The Resurgence of Field Marketing — How Modern Marketers Are Adapting

After years of virtual events reigning, field marketing has finally made a comeback with more people demanding in-person, face-to-face experiences.

But the field marketing you knew, pre-2020, isn't the same in 2024. It's evolved with new tactics and strategies adapted to today's context and dynamics.

For this article, we spoke with field marketers about their recent experiences and what new strategies they're leveraging to make the most of their field marketing activities.

The contrast between 2019's field marketing and 2024's

We're in the new era of field marketing, and here are the things that changed that you need to know. Today's field marketing focuses on placing customer experience, demonstrated through genuine conversations and connections with potential customers, at its core. This is a profound shift from treating events purely as sales venues.Field marketing used to be all about sales, now it's all about the customer experience

Most field marketing activities used to be primarily directed toward boosting sales. Now, companies are realizing the value of facilitating attendees as active participants throughout the event.

The typical scenario was for companies to invite speakers to present, while attendees came to passively watch, with the company periodically attempting sales tactics like product demos or promotions, but with little consideration for the attendees' experience.

These days, things have changed drastically, and customer experience is at the forefront.

Companies are inviting customers and partners to participate in "real talk" panel discussions and hands-on workshops that go far deeper than the typical conference presentation.

For instance, at Sendoso, they involve their customers and partners in these interactive events.

"We don't ever hard sell; we create delightful environments that spark meaningful connection and conversation," says Kasie Jenkins, SVP of Marketing at Sendoso.

And this customer-centric approach seems to work well. The perfect example is at 6 River Systems (6RS), where they would invite customers to speak at events, often facilitated by the sales rep who converted them, their customer success manager, or a marketing team member.

As Lauren Koppelman, former customer marketing manager at 6RS, explains, "They [the customer] would usually be more than happy to participate. We would then send them a gift card or some 6RS swag afterward. It's important, though, not to ask too often."

Field marketing is no longer one-way, it's all about win-win partnerships and networking

With the average consumer being bombarded by ads every day and everywhere, it has become crucial for brands to stand out.

One of the most effective ways to do this is through personalization and cultivating value-driven relationships. Instead of baiting customers with "not-so-free" gifts and discounts, brands are now prioritizing two-way interactions without asking for anything in return.

At Sendoso, they foster these mutually beneficial connections by creating memorable experiences.

"When it comes to on-the-spot promotions (or any promotion, for that matter), it was always best to offer a value-driving benefit rather than a discount. Price-sensitive customers are more likely to jump ship when their discount goes away, and value-driven customers tend to stick around for the value," says Lauren Koppelman.

Another approach is to build relationships by creating memorable networking opportunities. At 6 River Systems (6RS), they would host events with this goal in mind.

"For us, the goal of events is to build relationships and to make a positive, memorable connection with each person that will help us to stay top of mind as a solution when they are looking to solve the problems we can solve. Following up post-event with a personalized gift and/or a non-transactional note relevant to your conversation at the event generally lands better than a pitch email," explains Jenkins.

Successful field marketing today is about facilitating genuine two-way value exchanges and fostering long-term partnerships, not just one-sided promotions. It's about creating experiences that attendees will appreciate and remember, helping brands stand out from the endless barrage of advertisements.

Field marketing now works best when companies don't look at attendees just like mere demographics

Looking at attendees only by basic details like age and job roles is too shallow. It suggests that companies are not really trying to understand their audiences.

You may know someone's age, gender, and job title, but you're missing crucial insights into what actually drives and motivates them.

Effective field marketing today requires a deeper understanding of your audience that goes beyond just demographics. It works best when you analyze technographics (the technologies they use), psychographics (their values, interests, and personalities), and behavioral data (how they actually behave and make decisions).

For instance, if you're a company organizing a product demo or workshop, looking only at demographics would allow you to broadly categorize attendees but leave you oblivious to their true needs and preferences.

However, psychographic and technographic insights will reveal the specific pain points they're looking to solve, the processes they follow, and the decision criteria that truly resonate with them.

This allows you to personalize your presentations, tailor your messaging, and craft an experience framed around their mindsets and objectives.

How do modern field marketers cope with the new trends and make the most out of the new field marketing?

