The Real ROI of Conferences: Why Strategic Planning Defines Success

Kristine Kostamblocka is the founder of B2B Marketing Digest, a monthly newsletter and consulting platform dedicated to helping B2B and professional services firms navigate complex marketing decisions with clarity and confidence. Previously, she has worked as a marketing coordinator for Colliers real estate company and Ellex Legal firm.

At Colliers, you started one of the biggest real estate conferences in the Baltics, the Baltic Real Estate Leader Forum. How and why did it start?

The Colliers conference was actually where it all began for me,  the start of my international corporate career and my first major marketing challenge. I joined the company in summer, and just a few months later, I was responsible for organizing the very first Baltic Real Estate Investment Forum. It started modestly, with around 100 participants, but over time it grew into one of the most anticipated industry events in the Baltics.

That experience showed me how powerful events can be as a marketing instrument. In many firms, a well-planned conference becomes the event of the year, the central moment around which visibility, client engagement, and content revolve. Communication begins months before and continues long after, creating an ongoing dialogue with clients and partners.

A conference helps build trust and thought leadership. It demonstrates that you are a real expert in your field. When a client must decide who to work with, you reduce uncertainty. They remember being welcomed, receiving valuable insights, and feeling included — which makes them more likely to choose you.

A well-executed conference also creates ripples. Communication starts long before the event and continues afterward. It becomes the central marketing activity for the entire year. Although the event takes place in autumn, the work begins in January or February — planning, engaging clients and prospects, securing speakers, and building connections. Many of those connections later turn into clients because relationships are already established. 

The process of planning is as valuable as the final product.

What about the short-term financial ROI of such a conference? Imagine a crisis and a budget meeting where profits are down. It seems like an easy decision to cut the conference because the ROI is not clear. 

The return on investment cannot be measured over one or two days. You may not close a deal tomorrow, but the long-term impact is significant. Clients and prospects become your advocates. When you build relationships and establish trust, you gain loyal customers. If you design the conference wisely, especially with the right partners, you can build strong and impactful brand awareness.. While today’s economic situation is different from years past, a smart model allows organizations to balance resources and outcomes effectively. 

From a business perspective, a conference should be treated as an opportunity to create measurable and reputable impact. Behind every successful event lies serious work,  from negotiating countless details to ensuring the right partners and stakeholders are involved. That’s why having a skilled internal marketing professional is essential, someone who understands the organization, manages resources wisely, and builds value beyond a standard event package.

One should also calculate how much to spend per attendee and what potential that investment creates. The conference gives your salespeople a platform to meet and network. It’s the battlefield where client engagement happens. In many cases, the cost per person is similar to — or even lower than — taking a client out for dinner.

You mentioned partnerships. Give some examples.

It’s wise to explore partnerships from several dimensions, both content-driven and commercial. The most successful conference concepts are those that prioritize relevance and meaningful content while finding smart, balanced ways to integrate paid partnerships. When done thoughtfully, these collaborations enhance the experience for all sides,  bringing added value to the audience, visibility to partners, and credibility to the event itself.

Mature companies understand that overt selling from the stage backfires. Audiences today are educated and immediately see through a sales pitch. don’t believe in selling the stage. Speakers should be chosen for relevance and substance. The stage is valuable. It should deliver genuine value to the audience, not serve as a self-promotion window.

What about sales during the event? How do you brief your salespeople? How aggressive should they be?

It depends on the company, but sales  and salespeople  have evolved. The very meaning of sales has shifted. Today’s audiences are far more sophisticated. If someone connects on LinkedIn and immediately starts selling, it’s no longer considered proactive — it’s ineffective.

Modern sales is about helping, listening, and building genuine connections. At a conference, your goal isn’t to sell,  it’s to build trust. Take time to research your audience, capture sentiment, and understand context. A skilled salesperson doesn’t begin with, ‘Here’s what I offer,’ but with, ‘Tell me what you’re trying to solve.’ Only then can they shape a proposal that truly resonates.

Every event should have clear objectives. Don’t just buy tickets and enjoy the experience, define what success looks like. For example, set a goal to create two or three high-quality connections. After the event, document insights properly, not in your head or on scraps of paper, but in your CRM. That’s valuable company data.

Encourage your salespeople to capture consistent details, next year’s budget, current priorities, and key challenges. Feeding this information into your CRM gives you a 360° view of client needs and enables smarter, more relevant follow-up. In the end, data-informed empathy is what transforms casual encounters into meaningful business relationships.

