• by Ray Schultz , February 28, 2018

Email is used by 93% of all event marketers in the build-up to events , outranking other channels by 40%. It is also viewed as the most effective medium, by far. But it is less likely to be used during the occasions themselves, according to The 2018 State of B2B Event Marketing, a study by Certain and Heinz Marketing.

The results, which appear to be in line with other study findings, show that email has little competition at the pre-event stage. Organic social and web site banners come in at a very distant second, following by content marketing, partner marketing and sales enablement. Paid social is last. 

Almost 90% also see email as the most effective at this stage: Nothing else even comes close. Sales enabling is cited by less than 30%, and organic social ranks even lower. Cold calling is the least effective tactic. 

Day-of-event marketing tactics are topped by social hashtags, at over 50%. Personalized emails are second. Daily email digests are at the bottom, used by less than 10%.

However, email reigns supreme in post-event marketing, being cited by over 80%. Sales and marketing are next, exceeding 50% and content marketing third. Direct mail is at the bottom. 

However, email does not rule in effectiveness at this stage. The study notes that That “1 in 2 B2B professionals find their webinars and other types of partner marketing as very effective, and 2 in 5 rank their content marketing the same way.”

It adds: “Ironically, only 3 in 10 B2B professionals view their email marketing and sales handoffs as effective.”

The study also revealed these findings:

Three out of four respondents view events to be very important drivers of business.

Tracking ROI remains elusive for events, although one out of four companies spend from 25% to 50% of their marketing budget on them.

Three out of four say their current mix of tools and technology is ineffective.

Roughly half say their sales strategies need work. 

Certain and Heinz Marketing surveyed 271 B2B professionals.