Best tools for B2B event marketers: From booth planning to lead capture

In the UK’s 2025 B2B marketing landscape, in-person events have reasserted themselves as a critical channel for business growth. Nearly four in five B2B marketers say that conferences, trade shows and other in-person events are among their most impactful marketing activities.

Event budgets are on the rise too – over half of companies plan to increase event spending this year – reflecting a renewed confidence in face-to-face engagement. However, with this investment comes pressure to prove ROI. Approximately 70% of event professionals still find it challenging to measure the ROI of their live events, and many marketing teams struggle to turn post-event conversations into pipeline.

At the same time, the events function has become more tech-enabled than ever. An overwhelming majority of B2B marketers (almost 80%) now use some form of event technology, and nearly 90% plan to boost their event tech investments in 2025. The goal: to streamline everything from booth planning to lead capture, and to translate event interactions into tangible business outcomes. Whether it’s coordinating a major trade show presence or capturing leads at a small networking meetup, the right tools can make all the difference in efficiency and effectiveness.

This report provides a comparative review of five top platforms that are shaping B2B event marketing in the UK. These tools cover the spectrum of event needs – from comprehensive event management suites (to plan and execute events of all sizes) to specialized solutions for on-site lead retrieval. The platforms we’ll examine are Cvent, Bizzabo, Splash, Integrate (Akkroo), and Eventbrite. Each addresses a different aspect of the event marketer’s toolkit:

• Cvent – An end-to-end enterprise event management platform, often considered the gold standard for large-scale events and conferences.

• Bizzabo – A modern event experience platform (sometimes called an “Event Experience OS”) known for strong engagement features and support for hybrid/virtual components.

• Splash – A field marketing event platform that makes it easy to create branded event experiences and repeatable event programs (recently acquired by Cvent, underscoring the convergence of event tech).

• Integrate (Akkroo) – A lead capture app and system designed specifically for collecting and processing leads at events and trade show booths, with real-time CRM integration.

• Eventbrite – A widely-used event registration and ticketing platform that offers a quick, budget-friendly way to organize events and manage attendees, especially for smaller-scale or open-invite events.

Before diving into each tool, here’s a side-by-side comparison to highlight their core offerings, typical pricing, and ideal use cases.

Platform comparison at a glance

Now, let’s delve into each of these tools in detail – what they do, their strengths, pricing considerations, limitations, and when to consider using them as a B2B event marketer.

Cvent

Cvent is often regarded as the heavyweight champion of event management software for enterprises. Founded back in 1999, it’s a veteran in the space and has evolved into a comprehensive platform covering virtually every aspect of event planning and execution. If you picture all the moving parts of a major B2B conference or a large trade show – registration, badges, the event mobile app, email reminders, surveys, booth lead scanning, post-event analytics – Cvent offers a solution (or module) for each. Think of Cvent as the enterprise “operating system” for events, where complex events with thousands of attendees, multiple sponsors, and detailed agendas can be managed within one ecosystem.

What it does: Cvent’s platform is vast, so it’s helpful to break it down. At its core is an Event Management module – this handles creating event websites and registration forms (for attendees to sign up), managing attendee information, sending out invitations and confirmation emails, and tracking who’s coming. This module is highly configurable: you can set up different ticket types, discount codes, capacity limits, and so on. For paid events, Cvent can process payments (in various currencies, useful for international events) or integrate with your preferred payment gateway.

Beyond registration, Cvent offers tools for event marketing and communications. You can design email campaigns to promote your event, remind registrants, or follow up after the event. These emails can be automated based on triggers (e.g., send a reminder one week before the event with a personalized agenda).

On the planning side, Cvent includes project management features for events. Large events often have complex task lists and teams collaborating – Cvent allows you to assign tasks, deadlines, and use templates for recurring events. There’s also a budget management feature to track event expenses and revenue in one place, which is handy for calculating event ROI later.

For the on-site experience, Cvent really shines. They provide a mobile app for event attendees (branded for your event) that can show the agenda, speaker bios, venue maps, and allow things like live polling or Q&A. Attendees can use the app to plan their schedule and network by messaging each other (if you enable those features). Cvent’s OnArrival app is specifically for check-in – when attendees show up at the venue, staff can use an iPad or scanner to check them in quickly (scanning QR codes from confirmation emails or the mobile app). It also supports on-demand badge printing – so you don’t have to pre-print hundreds of badges; attendees get theirs when they arrive, which is more efficient and accommodates last-minute signups or substitutions.

For exhibitors and sponsors, Cvent has a module called LeadCapture. This is essentially a lead retrieval app that exhibitors can use to scan attendee badges or business cards at their booth. Each scan creates a digital lead record, and exhibitors can add notes, answer qualification questions (which you can customize, like “Timeframe for purchase: 0-3 months, 3-6 months, etc.”), and rate the lead. This data can later be exported or – even better – synced back to the company’s CRM or marketing automation system so follow-up can begin right away. If you’re the organiser, you can offer Cvent LeadCapture to your sponsors so they get more value (and some organisers resell it or include it in sponsorship packages). But importantly, if you as a company attend someone else’s event, you can still use LeadCapture (assuming the event allows it or you use business card scan mode) to gather your booth leads.

Cvent also supports attendee engagement and feedback. You can build surveys (for during or after the event) to gather feedback on sessions, or use live polling during sessions (integrated via their mobile app or web). There’s even a social wall feature (displaying social media posts with the event hashtag on screens).

On the data side, Cvent’s analytics and reporting are robust. You can track registration metrics in real time (e.g., how many people registered vs. goal, breakdown by ticket type, etc.), monitor email open rates for invites, see check-in statistics (no-shows vs. attended), and post-event, you can look at things like session attendance numbers. If you integrate Cvent with your CRM, you can follow the journey of an attendee beyond the event – e.g., see if those who attended ended up influencing pipeline or making a purchase. This is crucial for B2B marketers who need to justify events. Cvent even has an ROI dashboard where you can input your costs and it will calculate things like cost per lead or, if you connect to revenue data, return on event spend.

Strengths: The biggest strength of Cvent is its end-to-end capability and reliability. It’s a platform that can handle a 50-person seminar or a 50,000-person annual conference. Many large organisations trust Cvent for mission-critical events (for instance, major financial services or tech companies running global summits). With 22,000+ customers worldwide, Cvent has been battle-tested – meaning the features are deep and the system can scale.

