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How are B2B marketers faring with the discontinuation of live events? Pretty badly, turns out.
“Events in 2019 and prior was typically 40% of a typical B2B company’s marketing budget. A very good B2B event is an extremely productive investment,” Merkle B2B CEO Michael McLaren says on this week’s episode of AdExchanger Talks.
The benefits of in-person conferences are many, but the two big ones are information sharing and lead generation. Replacing them with digital channels has been a painful and sometimes fruitless process for those that haven’t previously invested online.
“Most companies have moved into digital events and they’ve done a nice pivot, but we’ve lost that direct sales contact,” McLaren says. “It has to be replaced by digital channels. Companies that were advanced in having those digital channels fully enabled have really been taking full advantage. Companies that weren’t have had to double down on investment and play catchup.”
Also in this episode: Why Merkle recently merged five B2B agencies into a single agency brand.
