Is your Event data isolated in a silo or tightly integrated with the rest of the business?
AI runs on data, and your event data is gold. If you’re not integrating event management with your marketing automation, you’re creating a huge blind spot. This means your AI is flying without a full picture, and your marketing efforts are missing out on valuable insights.
I attended the Cvent Accelerate event at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney this week. I went with the objective of gaining a better understanding of their ability to integrate with marketing automation platforms, such as Eloqua, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo, and others.
Cvent did a great job; my check-in process was seamless. I used their app to present a QR code on arrival. My name tag was printed, and that process took no longer than 15 seconds.
Some compelling numbers to remind us to keep our eye on events…
77%
say events are their most effective marketing channel*
89%
say events are critical for business growth.*
67%
of teams use an event-led growth approach.*
Of the multiple presentations I attended, the one I was most interested in was “Transforming Customer Engagement: The Power of Events, MarTech and Data“, presented by Andreas Heckmann, Chief Customer Officer at Cvent.
I took some notes and have tried to summarise his comment below.
Transforming Customer Engagement:
The power of Events, MarTech & Data
In today’s market, customer loyalty is increasingly hard to earn, making customer engagement more critical than ever.
We’re seeing a shift where customers have endless choices and are far more willing to switch brands, with studies showing a significant percentage of drivers planning to buy a different car make next time and a large proportion of consumers regularly trying new products.
Younger generations, like Gen Z and Millennials, are especially open to new brands, often believing they offer better experiences or innovation.
The power of engagement & events
The good news is that engagement is the most effective way for companies to retain customers. Truly engaged customers are significantly more loyal, more likely to repurchase, and even more forgiving of slip-ups.
Events are powerful engagement multipliers that are often overlooked in a company’s overall understanding of its customers. While CRM systems provide data, they often overlook the valuable insights gained from in-person interactions at events.
These “moments of live engagement” reveal true customer intent and provide a level of understanding that other data points simply can’t.
By capturing what attendees do and are interested in during an event, companies can create a more accurate engagement score and a complete picture of their customers.
The Data Challenge & the future of marketing
A significant problem is fragmented data. Many companies face challenges such as missing leads, slow follow-ups, and unclear returns on investment from events because data from various touchpoints isn’t integrated. This leads to partial customer insights and, consequently, partial customer relationships.
Heckmann emphasises that the current marketing technology stack used by most companies has “substantial blind spots.” To address this, event and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) technology must become an integrated part of the overall marketing strategy, rather than a separate, parallel operation.
This integration is vital for building a comprehensive data strategy. Without all customer data in one place, companies can’t truly understand their customers or build a sound AI strategy.
As Heckmann puts it, “Garbage in, hallucinations out” – meaning inaccurate or incomplete data will lead to flawed AI outputs.
Heckmann presented the following as his wrap up or summary points
- Customer engagement is your top priority to maintain loyalty in a market with endless choices.
- Events are crucial drivers of engagement that provide invaluable customer insights.
- Integrate event and MICE technology into your marketing stack to create a complete 360-degree customer view.
- Data fuels your future; consolidating all your customer data is essential for understanding your customers and developing effective AI strategies.
It sounds like a call to action for businesses to reconsider how they collect and utilise customer data, particularly from events.
What are your thoughts on integrating event data into a broader marketing strategy?
Optimise your Event communications with greater personalisation
Event communications are integral in driving registrations & attendance.
They can also elevate the event experience by reminding people where they need to be & pave the way for timely & relevant post-event communications.
Learn more about our QR Code check-in function for marketing automation platforms.
We help companies like yours integrate their Marketing Automation with a wide variety of platforms.
Let’s go back to my original objective, integration with Marketing Automation platforms
Given the extraordinary breadth of the Cvent offering, my focus is perhaps a little niche.
What I’ve discovered, though, is that their integration with marketing automation platforms has improved significantly since the pandemic, and since my last serious discussion with them at Oracle Cloud World in Las Vegas, back in early 2020.
That’s a plus.
The Sydney event wasn’t ideal for the in-depth discussion I had hoped to have, so I’ve been promised a follow-up meeting with the Cvent team to focus more specifically on their integration with marketing automation platforms.
So, I’ll end the blog post here, with the promise that I’ll make some updates after meeting with Cvent.
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Cvent & Marketing Automation integration update coming soon
*SOURCE: Splash’s 2025 Outlook on Events: 88% of Marketers Identify Events as Key Revenue Driver | March 27, 2025.
DISCLAIMER: Marketing Cube or the blog author have no formal or informal agreement with Cvent; the opinions and views expressed above are those of the blog author.