For B2B event marketers, one major advantage is integration with the rest of your marketing tech stack. Cvent connects with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Marketo, HubSpot, Eloqua – you name it. That means registration and attendee data flows into your central databases, which helps in tracking multi-touch attribution (e.g., knowing that a certain lead attended your event before later closing a deal). Also, if you use Cvent across many events, you build a unified attendee history – you can see that John Doe attended these three events and clicked these survey answers or interests – which can inform your sales team or feed into account-based marketing insight.

Another strength is breadth of features. You might initially come for just one thing (say, you needed a better registration system), but having Cvent means you have lots of other tools at your disposal when you’re ready. For example, you might not start out using their mobile app feature, but as your event grows you can add it and it’s all within the same platform, rather than sourcing a separate event app vendor. Similarly, using Cvent for on-site check-in and badging dramatically speeds up entry and provides a polished experience (no queues, immediate name badges). Those things reflect well on your brand when hosting events.

Cvent also excels in analytics – especially post-event. Many marketers struggle to quantify event success beyond just “we think it went well”. Cvent gives tangible data: number of leads, engagement scores, even ROI calculations if you input the right data. This helps in internal reporting and justifying future budgets. And because it’s comprehensive, you get a single source of truth for your event metrics instead of patching together data from an email tool, a survey tool, an Excel sheet of leads, etc.

Support and security are also worth noting. Cvent being an established player means they have support teams (including in Europe) and robust documentation/training resources. They understand GDPR considerations – for instance, you can configure your registration forms with consent checkboxes, and control data retention. Large enterprises often do security reviews of vendors, and Cvent typically passes those given its long track record and ISO certifications. That reliability is a relief when your event data is sensitive (like personal info of high-profile attendees).

Pricing: Cvent is an enterprise product, so pricing is usually obtained via a sales process and tailored to what you need. They can package things in different ways. For example, you might pay an annual license that includes a certain number of events (or attendee registrations) on the platform. Big companies might have unlimited usage deals.

As a rough idea, a smaller B2B firm might spend £20k–£30k per year for Cvent if they’re running a handful of decent-sized events. Larger organisations can easily spend £50k–£100k+ per year if they are running numerous events or large conferences with thousands of attendees (which may require more support, maybe on-site services, etc.). Cvent also sometimes offers modules à la carte – e.g., just paying for their registration system for one big user conference. In those cases, you might have a one-time event project fee instead of a full annual subscription.

One thing to note is that some features can incur additional costs. For instance, if you want to use their advanced badging hardware or printing services, or if you require on-site support from Cvent staff, those would be extra. The LeadCapture licenses for exhibitors can be an extra cost too (often event organisers pass that cost to exhibitors or sell it as an add-on).

There’s no free version of Cvent. It’s very much a “talk to sales” solution, and typically contract lengths are annual. For UK budgeting purposes, you’d be looking at a significant line item. However, many find that the ROI justifies it when events are a major driver of leads and revenue – essentially, Cvent can pay for itself if it helps increase event attendance and captures more high-quality leads that turn into deals.

Limitations: The flip side of Cvent’s breadth is that it can be complex and heavy for newcomers. There is a learning curve to mastering the platform because of its many modules and settings. A small marketing team that only does occasional simple events might find it overwhelming (and unnecessary overhead) compared to a leaner tool. It’s like using a high-end film camera when you might have been fine with a point-and-shoot – powerful, but you need to know what you’re doing to get the most value.

Because Cvent was originally built in the early 2000s, some parts of the interface have historically been less intuitive or modern-looking, though they have improved a lot in recent years (for instance, their new registration site designer is much more user-friendly than older versions). Still, certain advanced settings might require training to use properly. Cvent does offer onboarding and training, but it requires an investment of time to become proficient.

Another limitation is cost for smaller-scale usage. If you only run one or two events a year with moderate attendance, Cvent might be overkill both in features and price. There are lighter solutions or even one-off use of something like Eventbrite that could suffice. Cvent tends to show its value when events are a frequent or core part of marketing – if it’s occasional, the cost per event may not be justifiable.

From a feature perspective, while Cvent covers almost everything, it may not have the absolute cutting-edge feature in every niche. For example, its networking matchmaking might not be as AI-driven or slick as a specialist networking platform (though it does have basic attendee networking features). Or the design flexibility of its event websites, while good, might not match a completely custom-built site by a creative agency (some users desire more drag-and-drop design freedom). Essentially, Cvent provides a robust “standard” that works for most cases, but extremely unique event experiences might need supplemental tools or custom development.

Additionally, being such a broad system, occasionally users encounter minor integration quirks or bugs, especially when new features roll out. Cvent’s support generally addresses these, but it’s something to be aware of – you’ll want to test your configuration (like registration flows, integrations) well before going live for a big event.

Lastly, for exhibitors using LeadCapture at someone else’s event: note that if the event organiser doesn’t use Cvent or doesn’t allow external scanners, you might have to use the organiser’s lead system. Cvent LeadCapture can scan standard QR codes if you have the encoding, or business cards, but sometimes event-specific lead data is locked to the organiser’s own app. In those cases, you’d either push to have the organiser support Cvent (which some large trade shows do), or you might use Cvent in business card mode only – which is still better than nothing, but just a consideration.

Summary: Cvent is the go-to for B2B marketers who run large or numerous events and want a one-stop platform that can handle everything. In the UK, plenty of major conferences, trade shows, and corporate events are powered by Cvent, and for good reason – it brings order and measurability to the chaos of event management. Use Cvent if events are strategic in your marketing plan and you need professional-grade execution and integration. It’s especially valuable when you have a dedicated events team or agency partners who can work within it to execute complex events.

However, if you’re a smaller operation or only doing the occasional breakfast seminar, you might not need the full might of Cvent yet. Some companies start with lighter tools and “graduate” to Cvent as their event program grows. But once you do have that critical mass – say, an annual flagship summit plus quarterly events, plus several trade shows – Cvent provides the scalability and insight to not only run those events smoothly but also demonstrate their impact (in leads and revenue) to your stakeholders.

In short, Cvent is like the enterprise CRM of events: big, powerful, sometimes a bit complex, but ultimately incredibly rewarding for those who invest in it properly.

Bizzabo

If Cvent is the established veteran of event tech, Bizzabo is the innovative up-and-comer that has quickly become a top choice for modern event experiences. Founded in the early 2010s, Bizzabo initially made a name as an easy-to-use platform for event registration and networking, and in the last few years it has evolved into what it calls an “Event Experience OS” – essentially an all-in-one platform to manage events of all types (in-person, virtual, hybrid) with a strong emphasis on attendee engagement and use of AI. Bizzabo is very popular among B2B tech companies and associations that run high-profile events and want a fresh, interactive feel, and it has a strong presence in both North America and Europe (the company has an office in London and plenty of UK customers).

