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31 Jul 2026

Event marketing leadership, advocacy and AI in PPC for B2B conference and exhibition organisers (Event Marketing Digest - July 2026)

Helen Coetzee

Here is your July Digest from Marketing Pro Group (MPG)'s team of event marketing specialists.

This is a unique resource by event marketers, for event marketers - fully focused on what it takes to deliver effective, efficient, strategically-driven, tech/AI-enabled and data-led promotions to attract your ideal audiences, sponsors and exhibitors to your conferences and tradeshows.

In this edition you will find:

#1 Handy summaries of Team MPG's most recent blogs, covering why private equity investment in events changes the game for those running event marketing functions; opportunities event organisers have to turn advocacy into a growth engine that is highly automated, scalable and measurable; the latest AI features in Google Ads specifically relevant to event marketing; and a practical checklist for event marketers to boost the ROI from their PPC/Paid Media spend.

#2 MPG's most in-demand services - a good benchmark for where your peers are spending their marketing budgets. Demand continues to grow for the specialised work needed to reduce debt that has piled up in strategy, tech, data, and analytics. Event organisers now recognise they urgently need to invest in these areas to ensure their AI applications have a positive impact.

#3 MPG's Diary - listing the industry events we will be attending, as well as the free training and networking sessions we will be hosting in the coming months for our most valued supporters.

 

OUR MOST RECENT BLOGS

New money coming into events is shining a spotlight on event marketing leadership ARTICLE

Private equity investment in the events industry is raising the bar for those in charge of event marketing functions. Event marketing leaders are now expected to go beyond activity reporting and demonstrate direct impact on revenue, retention, and business value - including defending top-of-funnel budgets against boards that default to last-touch attribution. A major blocker is the lack of investment in proper analytics tools, forcing marketers into manual, error-prone reporting when that time could be driving revenue instead. Event marketing leaders need to become more "commercially confident" - delivering clear, data-led intelligence, flagging risks early, and building compelling business cases that give investors the predictability and visibility they expect. Read in full

Advocacy: a powerful & measurable growth engine for events (when it's done well) ARTICLE

Advocacy is engineered, systemised word-of-mouth - turning attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors into brand ambassadors who share trusted, peer-level endorsements with audiences that event marketers can't easily reach through owned or paid channels. It's one of the most cost-effective and underused channels in event marketing, especially as email performance continues to decline. Advocacy can now be automated, scaled, and measured with relatively little effort. We recommend treating it as an essential - not a nice-to-have - from early on in every campaign. Read in full

AI in PPC: demystifying Google's latest changes ARTICLE

Google is rapidly reshaping search through AI Mode and AI Overviews, creating new ad placements that event marketers can access - but only if campaigns are set up correctly, with human expertise guiding the AI rather than letting it run unchecked. Google's new AI ad features need certain treatment for event marketing: Performance Max is a must; AI Max is worth testing cautiously; AI-generated video should be avoided. Coming soon are Conversational Discovery Ads and journey-aware bidding. But beware: without full conversion tracking and a knowledgeable human in the loop, Google's AI will happily spend your budget reaching the wrong people - a particular risk for B2B event campaigns where timelines are tight and budgets can too easily be burnt too early. Read in full

Are you running your PPC campaigns in the best way? A checklist for event marketers ARTICLE

A practical checklist for event marketers to assess whether their PPC campaigns are being run effectively. It covers five key areas: pre-launch planning; understanding B2B event-specific nuances; ongoing human optimisation (not just automated monitoring); insight-driven reporting; and using AI as a tool to scale judgement rather than replace it. That is why B2B event PPC requires a highly specialised digital skill-set. Fixed dates, non-negotiable registration targets, AI-optimisation and niche audiences mean ongoing attention is needed and standard ecommerce playbooks won't do. Read in full

 

PREVIOUS MPG DIGESTS

In case you missed them and want to catch up, here are MPG's digests from the last 6 months:

JUNE 2026
Measurement & attribution, and RevOps & martech mistakes event organisers should avoid

MAY 2026
Revenue growth strategies for B2B events, including how AI and PPC are cornerstones for growth.

