B2B event planners are shifting to smaller, more focused events as budget pressures and ROI accountability override large-scale ambitions. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/netrun78
Constrained budgets, a low uptake of AI and a decreasing focus on sustainability are just some of the challenges facing B2B event planners.
These findings were revealed in Forrester’s Q1 2025 State Of B2B Events Survey, which featured responses from planners in North America (57%), EMEA (25%) and Asia Pacific (18%), drawn from small, medium-to-large and very large organisations. Of those surveyed, 24% are SVPs, 21% event leaders, 18% event managers and 18% are at CMO level. Key findings include the following:
Budgets remain under pressure
While spend on B2B events remains high, budgets and resources are under strain as teams struggle to demonstrate value and justify increased investment.
The research showed that for the second consecutive year, budgets are flat or down for two-thirds of event teams. Even among the 19% of organisations that have seen budgets increase, inflation means that budgets are flat or have decreased in real terms.
Smaller events are in the frame
Budget constraints could be having a knock-on effect on the size of B2B meetings, with 59% of those surveyed saying they plan to host smaller events over the next 12 months, while the number of companies saying they are planning larger events fell 12% year-on-year.
Planners need to focus on events’ longer-term objectives
More than 90% of those surveyed are focused on events’ core objectives, such as getting the right audience to their events, demonstrating ROI and improving post-event follow-up.
This focus on fundamentals means that longer-term considerations such as inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability are not a priority - these elements have declined in importance year on year and rank lowest on the priority list.
More integration is needed with both teams and technology
Respondents across many organisations indicated that B2B events are planned and run by disparate teams, resulting in poor attendee experience and engagement.
Forrester data shows however that when a centralised team runs the majority of the events, overall event satisfaction levels rise significantly. Integration is also lacking with technology – more than a quarter (28%) of the largest organisations surveyed said they had deployed six or more event technology platforms while just one in five has fully integrated their primary platform into their broader sales and marketing tech stack.
Forrester data suggests that when organisations do integrate tech, overall event satisfaction increases significantly.
Uptake of AI beyond content creation is still at an early stage
More than a third of those surveyed (39%) say they use artificial intelligence for content creation and it’s still early days when it comes to harnessing AI’s potential to enhance productivity, attendee personalisation and data. A growing number say they plan to use AI more over the next year.