What it does: Bizzabo covers the core event management functions like registration, agenda building, and communications, but where it distinguishes itself is how seamlessly it supports hybrid events and engaging experiences. Let’s break down its capabilities:

• Event website & registration: With Bizzabo, you can create a branded event website (or microsite) that looks modern and on-brand. You don’t need a separate web developer – their website builder has templates that are quite sleek (think big banner images, speaker highlight sections, etc.). Registration forms are customizable, and you can have multiple ticket types, discount codes, etc., similar to other platforms. Bizzabo also supports embedding registration on another site, if you prefer to use your corporate website.

• Agenda and speaker management: Bizzabo makes it easy to build out a multi-track agenda with sessions, speaker profiles, and personalized schedules. If you have, say, a conference with 3 concurrent tracks, attendees can go to the agenda on the site or app, filter by track or interest, and add sessions to their personal calendar. Speakers can be invited to fill in their bios and pics via a portal, which saves the organizer some hassle.

• Email marketing and CRM integration: You can send branded emails to invite people, confirm registrations, remind about the event, etc., all through Bizzabo. These can pull in dynamic data (like the sessions someone signed up for). For integration, Bizzabo connects to common CRM and marketing automation platforms (Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, etc.), so attendee info and engagement can sync up. For instance, if someone checks in or attends specific sessions, that data can flow back to Marketo to trigger a follow-up campaign, or update their score in Salesforce.

• On-site and check-in: For in-person events, Bizzabo provides a check-in app as well. Attendees can get a QR code in their confirmation email, which staff scan at the door to mark attendance. Bizzabo can print badges on site too (they offer integration with badge printers and have their own badge design template system). So operationally, it’s similar to Cvent in handling on-site needs.

• Mobile event app: Bizzabo offers a mobile app (both in a generic version and as a fully white-labeled app if you need that). Through the app, attendees can view the agenda, their personal schedules, speaker info, venue maps, and crucially, network with each other. Bizzabo’s app allows attendees to create profiles (with their title, company, social links) and they can send messages or set up meetings with each other. There’s also a community feed feature (like a private social wall where people can post updates or photos). For many B2B events, this networking feature is gold – it encourages interaction and can be a selling point for people to attend your event (“meet peers, schedule 1:1 meetings through the app”).

• Audience engagement tools: This is a strong suit for Bizzabo. They have built-in live polling and Q&A features so attendees can participate during sessions via the app or the web (for virtual attendees). If a presenter wants to ask the audience a question or run a poll, Bizzabo can display results in real time. The Q&A feature lets audience members submit questions digitally (which a moderator can then curate). These interactive elements keep audiences more engaged, which is key for thought leadership events where you want dialogue, not just one-way presentations.

• Virtual and hybrid event capabilities: Bizzabo gained a lot of momentum during 2020-2021 when events went virtual. They invested heavily in virtual features. With Bizzabo, you can run a webinar or full virtual conference – it provides a live stream platform, chat for attendees, virtual exhibitor booths, and even networking via video meetings. Essentially, it can host a digital venue. If you’re doing hybrid (some people in person, some online), Bizzabo can cater to both audiences concurrently. For example, in-person attendees might use the app, while remote attendees join via the web interface, but they’re all integrated in one system (so, say, a remote person can still ask a speaker a question which the in-person moderator sees). Bizzabo’s virtual interface is fairly polished – think of it like a less formal, more branded version of a Zoom webinar environment, embedded in your event site.

• AI-driven features: In 2025, Bizzabo has been touting some AI enhancements. One area is networking matchmaking – their system can suggest connections between attendees based on interests or goals. For instance, it might recommend that a fintech investor connects with a startup founder if both indicated those interests. Another AI use is content recommendations: after the event, Bizzabo might recommend recorded sessions or resources to attendees based on what they attended or engaged with. These features are still evolving, but they show Bizzabo’s focus on using data to personalize the experience.

• Analytics: Bizzabo offers dashboards for registrations, engagement, and marketing ROI. You can track not just how many people registered, but also things like app adoption rate (what percent downloaded the app), engagement (poll responses, messages sent), and for virtual, detailed metrics like how long people watched a session, drop-off rates, etc. They also integrate with tools like Google Analytics for web traffic on your event site. Post-event, you can see which sessions were most popular, which sponsors got the most interactions (if you have virtual booths or sponsor banner clicks), and so forth. All this helps in evaluating success and also gives sponsors/exhibitors quantifiable results (e.g., “your virtual booth got 300 visits, 120 chat interactions, and you got 80 leads”).

Strengths: One of Bizzabo’s biggest strengths is its emphasis on attendee experience. The platform is designed to make events more interactive and engaging, which aligns with what modern audiences (especially tech-savvy ones) expect. For B2B marketers, a highly engaging event means attendees are more likely to walk away with a positive impression of your brand – and remember, many B2B events are about building relationships and thought leadership, not just transactions on the spot. Bizzabo’s features like networking, interactive polls, and a clean mobile app contribute to creating that memorable experience.

Another strength is flexibility across event formats. Bizzabo allows you to pivot between in-person and virtual seamlessly. In today’s world, many events are hybrid or have contingency plans to go virtual if needed. With Bizzabo, you don’t need separate tools for a webinar versus a live event – it’s unified. For example, if you plan an in-person seminar but want to include remote attendees, Bizzabo can manage both, and all your data stays in one place. This was invaluable during the pandemic and remains useful as hybrid events continue.

The user interface and overall usability of Bizzabo is frequently praised. Event organizers often comment that Bizzabo’s backend is intuitive and that they can train team members on it quickly. The attendee-facing side (website/app) also looks slick and modern out of the box. That means less time tweaking and more time focusing on content. If you compare this to some older enterprise systems, Bizzabo can feel more “lightweight” in a good way – it’s robust, but not clunky.

Integration is another plus: Bizzabo plays well with sales and marketing systems. For instance, you can set it so that when someone registers, they are automatically added to a Salesforce campaign, or if a lead hits a certain engagement score in Bizzabo (say they attended 5 sessions), that triggers a task for a sales rep. These integrations help bridge the gap between event engagement and sales follow-up, which is exactly where a lot of B2B events fall short. Bizzabo even has an open API if you want to do custom integrations.

