Many of the 350 professionals we surveyed in support of our ongoing Event Participation Index are hopeful that they can travel and attend conferences, trade shows or more in the second half of 2021. But in-person events seem to be out of the question for the remainder of 2020. Two out of 10 marketers would countenance an in-person event this year, a new low since we started keeping the record.

The interest in traveling during the second half of 2021 might reflect optimism about the availability and efficacy of a vaccine. Absent a vaccine, nearly 68% of those we surveyed said they will only attend virtual events through the first half of 2021.

The upheavals tied to COVID-19 have caused considerable financial strain for event organizers, especially larger trade shows, but many companies have been successful in converting their events to online, or “virtual” experiences. 67% of marketers we surveyed said they would pay to attend virtual events. Though the vast majority of those said they would pay between $99 and $499 and only a very small number said they would pay more than $499.

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MarTech Today’s “B2B Marketing Automation Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide” examines the market for B2B marketing automation software platforms. This report includes profiles of 13 leading B2B marketing automation vendors, capabilities comparisons, pricing information, and recommended steps for evaluating and purchasing.

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Oracle yesterday announced enhancements to Oracle Unity, the CDP which manages data across its marketing, sales and service offerings. This marks the latest advance in the CDP race among the major players in the CX space, with Adobe’s Real-Time CDP in place, and Salesforce’s announcement last week that Customer 360 Audiences will be generally available in October.

The major enhancements reflect an emphasis on privacy and security through integrations with Sourcepoint, a consent management platform, and OneTrust, a leading security and privacy platform, and a move to support B2B marketers through a deep integration with Oracle Eloqua.

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Enterprise data streaming company Narrative has integrated with Stirista to assist marketers connect with B2B customers. Narrative accelerates the acquisition and monetization of data, Stirista has a database of over 30 million professional personas and over 22 million individual business locations. 

Stirista’s data information includes company size, financials, departments and divisions as well as SIC codes. Stirista’s data will make it possible to match business and personal identities within Narrative without compromising consumer privacy.

Why we care.  Today’s B2B marketing is increasingly data-driven, and based around being able to reach the right prospects with relevant information in a timely manner.

Join us next Tuesday through Thursday for 80+ tactic-rich sessions, empowering keynotes, virtual networking, and more… all free.

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“There are only two roles in the organization – you’re either serving the customer, or you’re serving someone else who does. Period.” Jon Picoult, Watermark Consulting.