Optimising Virtual Events for Tech Lead Generation
- Henry McIntosh
- 5 days ago
- 14 min read
Virtual events are now a top method for generating leads in the tech industry. They save costs, expand audience reach, and provide data-driven insights to improve lead quality. By using virtual platforms, tech companies can connect with global decision-makers, track engagement in real-time, and repurpose event content for long-term benefits.
Key takeaways:
Cost savings: Virtual events cut expenses by over 50% compared to in-person events.
Wider reach: 68% of B2B marketers report connecting with new audiences through virtual formats.
Lead quality: Real-time attendee data enables better lead scoring and personalised follow-ups.
Content reuse: Recorded sessions can generate leads long after the event ends.
Proven success: Over 70% of tech marketers rank virtual events as a top lead generation channel.
This guide outlines how to plan, engage, and follow up effectively to maximise ROI from virtual events.
8 Tips to Perfect your Virtual Event Marketing Plan | Online events
Planning Virtual Events for B2B Tech Audiences
Pulling off a successful virtual event doesn't just happen - it takes careful planning, especially when your audience consists of seasoned B2B tech leaders. These professionals have seen every marketing tactic under the sun, and they're not easily swayed by traditional sales pitches. Instead, they’re looking for events that provide genuine value, offering exclusive insights rather than overt sales messages.
To meet these expectations, your event planning should rest on three key pillars: setting clear goals, deeply understanding your audience, and selecting the right content and formats.
Setting Clear Goals
Before diving into the logistics, it’s crucial to establish specific, measurable objectives tied to meaningful business outcomes. Vague goals like "brand awareness" won’t cut it. Instead, focus on metrics that directly impact your bottom line. For example:
Lead volume: How many qualified prospects can you attract?
Engagement quality: Are attendees actively participating in polls, Q&A sessions, or breakout discussions?
Pipeline contribution: What’s the actual business value generated from your event attendees?
You could also aim for a conversion goal, such as turning 30% of registrants into sales-qualified leads, tracked through your CRM system [1][2].
To measure success, use event analytics platforms to track registration trends, live engagement, and post-event conversion rates. This data not only helps gauge the current event’s performance but also provides insights to refine future events.
Understanding Your Target Audience
"Your prospects are smart, busy senior leaders. They've seen every marketing trick in the book. You feel they are unmarketable and completely resistant to sales engagement. Nothing you have tried has worked, leaving you sceptical about all forms of marketing." – Twenty One Twelve [9]
This quote perfectly captures the mindset of your audience. To engage them effectively, you need a deeper understanding of their priorities and pain points. Pre-event surveys and registration forms can go beyond basic demographics to uncover their challenges, technology interests, and desired outcomes [2][3].
Your CRM is another goldmine of information. Analyse past interactions to identify content that resonated with similar prospects. Sales teams can also provide valuable insights into common concerns and interests they’ve encountered in conversations.
For high-value prospects, account-based marketing strategies can help you tailor personalised event experiences. This approach increases the likelihood of meaningful engagement and conversion [2][3].
Don’t forget to review behavioural data from your website and past events. Metrics like page visits, content engagement times, and download patterns reveal not just who your audience is but how they prefer to consume information. These insights will guide your choice of topics and formats.
Choosing the Right Topics and Event Formats
Content is king when it comes to virtual events, especially for tech audiences who value substance over style. These attendees can easily spot shallow content, so focus on addressing real industry challenges, emerging technologies, or regulatory shifts that directly affect their roles [2][3].
"Rather than pestering prospects with sales messages, we focus on providing them with value they cannot ignore on a consistent basis." – Twenty One Twelve [9]
Position your company as a trusted advisor by offering thought leadership content. For instance, a virtual roundtable on the challenges of AI adoption in financial services could attract senior IT leaders seeking actionable insights and peer discussions [2]. This strategy not only builds credibility but also naturally integrates your solutions into the conversation.
The format of your event matters just as much as the content. Here’s a quick breakdown of popular options:
Webinars: Ideal for deep dives into technical topics or detailed product demos. While these are great for delivering information, they may lack networking opportunities [3].
Virtual roundtables: These smaller, discussion-driven sessions encourage peer-to-peer learning and often result in higher-quality leads due to the intimate and interactive nature of the format [3].
Virtual conferences: Perfect for broad reach, offering multiple tracks, networking lounges, and exhibition spaces. However, they require significant resources and can sometimes dilute individual attendee focus [3][5].
When planning content tracks, consider the varied expertise levels of your audience. Senior decision-makers often prefer strategic discussions and high-level business cases, while technical teams may look for detailed implementation guidance or hands-on demonstrations. Offering multiple tracks ensures you’re delivering value to all stakeholders within your target accounts [1][2].