Here are 6 ways modern marketers are making the most of field marketing - and you can, too.

1. Tightly aligning with other departments instead of acting in silos

Traditionally, field marketing efforts were highly siloed, only focusing on lead gen and sales with little cross-functional coordination.

As Nick Bennett, Co-founder at Tack, recounts, "My first field marketing job was 95% putting on events, and I basically took orders from the sales team."

However, this narrow, sales-centric approach is becoming outdated. In 2024, successful field marketers are expanding their scope and deepening their integration across the entire customer experience journey.

"About two years ago, I started to see the emergence of the modern-day field marketer, which is very revenue-driven and actively partnering with sales to drive pipeline and revenue," Bennett explains. "But it goes beyond just sales alignment."

Delivering memorable customer experiences now requires tight coordination across multiple customer-facing teams like customer success, support, product management, and others. Field marketing activities can no longer be executed in isolation.

This cross-functional collaboration allows companies to create cohesive brand experiences that span the entire customer lifecycle. From initial awareness and discovery, through to retention and advocacy, field marketers orchestrate integrated journeys that drive long-term value and loyalty.

Consequently, success metrics have also evolved beyond simply measuring leads and sales generated. With their expanded charter, field marketers now optimize for broader indicators of healthy customer relationships, such as satisfaction levels, Net Promoter Scores, community engagement, referrals, and more.

As Bennett states, "Sales reps are starting to understand it's more of a team sport, and if you're in a true revenue organization, everyone's contributing to help close business."

2. Expanding field marketing's use cases to areas like account-based marketing

While virtual field marketing has typically focused on the early stages of attracting potential customers (top-of-the-funnel), it is now expanding its role by becoming part of full account-based marketing strategies.

"We all get so many invitations to webinars that you really have to personalize it and give them a specific reason why you are inviting them," says Christine Nielsen, Marketing Manager at Meltwater.

"It can't be, 'I'm inviting you because you're a marketer.' It has to be, 'I'm inviting you because of A, B, C and I really want you to come because I think we can provide you with X value," she adds.

To offer this level of personalization, field marketers are now working hand-in-hand with sales counterparts to ensure they're reaching out to the highest-potential accounts.

As Roni Romo, Sr. Manager of Account-Based & Field Marketing at Botify, states: "What was once a targeted and one-to-many approach has very much become a one-to-few, one-to-one, which is the ABM approach."

Virtual events now serve multiple purposes within an ABM campaign. They provide a prime engagement channel for interacting with key accounts and buying committees through tailored sessions matching their specific needs.

According to Bryant Lau, "You can see how much time people were at the event, what questions they asked, and what part of the presentation they paid the most attention to."

This granular behavioral data allows marketers to precisely score accounts, identify hot leads, and share those insights with sales for hyper-personalized follow-up.

But beyond just an engagement tactic, creative field marketers are leveraging virtual events as relationship-builders . Experiences like virtual wine tastings, cooking classes, and expert panel discussions facilitate meaningful human-to-human connections with strategic accounts.

These can even be localized by finding a well-known local provider that's doing events. Even though these types of events aren't super product-oriented, they still build brand awareness and affinity.

3. Placing experience and memorability at the core of field events

Small gatherings are becoming the new standard for standout field marketing events. They offer unique, personal connections and memorable experiences that foster long-lasting customer relationships.

"The biggest thing I've seen success with is these smaller roundtables where you get 5 to 10 executives from your top accounts together," said Nick Bennett.

"Maybe you bring in a thought leader. You just have a conversation. It's laid back; it's not salesy. I've seen that help cut through the noise," he added.

For Michelle Harden, Field Marketing Manager at Adobe, the ideal virtual event size is around 30-50 attendees to maintain an intimate vibe through creative programming.

For example, in one virtual event series, attendees were able to cook along with Chef Michael Symon from Food Network while he made a recipe at his home kitchen in the Hamptons. His son was operating the video camera, and people were able to get live help executing the recipe.

"You got to see his [chef Symon's] home and his family. His granddaughter ran on camera. And the last recipe was something his grandmother used to cook," Harden described.

"I just don't think you're going to get the same intimacy at a big event with everyone standing around watching him cook," she went on to say.

