By Ben Krebs, head of production at EC
Financial services (FS) brands are competing in one of the toughest commercial environments around – especially those in B2B. Product offerings can seem similar. Trust is hard-won. Buying cycles stretch for months, sometimes years. In that climate, another sales email or webinar won’t move the needle.
What can? In-person events.
They offer a rare opportunity for meaningful, face-to-face conversations that move relationships forward, and marketers are catching on. According to Marketing Week, events and experiential are the top area for B2B brand investment, with nearly 60% of marketers increasing spend.
The challenge is making that investment pay off. Today’s FS audiences are time-poor and highly selective, so events must hold attention, stick in memory, and build relationships that convert into business.
Used strategically, technology is making that possible. From personalising agendas to capturing real-time insight, tech is turning well-planned events into genuine growth engines.
So, where should brands start? In my experience, the biggest gains lie in three areas: more engaging content, more personalised experiences, and more insightful measurement.
Making complex content resonate
Audience engagement is a widespread challenge, and FS events have it particularly tough. The subject matter is often complex, technical, and detail-heavy, which can make it harder to digest in a live setting.
If that complexity isn’t communicated clearly – in a way that feels relevant and compelling on a personal level – it’s unlikely to stick. That’s where tech can help.
On-demand replays and AI-generated summaries let delegates revisit content at their own pace. Interactive hubs give hands-on access to reports, datasets and case studies. At a recent three-day conference for policy leaders, we created a space where delegates could explore initiatives or data and email themselves relevant white papers, giving them control and keeping the content front-of-mind long after the event.
Paired with more creative technology, these functional tools can be complemented by moments of surprise and delight – from immersive content formats to holographic leadership appearances – that make the experience memorable without losing sight of the message.
It’s about scaling the peaks – pacing delivery so heavier sessions are broken up by energising moments. That’s how you make information stick and move prospects down the sales funnel.
Giving control to the attendee
One of the most effective ways to make an event memorable is to let people shape their own experience. Behavioural science tells us why: active participation triggers the generation effect – the principle that we remember information better when we’ve played a role in producing it. Coupled with the illusion of control – our tendency to feel more invested when we believe we’re steering the ship – this can significantly boost engagement, recall and follow-through.
This is the essence of participatory design: creating opportunities for attendees to interact with content, make choices and see those choices reflected in their experience.
Technology makes this far easier to achieve at scale. AI-powered platforms can create personalised agendas based on interests or past interactions. Interactive tools let delegates submit questions or take part in polls.
Networking – the number-one driver for B2B attendance, according to Cvent – can also benefit. Smart matchmaking tools use registration data and LinkedIn profiles to recommend contacts, schedule meetings and generate briefing notes.
For one FS client, we proposed smart badges with colour indicators showing sessions attended. In a crowd of 1,000, this simple cue makes relevant conversations far easier to start.
By combining participatory design with technology, events become personalised journeys that feel self-directed, yet are guided towards strategic outcomes – making it more likely attendees act on what they’ve learned.
Proving impact
Every penny of marketing spend is under scrutiny today, and in businesses full of finance experts, that pressure is even greater. When budgets are tight and competition fierce, demonstrating ROI isn’t optional.
Often, event measurement stops at registration and attendance figures. But new technologies allow far deeper insight.
It starts in planning: define what success looks like, decide the metrics that matter, then choose the tech to measure them.
RFID-enabled badges can map delegate journeys. Sentiment analysis can reveal which sessions resonated and which fell flat. Heat-mapping can show which stands or content hubs drew attention and which need improvement.
Some platforms even adapt content delivery in real time based on audience response, turning measurement into a tool for live optimisation as well as post-event analysis. Done well, these insights help make your next event even more impactful.
Strategy first, tech second
Clearly, technology can be transformative – but crucially, only if applied with purpose. The goal isn’t tech for tech’s sake, but to deploy the right tools to serve your objectives.
When tech is in service of strategy, it sharpens content, strengthens connections and delivers measurable outcomes. Get that balance right, and events stop being a cost centre or another date in the diary. They become true growth engines, driving relationships, revenue and results long after the event ends.