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of credible speakers. Industry experts and thought leaders not only attract the right audience but also enhance your event’s authority. Their involvement can significantly boost registration and engagement among senior tech decision-makers [1][2].
Engagement Methods for Better Lead Quality
Engaging tech professionals effectively means using strategies that not only grab attention but also provide meaningful insights into your prospects' needs and interests.
Interactive Event Features
Live Q&A sessions are an excellent way to spark engagement while gauging lead quality. These sessions give attendees the chance to ask targeted questions, revealing their specific challenges and buying intentions[2]. To get the most out of these sessions, schedule them strategically - right after major presentations works well - and have moderators ready to encourage participation and keep the conversation flowing if activity slows down[2].
Polls are another great tool for understanding your audience. They can highlight attendees' interests and challenges, providing data that can be used for lead scoring[1]. For instance, a cybersecurity company noticed higher engagement and conversion rates among participants who actively took part in polls during their expert panels[1]. To maximise their impact, time your polls to coincide with peak attendance moments and share results live to maintain energy and interaction.
Chat functions offer a space for networking, immediate feedback, and peer-to-peer interaction - crucial for building trust with a tech-savvy audience[1]. Monitoring chat activity can also help identify high-value leads, as those who participate actively often represent stronger prospects.
Adding gamification elements like quizzes, challenges, or leaderboards can further boost interaction while collecting behavioural data useful for lead qualification[7]. Just ensure these features align with the professional tone and expectations of your audience.
Once you've captured attention with these interactive methods, personalising the content further enhances the experience.
Personalising Content for Your Audience
Tech professionals expect content that speaks directly to their unique needs. By using data gathered during registration and real-time engagement metrics, you can tailor the event experience as it happens[1]. For example, analysing session attendance patterns, poll results, and chat discussions can uncover key interests and challenges, allowing you to recommend relevant breakout sessions or adjust the event's focus on the fly.
Pre-event quizzes are a great way to segment and pre-qualify leads. They enable you to organise tailored tracks for different audience groups[6]. Additionally, collecting real-time data during the event allows you to make quick adjustments. If engagement in a session dips or polls uncover unexpected interests, you can extend popular sessions or even introduce impromptu breakout discussions. This kind of responsiveness shows attendees that their input matters and that you're willing to adapt to meet their needs.
By combining personalisation with interactive features, you can create an event that resonates deeply with attendees. Partnering with industry experts strengthens this connection even further.
Working with Industry Experts and Influencers
Bringing in respected industry experts and influencers as speakers can elevate your event into a must-attend learning experience. Their involvement adds credibility and builds trust - especially important for tech professionals who are often wary of overt marketing. Plus, experts often promote events to their own networks, broadening your reach and attracting a more engaged and qualified audience.
When industry leaders share insights into current challenges and solutions, your event becomes more about education than sales, which appeals to tech professionals. For example, a cybersecurity expert discussing zero-trust architecture will draw in IT security professionals, while a fintech influencer addressing regulatory compliance could attract decision-makers from financial services.
These partnerships can extend beyond the event itself. Collaborative content creation, joint research, and ongoing thought leadership initiatives can help you maintain a connection with your audience. Over time, this approach turns previously unaware prospects into well-informed, sales-qualified leads. It’s a win-win: experts gain exposure, attendees get valuable insights, and your brand becomes associated with forward-thinking solutions.
Lead Management: From Registration to Follow-Up
Once you've successfully engaged your audience, the next step is ensuring your virtual event delivers long-term value. This is where lead management comes into play, transforming your event into a steady pipeline for generating leads. Let's explore how to refine this process.
Crafting Effective Registration Forms
The registration form is often the first interaction a lead has with your event, so simplicity is key. Stick to the essentials: name, email address, company, and job title. Too many fields can discourage sign-ups, with completion rates dropping as forms become more cumbersome [2]. For tech-savvy audiences, progressive profiling is a smart approach. Start with basic details during registration and gather more insights later through polls or surveys. This way, you respect attendees' time while gradually building a fuller profile [2].
For UK audiences, GDPR compliance is non-negotiable. Your form should include explicit consent checkboxes for data collection and marketing communications, a clear link to your privacy policy, and only collect information necessary for the event. Use familiar formats like dd/mm/yyyy for dates and pounds sterling for currency. To ensure accessibility, make your forms mobile-friendly, and use dropdown menus and checkboxes to minimise typing, keeping the process smooth and efficient.
Scoring and Segmenting Leads
One of the advantages of virtual events is the wealth of behavioural data they generate - data that can be used to create a structured lead scoring system [3].