You recently worked at Ellex law firm. From a branding point of view, all top law firms look very similar. It’s hard to distinguish Ellex from Cobalt or Sorainen, for example.

That’s true. In many professional service industries, brands often end up looking and sounding similar. To stand out, you need to take a bolder, more authentic path. It’s not about ignoring competitors, but about understanding your own essence instead of chasing others. In doing so, you shift from being a follower to becoming a reference point.

In relationship-driven industries like law, authenticity and trust are everything. Clients choose based on confidence, not slogans. That’s why consistency matters,  in tone, in values, in how you show up over time. Don’t change your message every season; build a long-term association with what truly defines your firm.

Authenticity isn’t about being loud,  it’s about being clear, credible, and steady in who you are.

Should the focus be on building the corporate brand or the consultants’ personal brands?

In consultancy, clients no longer buy from a logo,  they buy from trust. Increasingly, that trust is built through people, not just institutions. Today’s clients expect to engage with real voices, experts, not abstractions. More leaders are recognizing that their credibility, thought leadership, and ability to connect authentically can amplify the corporate brand far more effectively than traditional campaigns.

When a managing partner or practice leader becomes a visible, trusted voice in their field, it elevates the entire firm. Their insights humanize expertise, making the brand more approachable and relevant. Marketing’s role today is to nurture and scale that, helping leaders translate knowledge into meaningful visibility, creating synergy between personal and corporate reputation.

How easy is it to convince a super busy lawyer to invest time in personal branding and LinkedIn? It takes time, and it’s not billable.

It’s definitely a challenge. But one thing is clear- the most visible professionals are the ones who consciously choose to show up. Visibility doesn’t happen by chance; it’s a strategic decision. Of course, not everyone feels comfortable doing it and that’s perfectly fine. Personal branding has many forms, and it should always reflect one’s individual style and confidence level.

What matters is understanding why you’re doing it. The experts who grasp the value of visibility, who see it as a way to build trust, share insight, and shape their reputation are naturally more proactive. Marketing’s role isn’t to push or impose, but to guide, support, and make the process authentic and effortless for each professional.

Preparing articles can take days, and again, it’s not billable. Many marketers say experts promise but then miss deadlines because they’re too busy — it becomes babysitting. That must be frustrating.

It can definitely be challenging. The difference often lies in company culture and habits. In some organizations, content creation is simply part of the rhythm, it’s embedded in how people work and communicate. In others, it requires more encouragement. What truly makes a difference is mutual respect and understanding between experts and marketing, recognizing that both sides bring value to the process. When that mindset exists, collaboration becomes smoother and more rewarding, and the results speak for themselves.

Can you share an example of helping someone who wasn’t excited to post on LinkedIn or write an article, and how you changed their behavior? 

I usually start by removing the friction. Some people struggle to write,  it takes time, focus, and research. For them, talking is easier. I don’t insist on writing. I suggest we record a podcast instead. They prepare, come in for 60 minutes, and that’s it, job done. From that recording, we can create an article. The person is happy, and we’ve still produced valuable content. There are so many ways to repurpose ideas today.

Finally, how do you see the role of marketing in B2B organizations, especially in engineer-driven sectors like manufacturing and construction? In these cultures, the CEO is often older and sees marketing as spending, not investment. How do you convince them that marketing drives growth? 

These mindsets aren’t unique to engineering, they exist across many industries. The key is trust. A company doesn’t need a CEO who’s a marketing expert, but they do need to trust the person they’ve hired to lead it. Marketing professionals today aren’t just strategists; they’re also educators, helping others understand how marketing supports business growth. When there’s openness and mutual respect, collaboration can flourish.

But if an organization consistently dismisses that expertise, it’s often a sign to move on and find a place where your work can make an impact.

Any podcast, book, or blog about business or marketing you would recommend?

I’ve been particularly inspired by Arianna Huffington and her work with Thrive Global. Her perspective goes far beyond traditional marketing,  it’s about conscious leadership, purpose, and human connection. She reminds us that sustainable success isn’t just about metrics or visibility, but about energy, clarity, and presence.

For me, that’s deeply connected to marketing as well, because the best marketing comes from authenticity, empathy, and a genuine understanding of people. In that sense, she’s a great reminder that strong leadership and meaningful communication share the same foundation.

Interview with Marketing Parrot - Home to the Baltic B2B Community, founder Hando Sinisalu