In terms of innovation, Bizzabo has been pretty quick to roll out new features. They’ve introduced things like an on-site wearable smart badge (which can track attendee movements and interactions anonymously for analytics), and various AI features as mentioned. Being a newer company than Cvent, Bizzabo tends to be more on the cutting edge, adding features as trends emerge (e.g., when everyone needed virtual events, Bizzabo built their own streaming capabilities swiftly, whereas some others required 3rd party tools).

Support and community are worth noting. Bizzabo has a strong customer success approach – they often work closely with clients to ensure events are successful. They also publish a lot of resources (blogs, webinars, their annual event trends report) which many event marketers read. Knowing that Bizzabo was named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for event tech in 2025 also lends credibility – it’s not just a startup anymore, it’s recognized for execution and vision.

Pricing: Bizzabo doesn’t list prices publicly; it’s quote-based. It tends to be a bit more premium-priced than some smaller event platforms, reflecting its comprehensive nature and focus on mid-to-large clients. From anecdotal info, a basic annual package might start in the range of £15k–£20k for a mid-sized company running a few events, and can go up significantly (to £50k or beyond) for larger enterprises or for packages that include a high volume of events and advanced features.

Bizzabo often tiers pricing by number of events and attendees, and whether you need virtual event capacity (because streaming lots of video has costs). For example, if you’re doing 3 big conferences with 1000 attendees each, that might be one package; if you also want unlimited smaller webinars or additional user licenses, that might bump you to a higher tier.

One thing to note is Bizzabo doesn’t typically charge per attendee in a straightforward way – it’s usually bands or ranges. They also have add-ons: if you want a fully branded mobile app (your own app listing in the App Store), that might cost extra unless included in your plan. Likewise, if you needed on-site support or their new wearable badges, those might be add-ons.

Compared to Cvent, Bizzabo can sometimes be a bit more cost-effective for mid-sized needs (because Cvent might bundle a lot you don’t use or have a higher base cost). But Bizzabo is certainly not a bargain tool – it’s an investment. There’s no monthly self-service plan for someone to just try out; you commit typically to an annual contract.

If budget is a concern, Bizzabo might not fit very small event programs. However, many marketing teams justify it by the time saved and better engagement (leading to better lead quality). Also, if you previously were paying separately for a virtual event platform, a networking app, a registration system, etc., consolidating to Bizzabo can actually be cost-efficient.

Limitations: While Bizzabo is feature-rich, it’s not as all-encompassing on the planning side as something like Cvent. For instance, Bizzabo doesn’t have an extensive vendor management or budgeting tool built in. It assumes you handle some of those logistics outside the platform. For most marketing teams that’s fine (they might use spreadsheets or project management tools for internal planning), but it’s a difference: Cvent tries to be your one-stop for everything including budgeting; Bizzabo is more focused on the attendee-facing experience and the marketing outcomes.

Another limitation is that Bizzabo is primarily geared towards event organizers hosting their own events. If you’re a marketer who mostly attends other people’s trade shows (as an exhibitor), Bizzabo doesn’t directly address that scenario (apart from maybe using it for your own side events). In contrast, Cvent has the LeadCapture for any event or Integrate (a separate tool) covers that. So if your event marketing is 90% “sponsoring other conferences” and 10% “hosting our own”, Bizzabo might not be your main tool – you’d be looking at lead capture and maybe an agency to build your booth. Bizzabo shines when you are running the show or creating your own branded experiences.

For virtual events, one should note that while Bizzabo’s built-in streaming is solid, it may not have the ultra high-end production features of dedicated webinar platforms or video studios. If your virtual event requires complex production (multiple breakout rooms, high-resolution streaming, broadcast-level switching), you might still use an external streaming solution piped into Bizzabo. But for typical webinars and talks, Bizzabo’s native tools suffice. Some early users mentioned occasional glitches with the virtual platform in the rush of 2020, but the company has had time to iron those out.

There’s also the consideration of data and analytics depth. Bizzabo gives you a lot of engagement data, but measuring ROI still requires connecting to your CRM and looking at pipeline generated. Bizzabo can show influenced pipeline if integrated, but some users might find they need to do a bit of manual analysis to truly prove long-term ROI (which, to be fair, is the case with any event tool). The integration helps, but you need to configure it right and ensure sales follows up and tags deals appropriately.

One more thing: if you’re running a very large event (tens of thousands of people), Bizzabo can handle it, but some organisers of mega-events have found they need to stress-test any platform for scale. Bizzabo has hosted events with tens of thousands of virtual attendees. For in-person, the app usage at that scale should be fine, but ensure your venue Wi-Fi can handle it (not a software limitation, but something to plan for – a highly interactive app is only as good as the connectivity attendees have).

Summary: Bizzabo is an excellent choice for B2B marketers who are orchestrating their own high-impact events and want to deliver a modern, engaging experience. If your strategy includes flagship conferences, customer summits, roadshows, or even a series of thought leadership webinars, Bizzabo provides the tools to not only manage the logistics but also actively enhance attendee participation and networking.

Use Bizzabo if you value things like a beautiful event website, an interactive event app, and making it easy for attendees to connect with each other and with your content. It’s particularly well-suited for industries where networking and content engagement are key (tech, professional services, etc.), and where you might have a mix of in-person and online audiences. For UK marketers, Bizzabo’s local support and growing user community are pluses – you won’t be an island using it.

In essence, Bizzabo helps you not just run events, but build community and engagement around your brand’s events. The payoff is often seen in higher attendee satisfaction, more social buzz (people tend to share cool event app screenshots or talk about great networking they did), and ultimately, a better pipeline of warm leads because attendees had a richer experience. Just be sure that your event strategy includes enough events or attendees to make the investment worthwhile, as it is an enterprise-grade platform. If it’s in budget and aligns with your goals, Bizzabo can elevate your events from good to great, and make the process smoother for your team along the way.

Splash

Sometimes, the big enterprise platforms like Cvent or Bizzabo can feel like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut – very powerful, but maybe more than you need for smaller, frequent events. This is where Splash comes in. Splash is an event marketing platform that carved out a niche among field marketing teams and any marketers who run a high volume of smaller events that need to be on-brand and results-driven.