APRIL 2026
Audits you may need on key areas of your B2B event marketing, including email deliverability issues & solutions

MARCH 2026
The six foundations of effective conference and exhibition marketing

FEBRUARY 2026
The biggest commercial opportunity in event marketing

JANUARY 2026
Top event marketing strategies for 2026: brand, AI and paid media

 

MPG'S MOST IN-DEMAND SERVICES

Marketing Pro Group (MPG) is a team of hands-on conference and exhibition marketing specialists delivering data-driven marketing that grows events and revenue for events all over the world.

(1) PPC/Paid Media to drive event registrations and commercial results

MPG delivers digital marketing strategies and fully optimised, multi-platform, full-funnel digital campaigns by steering AI-driven algorithms in the best way. This reduces your reliance on email marketing, ensuring you can systematically and effectively reach your target audience in a highly measurable and scalable way. Request a quote

(2) HubSpot implementation and optimisation for AI-enabled marketing and sales

Getting the most out of a strong HubSpot implementation or HubSpot setup already in place can be game-changing - especially when deploying automation and AI. As an established HubSpot partner, MPG supports event organisers in getting the most out of this powerful tool. Request a quote

(3) Conversion tracking and attribution reporting (GA4/GTM) to enable marketing reporting

Event marketers and their stakeholders need complete and accurate data to measure marketing's impact and to predict likely final results. Without visibility of key marketing metrics and likely outcomes, event organisers are flying blind. That is why MPG's analytics specialists provide advice and hands-on support for all our clients in this critically important area of event marketing. Request a quote

(4) Commercial marketing strategies, operations and campaigns to drive predictable growth in revenue from new sponsors and exhibitors

For systematic and scalable new client acquisition and also supporting client retention and growth, MPG delivers the strategic and operational sponsorship and exhibition marketing playbooks, assets, infrastructure, processes and campaigns. Request a quote

(5) Delegate acquisition and visprom for market-leading events

Well co-ordinated, true multi-channel and fully optimised marketing is needed to deliver the profile and number of attendees a conference or exhibition needs to be a market leader. MPG's strategic input and hands-on work delivering our tried and tested event marketing methodologies incorporates the tools you need for efficient, scalable and impactful marcomms. Our approach and unique marketing performance dashboards ensure your campaigns are always data-driven, AI-enabled and focused on your growth goals. Request a quote

 

MPG DIARY

Upcoming MPG hosted gatherings for our most valued supporters and event marketing community members:

  • The New Event Marketer's Playbook for PPC/Paid Media - Big Changes On the Way from Google - 31 July 2026
  • Strategic Playbook for Event Marketing Measurement & Reporting - 10 September 2026

MPG-hosted events are designed to support the learning and development for event marketers at every level. Get in touch to request a seat at one or more of our events.

Past MPG-hosted events - materials are available upon request:

  • MPG Event Marketing Leaders Roundtable: In an AI-driven world, as email performance declines, what is the new winning approach to event marketing?
  • MPG Expert Briefing - The new event marketer's playbook for PPC/Paid Media: big changes on the way from Google
  • Event marketing in 2026 and beyond: what are our strategic and tactical priorities?
  • Getting spex marketing right to boost revenue - what is the best approach for my business?
  • AI in PPC for B2B Events
  • Winning visibility in an AI-driven search world: what every B2B event marketer should know about AI optimisation, data and search
  • Effective PPC for B2B events: getting the right creative into your ads
  • Sponsor marketing: what does a sponsor marketing campaign look like? How does this differ from and intersect with delegate marketing?

Some of the events we'll be attending in the coming months:

And that's a wrap for July.

If you'd like to talk about how you can get more out of your investment in event marketing, you're welcome to drop me a DM via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helencoetzeempg/

Kind regards,

Helen Coetzee
Director, Strategic Advisor, Co-Founder - Marketing Pro Group (MPG)

E: helen@mpg.biz
W: www.mpg.biz

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