The owned events from the vast majority of B2B tech brands simply don’t cut the mustard.

I’m happy to stand corrected but I’ve yet to speak to anyone who can point to a B2B brand that does owned events better than (my previous employer) Contentsquare. 

Contentsquare has a kaleidoscope of formats, many of its key principles stemming from CX Circle, the annual ‘rebel’ conference. With its radical reduction of presentation lengths and rigorous pre-presentation prep with clients to ensure the best quality content to ditching the crusty hotel conference halls for themed events at cinemas and abandoned tube stations. Throwing in street food trucks, paparazzi, magicians and legendary after parties. Essentially bringing the energy and fun back to events whilst ensuring, most importantly, the content was radically better than the typical B2B event. Style and substance. 

The iteration of exec roundtables (under various guises) was one of the first industry dinner/roundtable/activity formats for execs and several others - think experimentation themed evenings, with experimental food bites enjoyed over cocktail making and a dozen senior Heads of Personalisation / Experimentation. A format now far more widely in use now, but back in 2017 few, if any, B2B brands were doing this in quite the same way. 

I’m not suggesting founders approve the budget to book out a football stadium or hire a seaplane to a restaurant on a private island. For quality events, you don’t have to break the bank on budget, Contentsquare also nailed their owned virtual events - from the regular Beat the Benchmark webinars showcasing industry specific CX metrics, to the burgeoning Conversion Snacks series showcasing best in class practical UX examples that brands could adopt and apply. 

What ties all of the event formats together is always approaching these from the customer perspective first. For B2B startups, what’s absolutely key is figuring out how you can help your audience (without the solution being to buy your product). How you can make the content useful, interesting and entertaining. 

Events hit that sweet spot of being both a vehicle for demand generation as well as building brand equity, and IMO every B2B startup should have events as a key component of their marketing mix, approaching it the right way will easily get you the cut through you need, raising above the tedious array of bland and self-serving events out there.