Picture this scenario: your sales reps or field marketers want to host dozens of breakfast briefings, lunch-and-learns, and networking dinners across various cities to engage prospects. You need each of those events to have a polished invite, a registration page consistent with your brand, and a way to track RSVPs and attendee data – but you might not require a full-blown event app or complex agenda management for these simple events. Splash was built for exactly that use case – enabling marketers to spin up events quickly, maintain brand consistency, and measure impact. It focuses on the marketing side of events (the invites, the guest lists, the follow-ups) rather than on heavy logistics or advanced production.

What it does: Splash’s core offering is an intuitive event creation and design tool. It allows users to make visually appealing event landing pages and emails without needing a graphic designer or web developer. It’s template-driven: your corporate design team can create approved templates with your brand colors, logos, and styles. Then, a marketer in the field can duplicate that template, tweak the details (event title, date, venue, agenda snippet) and have a microsite for their event ready in minutes. The same goes for email invitations and reminders – templates ensure everyone’s using the correct branding and messaging.

This templating approach is great for maintaining compliance and brand governance. Especially for companies in regulated industries or just those with strict brand guidelines, Splash ensures that no matter who is creating the event page, it looks professional and on-brand. You avoid the scenario of each regional marketer sending out homemade invites that look inconsistent.

Once you publish an event page on Splash (which can either be hosted on a Splash subdomain or embedded on your site), attendees can register or RSVP easily. Splash supports various form fields so you can capture whatever info you need (like job title, dietary needs if you’re doing a dinner, etc.). If it’s a paid event (less common for field marketing, but maybe a training workshop), Splash can handle ticketing and payments too, although its forte is really free, invite-driven events.

Splash then helps manage the guest list and communications. You can see who has RSVP’d, who opened your invite email, etc., all in one dashboard. You can send follow-up emails to just those who haven’t responded, or reminders to those who have registered but not yet attended (e.g., “See you tomorrow, here are directions!”). On the day of the event, Splash has a check-in app (mobile) so your team can quickly tick off attendees as they arrive or even scan a QR code from their confirmation. This check-in is important not just for a smooth welcome but also because it records attendance data.

One thing Splash does well is integrations with marketing automation and CRM systems. If you use Marketo or HubSpot or Salesforce, Splash can sync attendee data back to those systems in real time. For example, if someone registers for a field event via Splash, that can automatically create or update a lead in Salesforce, add them to a campaign “Attending X Event,” and maybe trigger a pre-event nurture email from Marketo. Post-event, you can have it so that attendees vs. no-shows are tagged differently, which then triggers appropriate follow-up emails (“Sorry we missed you” to no-shows with perhaps a link to content they missed, and “Thanks for coming” to attendees along with next steps or a survey). This automation ensures no lead falls through the cracks and that sales can see in CRM who attended which event.

Splash provides analytics on your events in aggregate as well. You can track how many events have been executed in a quarter, total number of RSVPs vs. attended, average attendance rates, and even tie to pipeline if you connect to CRM and attribute opportunities influenced by these events. For a field marketing leader managing a team, this data is gold – you can demonstrate how your program of small events is contributing to leads and revenue.

Another nifty feature is event program management. Splash can act as a central repository of all your events (big and small). Marketers can use it to coordinate schedules (avoiding overlapping events in the same region, for instance) and share best practices. Some companies even use Splash internally to let salespeople nominate guests or view upcoming events in their area.

Additionally, Splash has features to ensure compliance – like managing opt-outs (if someone unsubscribes from one event invite, they won’t get others, per GDPR rules) and handling of personal data. It also has customization for privacy settings (you can auto-delete attendee data after X days if required).

One more note: In 2024, Splash was acquired by Cvent, as that press release earlier indicated. This means down the line we might see deeper integrations between Splash and the Cvent ecosystem. But as of 2025, Splash still operates as a distinct product focused on quick-turn, branded event marketing. The acquisition itself is a testament to how important this niche is – Cvent recognized that not every event that marketing teams do is a 5,000-person conference; there are scores of smaller events that needed a purpose-built tool.

Strengths: Splash’s strength is speed and scale of event execution with control. It empowers relatively non-technical users (think a sales manager in Manchester who wants to host a dinner) to create a polished event page and send invites without needing to ask HQ every time, yet HQ still has oversight and brand control. This means a company can exponentially increase the number of events they do, without multiplying headcount or sacrificing quality. In B2B, more face-to-face interactions (done well) typically mean more pipeline, so being able to scale local events is a big competitive advantage.

Another strength is the user experience for both the organizer and invitee. The emails and pages from Splash look professional – the invitee doesn’t know it was made from a template in a few minutes. All they see is a well-designed email and a smooth registration process (no weird extra steps, no outdated-looking forms). That reflects well on your brand. Internally, Splash’s interface for building events is very drag-and-drop; people often comment that it feels like using a consumer tool (like building a Squarespace site or using Canva) rather than enterprise software. This lowers the barrier for adoption – more team members will actually use it, rather than avoiding it.

Splash is also quite cost-effective for what it offers. It’s cheaper than the likes of Cvent or Bizzabo since it’s not trying to do the large-scale conference heavy lifting. If you consider the alternative – maybe using an agency to create dozens of individual event pages or manually tracking RSVPs in spreadsheets – Splash saves a ton of time and reduces errors (like forgetting to BCC everyone in an email or miscounting attendees).

The measurement aspect is a strong point. Historically, lots of field events happened without great tracking – people might collect business cards at a dinner and then who knows what comes of them. Splash changes that culture by enforcing registration and check-in, so you have data to prove how each event performed. When integrated to CRM, a field marketer can say, “This quarter, we ran 20 events that together engaged 300 prospects and influenced £2M in pipeline,” which is powerful for justifying the program and budget.

Also, because Splash is now part of Cvent, users can expect more enterprise-grade support and resources, which addresses a concern that some might have had about using a smaller vendor. You get the agility of a startup solution with the backing of an industry leader.

Pricing: Splash historically had a few tiers of pricing, typically annual contracts based on number of users and events. They haven’t publicly listed prices, but from various sources, a starting package could be in the low five-figures (£ sterling) per year. For example, a mid-market B2B could be paying around £10k–£20k/year for a reasonable volume of events and a handful of user licenses. Larger enterprises with many users and events might pay more. Now with the Cvent acquisition, pricing might become more bespoke or potentially bundled with Cvent deals.

There wasn’t a free version of Splash beyond maybe a limited trial. They do sometimes allow a “test event” in a sandbox to see the interface. But generally, this is software you’d budget for as part of your marketing operations.

Considering the efficiency gains, many teams find Splash pays for itself after a few events – just in saved design hours and the incremental attendees you might attract with more professional invites. If you prevent one poorly executed event that could harm brand image, that in itself is valuable.

