Conferences or online advertising? Which one is best for leads and brand awareness?

Conferences or online advertising

How can we find more B2B leads and grow our IT, Cloud or Connectivity brand awareness, with a limited marketing budget in a new European market? That is one of the most common and essential questions, that customers have asked our agency.

In this article we will help you compare the most popular online advertising opportunities and conferences in Europe. After reading this short article you will know which one is right for you. Discover how a local marketing strategy agency can help you optimize your international conference and advertising budget, so your brand and potential customer base can grow significantly.

Qualified local leads: Online advertising or attending conferences?

When you are just starting up a business, the marketing budget can be tight. The same applies if you are an already established business, looking to expand further in new competitive European markets. The amount of sponsorship opportunities at local conferences and advertising opportunities can be intimidating. Let us take a look together at some of the most popular B2B online advertising strategies and conferences in Europe.

Successful European B2B online advertising strategies

There are many online advertising opportunities to grow your brand name and to find new B2B leads. Online advertising on large platforms like Google and LinkedIn often looks like an ideal strategy to reach a large number of prospects. However, using online advertising as a standalone strategy is often not successful.

Online advertising focused on decision makers on LinkedIn and Twitter can be highly targeted, but it can also be incredibly expensive. Via online advertising you will indeed reach your target audience, niche, and decision makers. But often online advertising fails to create real engagement and interaction with the right target audience. This is especially the case on large platforms like Google and Facebook. Both social media advertising platforms have a massive reach and extensive parameters with useful keywords for paid clicks. But the click-through rates, interaction and average time spent on your site are low. So, which one is right for you?

At our marketing strategy agency Cloudsuppliers, we have created some of the most engaging content and lead generation campaigns. And we have paired them with some of the best conferences in the local markets. Here are some of the most popular conferences in the next section.

Popular conferences in the European IT, Cloud and Connectivity industry

We recommend companies looking to increase brand awareness and leads to prioritize conferences over online advertising. Because at conferences and social networking events, you will have a unique opportunity to organize as many meetings as possible in a few days. You will be able to directly connect with senior executives and IT buyers.

Furthermore, the connections you make at these events can later refer you to the right decision makers. Something that is far more effective than just trying to reach these decision makers via inefficient cold-calling or expensive online advertising on LinkedIn and Google.

During these conferences, there may be unique sponsorship opportunities such as sponsoring a coffee break or cocktail hour. These moments will instantly increase your company’s brand awareness in a positive way in front of all attendees. The best conferences will share delegate lists with all registered attendees, often with contact details or an online match-making tool.

One of the most popular conferences for SaaS, hosting and cloud businesses is CloudFest in Germany. For internet providers, carriers, and telecom businesses we also highly recommend Capacity Europe in London. Both events run for multiple days, have extensive sponsorship and networking opportunities. Most important: They both enjoy an absolute massive audience and fantastic pre-event online matchmaking opportunities.

Grow your business with a marketing strategy specialist

We recommend partnering with a local marketing and content creation specialist like Cloudsuppliers, to help make the most of your European conference and advertising strategy. This will enable you to boost your brand awareness in the local market, while generating a lot more pre-qualified leads via unique valuable interactive content.

Cloudsuppliers has many years of local experience and works with a unique pool of local specialists throughout Europe. True experienced local specialists, who can help you connect to the right local decision makers in IT, SaaS, cloud, and telecom. Cloudsuppliers can help you organize, connect, and sponsor the right events, while making the most out of your budget.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help you.