Here's an example scoring model for B2B tech events:
Leads scoring 25 points or more should be prioritised for immediate follow-up, while those scoring between 10 and 24 points can enter a nurturing campaign. Further refine these leads by segmenting them based on job role, company size, or specific interests. For instance, a cybersecurity expert attending a session on zero-trust architecture will have different priorities compared to a fintech developer exploring API security.
Take Sophos as an example. In February 2024, the cybersecurity firm implemented this approach during their virtual event. By scoring leads based on their participation in gamified quizzes and live polls, and then segmenting them by engagement levels and interest areas, they saw a 32% boost in demo requests compared to earlier campaigns that lacked segmentation [7].
Following Up After the Event
Timing is crucial for post-event follow-ups. Reach out to leads within 24–48 hours to maintain the momentum [4]. However, resist the urge to jump straight into a sales pitch.
"Rather than pestering prospects with sales messages, we focus on providing them with value they cannot ignore on a consistent basis." – Twenty One Twelve
Tailor your follow-ups to each lead's engagement level. Reference the sessions they attended or the resources they downloaded to address their specific challenges. For high-scoring leads, a direct invitation to book a consultation works well. Others may benefit more from a series of educational emails featuring case studies or whitepapers [3] [4].
Integrating your CRM with event data can simplify this process. Registration and engagement data can sync automatically, enabling real-time lead scoring and personalised follow-up sequences without manual effort. This gives your sales team actionable insights, allowing for more targeted and effective conversations.
Additionally, your event content doesn’t have to stop working for you once the event ends. Repurpose session recordings, presentation slides, and other materials as gated resources. These can continue to attract leads long after the event and serve as valuable touchpoints in ongoing nurturing campaigns [1] [7]. Track metrics like email open rates, click-through rates, and meeting bookings to evaluate your follow-up strategy. These insights can help you improve future campaigns and identify the content that resonates most with your audience.
For businesses navigating the complexities of B2B tech markets, Twenty One Twelve Marketing offers tailored solutions. Their expertise in GDPR-compliant registration processes and advanced lead scoring systems has helped companies turn event attendees into qualified leads, driving measurable growth through precise and strategic follow-up campaigns.
Measuring Results and Improving ROI
Evaluating the success of your virtual event is crucial to understanding whether your investment has paid off and identifying areas for improvement in future events.
Key Metrics to Track
One of the most telling indicators of your event's performance is cost per lead. You can calculate this by dividing the total event expenditure - covering platform fees, speaker costs, marketing, and staff hours - by the number of leads generated. For example, if you spent £15,000 on your event and acquired 300 leads, your cost per lead would be £50. This metric provides a clear way to compare virtual events to other lead generation methods.
Engagement rates offer a window into how well your content connected with attendees. Metrics to monitor include live attendance, average session duration, poll participation, and chat activity. Strong engagement often translates to higher-quality leads. For instance, a 48% engagement rate signals that your audience found value in your content, which can boost conversion potential.
Conversion rates track the percentage of attendees who become qualified leads or progress further in your sales funnel. For B2B tech events, the average conversion rate from attendee to qualified lead ranges between 20–30% [7]. Falling below this range may suggest a need to revisit your content strategy or follow-up process.
Other metrics, like attendee retention, resource download rates, and responses to post-event communications, can help gauge ongoing interest in your brand.
Here’s an example: Salesforce hosted a virtual conference in June 2023 for EMEA tech leaders, drawing over 5,000 registrants. Through tools like Q&A, live polls, and post-event surveys, they achieved a 48% engagement rate and converted 27% of attendees into qualified leads. They also repurposed event content into gated resources, generating an additional 1,200 leads over the next three months [7].
These metrics are invaluable in shaping your strategy for future events, allowing you to refine your approach based on direct feedback.
Using Feedback to Improve Future Events
Post-event surveys are an excellent way to gather attendee feedback and pinpoint areas for improvement. Sending surveys within 24–48 hours ensures the event is still fresh in participants' minds. Questions should focus on content quality, speaker performance, technical issues, and overall satisfaction. During the event, live polls can capture real-time sentiment, allowing you to make on-the-spot adjustments, such as extending Q&A sessions or shifting discussion topics.
For deeper insights, consider conducting follow-up interviews with a select group of high-value attendees. These conversations can uncover specific pain points, such as a complicated registration process or a need for more in-depth technical discussions.
One UK-based IT firm used detailed attendee analytics and post-event surveys to identify topics of high interest. This led to a 30% increase in qualified leads and a £15 reduction in cost per lead compared to previous events [2]. Additionally, they implemented segmented follow-up campaigns, which boosted conversion rates.
