How Conference Opportunities Boost B2B Tech Companies

When it comes to designing and executing communications strategies for B2B tech companies, we have numerous tools at our disposal – from social media, podcasts and blogs to media relations and influencer programs and more – to ensure your messages repeatedly reach target audiences. And in what is perhaps one of the most crowded and competitive industries, rising above the throng is especially crucial. And difficult.

So given how competitive the tech industry is, the cultivation of one-on-one contacts through conference opportunities should be a main building block of your communications plan, if it isn’t already.

Why Conference Relations Should Be Part of Your Communications Strategy

For a start, it’s important to make the distinction between paid and earned opportunities. Having your team attend, sponsor, or exhibit at an industry conference can be an important part of your sales strategy. It can also be very costly for the impact – even when it comes with a speaking role. That’s why our work focuses on securing engagements based on the strength of our client’s products, services, or messages, leveraging our expertise and long-standing history with the organizers of major conferences. As with media that’s earned rather than bought, appearing at non-sponsored events can give you way more credibility. So, why are conferences necessary?

There’s just no substitute for direct introductions to potential partners and clients at the biggest events in your industry. Ask yourself: “Why do our customers and clients value our product or service?” It could be that your offerings are so unique and specialized that only your company can offer what it does. But in an endlessly changing tech landscape with new innovators always coming out of the woodwork, you may need something more. There’s no one answer here, but a very important one is “relationships.” A stronger conference presence can create some much-needed separation.

A Conference Presence for B2B Tech Firms: Why Is It Needed?

Increasingly, firms will have to trade not just on “know-how” but on trust. That can be in the broad sense of a positive public image, or in the more personalized sense of one-on-one relationship-building. For B2B tech firms, conferences serve the purpose of not only getting your unique offerings out there in the wider world but also connecting you directly with potential customers and partners as part of the networking opportunities that typically accompany events.

And that’s the crux of the matter. In a hyper-competitive landscape, face-to-face communication is essential, both with opinion-makers and with those who might need your products or services. It’s why we’ve also referred to conference relations as “direct engagement”: we’re directing you right to the sources of business opportunity and growth.

Contact us to learn more about our long-standing expertise and ever-evolving approach in conference relations.