For context, if one uses Eventbrite for free events, that tool is free (or cheap) but the trade-off is brand and data control. Many companies graduate from using free tools to Splash when they want more polish and integration. So Splash is seen as worth the spend when you reach a stage of doing frequent events and wanting to treat them as a coordinated marketing channel, not one-offs.

Limitations: Splash is not designed to handle large, complex conferences by itself. It doesn’t have features like multi-track agenda management with session selection, or a robust attendee networking app. If you tried to stretch it to manage a 1000-person summit, you’d miss some features (and likely, that’s where you’d use Cvent or Bizzabo). So think of Splash for events where typically you have a single session or a simple agenda, and maybe tens or a couple hundred attendees, not thousands.

Another limitation is that Splash is very focused on the digital marketing part of events – it’s not an all-in-one for logistics. It won’t help you, for instance, manage floor plans or assign booth spaces, or coordinate AV schedules. Again, for small events, you don’t need those features anyway; for big ones, you’d have another solution. So it’s not a replacement if you already have a tool like Cvent for your mega-events; it’s complementary for smaller ones.

Some users have noted that while Splash integration capabilities are strong, you need a bit of technical setup to get the most out of them. For example, mapping fields correctly to your CRM, or building workflows in your marketing automation that react to Splash data. It’s definitely doable (and Splash has pre-built connectors for major systems), but it requires marketing ops involvement. If a team doesn’t invest that initial time, they might not fully realize the potential of automation and data syncing, leaving value on the table.

Also, for companies with sensitive data concerns, having many users creating events means you want to govern what data they collect and how. Splash has admin controls for templates and fields, but you as an organization still need to train users on things like GDPR (e.g., if you invite people, you need the appropriate consent basis). Splash provides the tools (like adding consent checkboxes), but it’s up to your team to use them correctly. In other words, decentralizing event creation is powerful but comes with the need for internal process and governance training.

Finally, with the transition into Cvent’s fold, there could be changes or uncertainties in the roadmap. Existing customers probably gain more features in time, but it’s something to watch – e.g., will Splash remain a standalone product long-term or become tightly integrated with Cvent’s interface? In 2025 it’s still pretty separate, and that’s fine, but if you’re deciding between solutions, you’d want to ask Cvent/Splash how they envision the product evolving.

Summary: Splash is the go-to tool for B2B teams that run lots of smaller, repeatable events and want to do so with consistency and efficiency. It turns what could be an operational headache – herding cats with many mini-events – into a streamlined process. In the UK, plenty of marketing teams use Splash for everything from intimate roundtable dinners in London’s Shard to breakfast briefings in Manchester to virtual customer training sessions. The benefit is that all those events look and feel like your brand (not some generic template), and you capture data from each one to feed your sales pipeline.

Use Splash if you find yourself saying, “We need to do more events, but we can’t add headcount for each one.” It really enables a small core team to empower a larger group (like sales or partner marketers) to execute events under a guided framework. Companies that have distributed marketing (multiple regions or product teams doing their own events) see huge value in Splash to avoid reinventing the wheel each time.

It’s also ideal if your priority is demand generation through events – because Splash will help maximize attendance (through good invites and reminders) and then maximize the conversion of attendees to opportunities (through data and follow-ups). The integration with your existing systems means events become just another tracked touchpoint in your marketing mix, rather than a black hole of effort.

In short, Splash treats “events as campaigns” – meaning you get the same level of polish and measurability as you would in a digital marketing campaign, but applied to in-person experiences. If that’s what you need, Splash is hard to beat. And with the backing of Cvent now, it’s likely to only get stronger, possibly bridging the gap between field events and large events into a more unified ecosystem. For now, it fills a crucial niche, and if that niche is where a lot of your marketing activity lies, it can drastically improve your effectiveness.

Integrate (Akkroo)

Not all event marketing happens at events you host yourself. A huge part of B2B event marketing is exhibiting at industry trade shows, conferences, and third-party events. You invest in a booth, send your sales reps and marketers there, and collect leads from the attendees who show interest. Historically, this process was pretty clunky – you might scan badges using the event organiser’s system and then get a spreadsheet days later, or collect business cards and fishbowl entries that have to be manually typed into the CRM. This is where Integrate’s event lead capture solution (formerly known as Akkroo) comes into play. It’s all about making lead collection at events seamless and instant, ensuring that those hard-won booth conversations turn into actionable data for sales.

Akkroo was a London-based startup specifically addressing event lead capture, and it gained a lot of traction among B2B companies in the UK and beyond. In 2019, Akkroo was acquired by Integrate (a US-based marketing technology firm specializing in demand orchestration), and it became Integrate Events as part of their product suite. Many still lovingly refer to it as Akkroo, especially in the UK where it made its name. The tool has evolved but its core mission remains: close the gap between the trade show floor and your marketing database.

What it does: Integrate’s event lead capture is a combination of a mobile app and a cloud system. Here’s how a typical use case goes: Imagine you’re heading to a trade show where your company will have a booth. Before the event, you use Integrate’s web portal to set up that event in the system – basically creating a space to collect leads. You can customize the form that your booth staff will fill in for each lead. For example, you might want to capture name, email, company, and maybe a few qualifying questions like “Are you planning a project in the next 12 months?” or “Product of interest” (often a dropdown list if you have multiple products). You can also set up answer options, lead rating criteria, and any notes section.

Your team members going to the event then install the Integrate mobile app (available on smartphones or tablets). The app will have the event loaded with the form you made. Now, when they’re at the booth talking to someone, they can quickly add that person as a lead in the app. If the event organiser provided badges with QR codes, the app can scan the QR code and automatically pull in whatever info is encoded (often name, email, company – depending on what the organiser encoded). If not, or if the person just has a business card, the rep can either snap a photo of the business card – the app uses OCR (optical character recognition) to read the text and fill in fields – or simply type in the info by hand into the form.

After capturing the basic info, the rep can also fill in those custom questions (like how interested the person is, what product they talked about, etc.), and even write free-form notes (“Very interested in our cloud solution, asked for a demo next week”). They can do this immediately after the conversation, or later that day – the app works offline if needed and can sync up when it gets internet connectivity.

Now, here’s the magic: integration and speed. The moment those leads are entered (and the device connects to the internet), Integrate can push them straight into your CRM or marketing automation system, complete with all the details. That means by the end of day one of a trade show, your dozens of new leads might already be sitting in Salesforce with an alert to the appropriate sales owner, or in Marketo marked as event leads that will get a follow-up email. No waiting for the organiser’s file weeks later, and no manual data entry.

