Build, don’t break

We’ve all been to those events.

You know the ones. A Zoom screen filled with a bunch of talking heads no-so-subtly pushing their product under the guise of thought leadership and community. 

We can smell these kinds of events a mile away, and the damage they do to how you’re perceived by your network can stick with you. 

Because events are a lot like hammers—they can be used to break trust, or to build it. 

Choosing the latter means creating events not as a way to sell, but as a way to connect and provide value. 

Events were a hot topic at the Nearbound Summit. GTM Partners shared the importance of events in their talk on the 6 GTM motions you need to use to succeed. Shockingly, only 41% of companies are leveraging events as a source of trust and revenue.

Kate Hammitt, CMO at Splash, and Emily Wilkes, Director of Field and Partner Marketing at Gainsight, also covered the topic at the Summit, diving into the importance of trust-driven events and the success they can drive to your GTM strategy. 

Watch Kate Hammitt and Emily Wilkes’ Nearbound Summit Session here. 

“Events are the most powerful lever for modern GTM teams. They help you to create authentic connections, engagement, acquisition, and retention.”–Kate Hammitt, CMO at Splash

In the Nearbound Era, events aren’t about adding the noise, but about cutting through it by keeping relationships as the North Star. 

“Events are about bringing people together. It’s doing something fun and valuable for your customers and prospective customers, and Sales teams making connections. It’s about nurturing our community, strengthening bonds, and helping the Sales team deepen and build relationships.” –Emily Wilkes, Director of Field and Partner Marketing at Gainsight

Event-led Growth

But finding the balance between creating events that build relationships and those that drive actual impact is not an easy feat. 

Many audience members at the Summit shared their challenges with building an event-growth strategy in tandem with nearbound. Luckily, Kate, Emily, and Justin Zimmerman, shared their tips and hacks to drive revenue and foster meaningful connections by leveraging Event-led Growth (ELG). 

Event-led growth is a holistic GTM strategy focused on creating premium event experiences to drive quality connections. They can be either in-person, virtual, or hybrid. 

In this GTM motion, you have to match the stage of your prospect in the sales cycle to the type of event you want to do. Only this way can you generate event-influenced revenue or event-attached revenue. 

As you move down on the funnel, consider making your events more personalized to help close deals faster. Follow Kate’s strategy to allocate events according to your potential buyers’ journey: 

1. Top of the Funnel (TOFU): These are usually large-scale, third-party events like conferences, tradeshows, and online events that can help you educate your audience on the problem that the market is facing. Keep in mind that 84% of deals are won by the company or seller who reaches the buyer first, so these kinds of events are important to get your foot in the door. But remember, they will only work if you deliver meaningful subject matter expertise and thought leadership.
2. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU): These events can be in-person or online events where you deliver use cases or best practices to leverage your product better. Here you have to share frameworks that can help your customer achieve their goals.
3. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU): These are the more curated and targeted in-person events. These gatherings should be a community-oriented experience and are key to connecting with your prospects, closing the deal, and/or building strong relationships with existing customers. 

By approaching ELG through a nearbound motion, these events are amplified tenfold. Why? Because leveraging nearbound ensures that you’re surrounding your prospects and customers with the content and people that matter most to them. 

Here’s how nearbound can drive your ELG strategy:

1. Targeted engagement: Nearbound events prioritize building relationships and trust with the audience. By focusing on understanding customer pain points, these events provide a more targeted and personalized approach. Attendees feel a genuine connection, reducing the likelihood of them perceiving the event as just another piece of marketing noise.
2. Location relevance: The essence of nearbound strategies is meeting customers where they are. By leveraging nearbound data like market presence, and hosting events in locations that are convenient and meaningful for the target audience, you position your brand as accessible and attentive. 
3. Community-centric approach: Nearbound co-marketing events often involve partnerships with local communities, customers, and partners. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of belonging and community engagement creating meaningful connections. 
4. Strategic partner integration: Collaborating with partners in events adds another layer of credibility. Partnerships bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the table, enhancing the overall event experience—and can help you enter new markets.
5. Intent data utilization: Leverage events as sources of intent data. Understanding attendee behavior, interactions, and interests during events provides valuable insights. This data-driven approach allows for more precise and targeted follow-ups, ensuring that subsequent communications resonate with the specific needs and preferences of your audience.

The results speak for themselves

Kate shared what Splash was able to achieve by ditching hollow webinars and instead focusing on a nearbound ELG strategy:

• 3x pipeline from events
• 45% increase in product usage by attendees
• 78% attendance rate
• 200% increase in total revenue from event programs
• 10% increase in win rate from attendees 

Emily also shared the results of implementing an event-led GTM motion in Gainsight’s Q1 this year: 

As we head into 2024—with tighter budgets and more pressure—we have to ensure that our co-marketing events are not just about the numbers, but about creating genuine connections, delivering value, and leveraging partnerships to drive revenue and customer success. 

Learn how to execute a nearbound ELG strategy in our latest article.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Nearbound Summit 2023 Recordings—The future of GTM is Nearbound. Watch the recordings to hear how B2B leaders across departments unite with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Listen here.
• January 25th— CEO Summit—Join Pavilion and many more companies to be part of expert-led educational sessions, covering top-of-mind issues for CEOs and Founders. Learn about the latest sales insights, building a pricing strategy, and co-selling. Register here. 
• Feb 5-7th in Miami—Impartnercon 2024—Partnerships are the future of growth. Join partner leaders to learn what it means to build the future of business, together.  Register here.
• March 19-20th—Affiverse’s Amplify Summit—Join them for a 2-day virtual event to help affiliate businesses amplify their performance. Learn about digital, partnership, and affiliate marketing. Register here.

Give the gift of ELG

Share this with a (partner) marketer who could use some support in their 2024 event strategy.