketing, we are strong supporters of the idea that as a marketer, you need to constantly update your knowledge and get out there in the wider marketing environment to network and get inspired. So why would a B2B marketing agency benefit from attending the expo and who were the 2018 Innovation B2B award winners?
The main benefits of attending headline marketing events such as this include: getting fresh ideas and solutions for your business, staying on top of industry trends, and building relationships with marketing peers and influencers. All of these objectives should be at the top of your agenda when attending a conference, especially if you’re paying for the privilege of attending. Whatever your top priority is, be sure to use your time wisely. These kinds of events are jam packed – with people and schedules – so be conscious that you can’t see or do it all. Prioritise and plan ahead!
The B2B Marketing Expo hosted over 700 exhibitors, 500 seminars and was attended by 13,000 visitors, 87% of whom have now already stated that they will be attending next year. Amongst the attendees were leading global experts including the Head of Strategic Partnerships for Google; Head of Channel Development — TV & Mobile App for Virgin Media; and also, a number of Microsoft’s Technology Strategists.
You can pick up practical advice on anything from web analytics to the impact of GDPR to search advertising. Seminars are invaluable and although the variety can be slightly daunting, there is nothing like getting out of your office to get inspiration and ideas.
The event has grown every year and each time the exhibitor’s experience has improved. Watch the 2018 Marketing B2B expo – visitors experience video and share their enthusiasm.
This year for the first time the event also held The Marketing Expo Innovation Awards, which celebrated and recognised the marketing innovations, tools, agencies, and strategies to have made an outstanding impact on the world of marketing over the past 12 months.
“You can pick up practical advice on anything from web analytics to GDPR and search advertising”
Let’s have a look at this year’s winners:
- In the Agency of the Future category, the winner was The B2B Marketing Lab. What distinguished them between the many great nominees, was that they have made it their core strength to continually research current and emerging B2B marketing tools and trends and deliver best practice advice and consultancy in inbound marketing, social media and search engine marketing campaigns for B2B organisations. They have found their niche in the marketing world and are excelling at it.
- In the Best Tech Innovation category, the winner was Pulsar. They have developed several unique solutions, essentially introducing to the market the only social listening tool that converges all data points from a digital audience: social, search, and online media. It’s the only social media listening platform built by a research agency, with a full insight team that seeks to empower organisations with digital transformation across their sector.
- In the Best Marketing Management tool category, the winner was ActonSoftware. Their intuitive and integrated marketing automation platform is built to help marketers respond and engage at every step of the customer journey, giving them the insight to make data-driven decisions resulting in a relevant and personalised customer experience. Marketers, just like us they are, purpose driven, innovative and visionary and deserved every single bit of this award.
B2B Marketing Expo 2019 has a long exhibitors list who have already booked their stands, the biggest names in the marketing world have been lined up as keynote speakers to present on 500 free seminars and give 200 free masterclasses. Here at TBT we can’t wait for it and we are sure it will be even better than the last one.
At TBT such events have taught us to always keep an eye on the best in our industry and learn from their best practices. It has challenged us to create all our solutions benchmarking ourselves with the best in the B2B marketing sector, and as a result we were recently nominated in the category ‘Client event or experiential strategy of the year’ at the Tech Marketing and Innovation Awards 2018. We know that to be one of the best in the B2B marketing world starts with understanding where your customers are at, how you can serve them, and most importantly, how you inspire them. We’re always happy to advise. Reach us on +44 (0)1373 469270 or email us.