Integrate also de-duplicates and standardizes data as it syncs (since Integrate’s broader platform is about data quality in demand gen). So if John Doe was already in your system from a previous webinar, it can update his record rather than create a duplicate. It can also enforce compliance: for example, if someone didn’t agree to be contacted, you can configure it to not push them to marketing automation, or to flag them appropriately.

Another neat feature: business card transcription. If you collect physical business cards, you can snap a photo within the app and either the OCR will parse it or in some cases it can be queued for a human transcription service to ensure accuracy (some solutions do this within minutes). This saves you from needing an external business card scanner.

The app also allows some gamification or lead assignment logic – e.g., you could have a leaderboard of who on your team collected the most leads (to spur a friendly competition among the reps staffing the booth).

Security is taken into account too: the data captured is encrypted and secure, so you’re not risking GDPR issues by having random spreadsheets emailed around – it’s all captured with consent (you can even include a checkbox in the form for “I consent to be contacted”) and stored centrally. If someone later says “remove my info,” you know where it is.

From a management perspective, the Integrate events dashboard lets you monitor in real-time how many leads have come in from the event, and even see quality metrics like how many were rated hot, warm, or cold by your team. This is excellent for event ROI evaluation – you can compare events by how many leads or opportunities they generated. Over time, you build a history: e.g., “Trade Show A consistently gives us 100 leads with 20% conversion to pipeline, whereas Conference B gave us 50 leads with 10% conversion”. This can inform where to invest event budget in the future.

Strengths: The primary strength is efficiency and effectiveness of lead capture. By eliminating paper forms and batch imports, Integrate ensures leads don’t fall through the cracks. Studies show that following up with leads quickly (within a day or two) dramatically increases conversion rates – so having leads already in your CRM during the event enables faster follow-up. In some cases, a sales rep back at the office could even start emailing or connecting on LinkedIn with a prospect while the event is still going on, which certainly impresses prospects (“Oh wow, they already reached out to schedule a demo, they’re on top of things!”).

Another strength is data quality and consistency. Because you pre-define the questions and answers, you get standardized data rather than scribbles on notepads. For example, if one rep writes “VP” and another writes “Vice President” on paper, you’d have to normalize that later; in Integrate, you might have a dropdown for Job Role that everyone uses. Also, with direct integration, you ensure all leads are where they should be, with the right campaign codes, within hours. Marketing ops teams love this because it means the event’s results are measurable instantly.

It’s also worth noting the user-friendliness: booth staff usually find the app straightforward (there’s always a bit of training needed to make sure everyone actually uses it and doesn’t pocket business cards, but once they see how easy it is, adoption is good). The scanning of QR codes or business cards is quick – often quicker than writing things down or typing on a laptop. This means the flow of conversation isn’t too interrupted by the tech. Some companies use tablets fixed to the booth for lead capture; others have each rep’s phone do it – Integrate supports both approaches.

For companies that attend many events, Integrate provides a centralized view. Instead of each event’s leads living in different spreadsheets or systems, all events feed into one pipeline. You can see, quarter by quarter, how events as a whole are contributing. And because Integrate (the parent company) offers solutions for other channels (like digital marketing leads), some marketing leaders like having a unified dashboard of all lead sources. But you can use the Events module standalone if you want.

Another strength, given its UK roots, is that Integrate (Akkroo) was built with GDPR in mind. They made sure you can record consent, and they don’t store data longer than needed. Also, because they started in the UK, they know the European event landscape (like how many events use badge scanning, etc.) and likely have good support in the same time zone.

Pricing: Integrate’s pricing for the event module is not public, but it generally falls under an annual subscription for a certain scope (number of events and users, perhaps). Typically, companies who go for this are spending at least £10k+ per year on it, and for larger enterprises it can be more (in the tens of thousands if you have hundreds of events globally).

Sometimes the pricing is structured by “credits” or “events”. For example, you might license it for up to 20 events per year at a certain price, and then pay extra if you go beyond that. Or a flat enterprise license for unlimited events. The acquisition by Integrate means it can also be bundled with their other services, but focusing just on lead capture, you’d budget a healthy five-figure sum if you’re a mid-to-large firm using it extensively.

This might sound pricey for “just an app”, but consider the value: If one big deal (that might have been lost or delayed due to slow follow-up) is won because of timely action via Integrate, it could pay back the investment. Also, factor in the hours saved from manual data entry and the opportunity cost of sales reps doing admin versus selling.

When comparing to alternatives: some companies rely on the event organiser’s lead system (which might cost, say, £500 per scanner per event rental). If you do 30 events, that could be £15k in rentals for disparate systems that don’t integrate well. Instead, Integrate lets you have your own system for all events, often for a comparable or better total cost.

For smaller businesses, this might be overkill – if you only do one or two events a year, you might make do with manual methods or the organiser’s tools. Integrate’s sweet spot is organizations that are on the road frequently – think dozens of trade shows, where shaving off days of lead processing each time is a significant gain.

Limitations: Integrate’s lead capture is specialized – it’s not an event management suite. It doesn’t handle registration for your own events (you’d use something else for that like Splash or Cvent, etc.), and it doesn’t provide an attendee app or any experience for the leads themselves (it’s purely an internal tool). So, you’ll likely be using it alongside other event tools. This is fine, but it means as a marketer you’re juggling a small stack: one for events you host, and Integrate for events you attend as an exhibitor.

One practical limitation: if you want to scan badges at an event, sometimes the event organiser’s badge might have a proprietary system or encryption. Integrate works best when the badge has a standard QR or barcode that includes contact info or an ID. Many event badges do have a QR with basic vCard info which Integrate can read. But some large shows use their own closed system where you must rent their scanner to get the data (they often do this to earn revenue or control data). Integrate has tried to partner or find workarounds (like sometimes you can get a developer kit from the organiser to integrate their badge system into the app), but in worst cases, you might resort to scanning the badge’s printed info like a business card via OCR, which is a bit less efficient.

However, even in those cases, it’s still faster than manual entry later. It’s something to check before an event: what’s on the badge and can our app read it? Usually names and companies are printed and can be OCR’d, and sometimes the QR might just lead to the organiser’s app (not useful). So your team should be aware – Integrate might not magically suck out hidden data if it’s locked, but it gives you the tools to capture what you see in a structured way.