Real-time analytics during the event can also help you adapt on the fly. For example, if attendance starts to drop during a session, adding an impromptu breakout room or extending interactive segments like Q&A could re-engage your audience.
Comparing Different Event Formats
Selecting the right event format is just as important as tracking metrics. Each format offers unique benefits and challenges, so your choice should align with your goals and audience preferences.
Webinars are perfect for targeted, educational content. They typically cost up to 75% less than in-person events while increasing audience reach by 30–40% [7]. These are ideal for product demos or thought leadership but may lack the deeper engagement of larger formats.
Virtual conferences, on the other hand, are ideal for showcasing expertise across multiple topics or audience segments. While they require more planning and resources, they often deliver higher engagement rates. Top-performing virtual conferences can achieve engagement rates of up to 60%, compared to the 40–50% average [8].
To maximise ROI, let your event data guide your format choice. If webinars consistently yield strong engagement and conversions, scaling up to a virtual conference could amplify your results. Conversely, if your audience prefers focused, single-topic sessions, sticking with webinars might be more effective.
For businesses seeking expert guidance, Twenty One Twelve Marketing specialises in precision marketing and data-driven strategies. They help tech companies select the best event formats and optimise ROI through strategic planning and targeted follow-up campaigns. Their expertise has consistently delivered measurable growth for clients navigating the virtual event landscape.
Conclusion: Your Next Steps for Tech Lead Generation
Virtual events have become a cornerstone for B2B tech lead generation, offering a platform to connect with prospects effectively [7]. Achieving success in this space demands thoughtful planning, engaging execution, and a commitment to ongoing improvement.
A well-structured plan is the foundation of any successful event, ensuring alignment with business objectives and maximising ROI. But strategy alone isn’t enough - engagement is the real game-changer. Features like live polls, Q&A sessions, and personalised content can transform passive viewers into highly qualified leads [1].
Equally important is what happens after the event. Timely and tailored follow-ups, combined with repurposed event content, can increase conversion rates by as much as 25% [1]. By analysing data and refining follow-up tactics, you can keep improving your lead generation efforts.
The key to sustained success lies in leveraging data. Tracking attendee behaviour, engagement metrics, and feedback lets you fine-tune future events. For example, a UK-based company saw a 30% rise in qualified leads by using segmented registration forms and custom breakout sessions [3].
For tech businesses navigating complex B2B markets, partnering with experts like Twenty One Twelve Marketing can help deliver measurable pipeline growth through tailored event strategies and precise follow-ups.
While the tools and trends in virtual events may evolve, the core principles remain unchanged: plan with intent, engage meaningfully, and refine continuously. By doing so, you can turn your virtual events into powerful engines for lead generation and commercial success in the tech industry.
FAQs
How can virtual events engage senior B2B tech leaders who are wary of traditional marketing approaches?
When connecting with senior B2B tech leaders, it's essential to offer practical insights that address their unique challenges. Skip the aggressive sales approach and instead present your event as a hub for strategic conversations and industry expertise.
Craft personalised invitations and tailor content to their interests to grab their attention. Adding interactive components, like Q&A sessions or intimate group discussions, can help create deeper connections. By valuing their time and delivering relevant, high-calibre content, you can establish trust and foster authentic engagement.
How can I tailor content during a virtual event to engage different tech audiences effectively?
To connect with a variety of tech audiences during a virtual event, prioritise personalisation and content that feels relevant to their interests. Start by segmenting your audience - consider factors like their industry, job roles, or the specific challenges they face. Then, craft content that speaks directly to each group's unique needs. Incorporating interactive elements like Q&A sessions, live polls, or breakout rooms can also help keep attendees engaged and make them feel heard.
On top of this, make use of data-driven insights to fine-tune your approach. By examining attendee behaviour and preferences, you can shape your content to better align with their expectations. This not only encourages genuine engagement but also boosts your chances of turning those interactions into valuable leads.
What’s the best way for tech companies to measure the success of their virtual events and achieve a strong ROI?
Tech companies can gauge the success of their virtual events by focusing on several key metrics. One of the most telling indicators is attendee engagement, which includes factors like participation levels and how many people attend individual sessions. Another critical measure is the quality and quantity of leads generated during the event. After all, leads are only as valuable as their potential to convert into paying customers.
Speaking of conversions, conversion rates - the percentage of leads that become actual customers - are a direct reflection of how effective the event was in driving business outcomes.
To maximise return on investment, companies should also assess the event's impact on pipeline growth and overall sales performance. By examining these metrics, businesses can not only pinpoint what worked well but also uncover areas for improvement, paving the way for even stronger results in future events.
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