This is the new face of effective field marketing - creating environments conducive to memorable shared experiences that strengthen human bonds.

Gone are the days of endless PowerPoints and dreary convention centers. The most impactful field events spark connections, provide immersive hospitality, and leave attendees with stories worth sharing.

4. Going hybrid with virtual events

Even as in-person events return, it may take a long time for people to feel comfortable at a physical event, so most in-person events need to include a virtual component.

That may become the new norm even as a feeling of safety returns, because of the opportunity to reach people who may not have the ability, time, or budget to travel.

"I think that it's going to be a hybrid model going forward because these virtual event platforms have made it so easy to feel like you're part of the event without actually being there," said Bennett. "The content has been getting better and better, and the experience has been getting better and better."

Still, it's a work in progress. "Right now there's no way anybody could say we know how to get the leads in the door and how to keep them," says Romo. "I also know from other field marketers that we have not yet committed 100% to what platforms and concepts we're going to use. We're all testing the waters, and seeing what is potentially repeatable."

5. Building engagement and momentum via communities

While 2020 disrupted normal field marketing activities, it also led to a growing sense of community among marketers facing similar difficulties.

This community-building has become an unexpected bright spot, fostering engagement, knowledge-sharing, and momentum for the discipline's evolution.

At the heart of this movement are platforms like LinkedIn and Slack, where field marketers are gathering to crowd-source ideas, and share wins and lessons learned.

Nick Bennett has spearheaded this through his proactive daily LinkedIn posting about field marketing topics since March 2020. His audience has swelled from 2,000 to nearly 17,000 followers in that time.

"I've been posting every single day since last March," Bennett says. "It's become a hot spot for field marketing conversation and advice."

These interactions and dialogues reflect the connections many field marketers are discovering.

As Roni Romo of Botify explains, "I have felt an immense sense of community lately - something I didn't feel prior to COVID. We're all struggling to reach people and share ideas with one another. It's been wonderful to find a group that has the same concerns."

These professional communities are more than just spaces to vent frustrations. Instead of just ranting over challenges, field marketers are using these communities to actively learn from each other and strategically evolve their roles.

Historically, field marketers were often seen as just executing event logistics based on what the sales team requested. However, by sharing ideas and best practices within these communities, field marketers are now expanding beyond just being "event order takers."

6. Using a multi-channel outbound approach to narrowing down on the ICP

While most companies understand their ideal customer profile (ICP), actually attracting and engaging those specific audiences remains a major hurdle - especially for smaller organizations with limited marketing resources.

This is where a multi-channel outbound approach powered by data and automation can be a game-changer for field marketers.

Platforms like Reach enable deploying hyper-targeted outbound campaigns across multiple channels like email, phone, direct mail, and more - all directed straight to your carefully defined ICP.

This strategic outbound blitz cuts through the noise to drive meaningful actions from your highest-value prospects, whether that means registering for an event, downloading content, requesting a demo, or whatever your priority happens to be.

The key is using multiple outbound channels and touchpoints to systematically narrow your audience down to those fitting your ICP criteria. And the more specific you can get with firmographics, technographics, behavioral data, etc., the better you can personalize experiences to boost conversions.

Here's how the multi-channel outbound process works:

1. Specify your desired outbound campaign goal - event registrations, content downloads, survey responses, etc.

1. Enter your campaign details, including engagement start and end dates, campaign goals, and registration URLs.

1. Define your ICP filters (industry, company size, roles, technologies used, etc.) as granularly as possible based on your ideal attendee profile.

1. Refine your event guestlist by adding contact information lists and excluded contact lists.

1. The outbound platform identifies matching contacts from a massive database of decision-makers, runs the coordinated multi-channel outreach campaign for you, and serves up the engaged ICP members ready for your customized follow-up.

Rather than hoping the right people stumble upon your message, this data-driven approach ensures you're expediting connections with your most coveted audiences from the start. Leveraging technology handles the intense manual work of list-building and outreach at scale.

For today's field marketers operating with limited bandwidth, a multi-channel outbound strategy combined with rich ICP intelligence is pivotal for consistently booking high-value meetings and driving impact - regardless of company size or resources.

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