Nailing Industry Events: Getting Out of the Damn Office

Are you spending more time studying your buyers than actually talking to them? Industry events can be one of your most valuable B2B marketing investments—if you go in with a strategy beyond collecting badge scans.

In Episode 11 of Go To Market Coffee Talks, Mark Jacobs and Rob Kriner explore how conferences, trade shows, and smaller gatherings can help you build pipeline, test your messaging, develop partnerships, and hear what customers actually care about.

We get into:

• Measuring event ROI beyond booth traffic and immediate sales.

• Using face-to-face conversations to sharpen positioning and uncover competitive insights.

• Choosing when to attend, sponsor, exhibit, or speak.

• Creating your own customer dinners, roundtables, and small events.

• Connecting AI, intent data, and marketing automation with real-world relationship building.

For founders, marketing leaders, and sales teams, this episode challenges a familiar habit: investing in tools to scale your go-to-market strategy before you’ve tested whether your message resonates.

Before you buy another prospecting tool or book another booth, get clear on what you need to learn—and who you need to meet.