You can tell a lot about the DNA of a company based on what the sales team likes to sell. Are events constantly sold out, but there is a ton of unsold digital inventory? The company likely started as an events business and then expanded into digital. And the same is true in the inverse. Selling events for a digital-first sales team can often be confusing. You’ll hear the sales team say that they “need to see the event first” before they can sell it.
I struggle with the either-or fallacy of sales teams wanting to focus on only one product. If we look at events and lead gen working together as more holistic campaigns, we can provide much stronger value to our advertising partners. Furthermore, selling events and good digital campaigns is really selling the same thing: targeted audiences.