Another limitation is that it assumes your team will use it diligently. The best tool is useless if the reps forget to log their conversations. So there’s a bit of change management – training sales/marketing folks that this is the new standard practice. Most get on board when they realize it saves them time on post-event reports. But there can be a tendency for some to pocket business cards and say “I’ll enter them later” – which defeats the real-time benefit. So, internal reinforcement and making it part of event KPIs (e.g., measure reps on X leads captured in app) can help. This is not the tool’s flaw per se, but worth noting in adoption.

Finally, as with any data tool, garbage in, garbage out. If the person scanning doesn’t bother to fill qualifiers or notes, you lose some richness. Encouraging quality inputs is key. The tool allows it, but the team must use it.

Summary: Integrate (formerly Akkroo) is a must-have for B2B organisations that do a lot of event exhibiting and are serious about maximizing those opportunities. It essentially brings the discipline and speed of digital marketing to the physical event world – ensuring that when you meet a prospect at a booth, that interaction is captured, routed, and acted upon with minimal delay. For UK marketers, there’s a bit of pride too – this solution was born out of understanding the pain at events like those at ExCeL London or the NEC Birmingham, where you could collect 200 scans and then struggle post-show. Akkroo said, “enough of that,” and many of us felt relief.

Use Integrate’s lead capture if you find your team is attending many events and you lack visibility into what comes of them. It will provide visibility (you’ll see exactly how many leads each event yielded, and who), and it will likely improve outcomes (faster follow-ups, better data to personalize those follow-ups, and the ability to nurture those contacts immediately). It’s especially powerful for companies with longer sales cycles – because making an impression and then waiting 2 weeks to reach out can let that warm lead go cold.

One of the great things about this tool is it complements your overall event strategy: if you have Cvent or Bizzabo for your own events, you’d still use Integrate when you go to someone else’s expo. They’re not either-or, but rather each solves a different puzzle. Integrate focuses on the moment of lead capture at third-party events – a critical moment that, if handled well, can dramatically boost your event ROI.

In summary, think of Integrate’s event app as equipping your field team with a digital clipboard on steroids. They’ll capture more leads, those leads will be richer and more actionable, and you’ll be able to prove the value of the tens of thousands of pounds you’re spending on booth space and sponsorships. In 2025, with increasing scrutiny on marketing spend, having that direct line of sight from “trade show conversation” to “CRM contact to opportunity” is invaluable. Integrate provides that line of sight and does so in a way that the team in the trenches will actually appreciate (since it makes their job easier too). If events are a big part of your mix and you’re not yet using something like this, it’s worth serious consideration.

Eventbrite

Not every B2B event needs an enterprise solution – sometimes you just want to set up a simple event page, send out a link, and let people register with minimal fuss. Eventbrite is the name that often comes up in that scenario. It’s a widely recognized platform (you’ve likely used it to sign up for a meetup or even buy concert tickets) that has also found a place in B2B marketing, especially for smaller-scale or public-facing events.

Eventbrite is essentially the household name for event registration and ticketing. Its strength is in simplicity and broad usage. For B2B marketers, Eventbrite can be a handy tool in cases like organizing a free workshop, a recruiting fair, a community meetup, or even larger seminars where you’re okay with using a generic platform in exchange for ease and reach.

What it does: Eventbrite’s core function is to let you create an event listing page and handle registrations/ticket sales. Creating an event is straightforward – you input the event details (name, date, time, venue or online link), a description, an image maybe, and set up ticket types. If it’s a free event, tickets can be free (unlimited or limited quantity). If it’s paid, you set a price and quantity, and Eventbrite will handle the transaction (credit card processing, etc.) for you. You can even have multiple ticket tiers (e.g., “General Admission”, “VIP Breakfast Add-on”, etc.) though in B2B contexts usually it’s free or maybe a nominal fee if you’re covering catering.

Once your event is live, you get a link to the event page which you can promote via email or social. People can also discover it by searching on Eventbrite’s site, which is like a marketplace for events. That’s a unique aspect – if your event is public, Eventbrite might organically bring a few extra eyeballs, though for niche B2B topics most sign-ups will come from your direct invites.

When attendees register, Eventbrite collects their info (name, email, etc. – you can add custom questions too if you need, say, company name or job title). It will send confirmation emails and tickets (with QR codes). It also can send automatic reminders before the event.

For event check-in, Eventbrite has a mobile app called Organizer where you can see the attendee list and scan their ticket QR codes at the door or just mark them as arrived. This is free to use and helps manage attendance smoothly. For smaller events, sometimes people just print a list or eyeball it, but the app adds professionalism and speeds things up.

Eventbrite provides basic analytics on your event page – like how many people viewed it, where they came from (referral sources), and of course registration numbers. After the event, you can see attendance vs. no-shows (if you used the check-in feature). You can also easily export the attendee list as an Excel or CSV file, which is useful to import into your CRM or add to your newsletter, etc.

One big draw for many is Eventbrite’s email and promotion features. Eventbrite can send emails to your registered attendees (like updates or follow-ups). It also has integration with social media – for example, you can automatically publish an announcement to Facebook or LinkedIn when your event goes live (though many marketers prefer manual posting for control).

If you need to charge for tickets, Eventbrite handles all the payment processing and will deposit the funds to you (minus their fees) after the event ends. This saves you from setting up a separate merchant account or dealing with cash at the door. Even if your event is free, some corporate policies might ironically prefer using Eventbrite because it provides that third-party confirmation and tracking (and for free events, there’s typically no fee charged by Eventbrite, so it’s essentially free for the organizer as well).

For virtual events, Eventbrite has adapted by allowing you to mark an event as online and add webinar links or live stream info. It can even integrate with Zoom so that when someone registers, they automatically get a unique Zoom join link (and they appear in your Zoom registration list). This is handy if you’re running a webinar or virtual roundtable and don’t want to use a marketing automation form.

Strengths: The biggest strength is ease of use and speed. Anyone can set up an Eventbrite in minutes – you don’t need any training. This democratizes event organizing; a small startup or a lone marketer can get an event registration up without procurement or lengthy onboarding.

Another huge plus is zero upfront cost for free events. If you’re not charging for tickets, Eventbrite is essentially free to use. That’s ideal for many B2B lead-gen events which are typically free for attendees (since the company sponsoring it foots the bill). In those cases, you get a professional system without paying anything – a compelling proposition especially if budgets are tight.

Even when you do charge, Eventbrite’s fee (around 6-7% plus a small fixed amount per ticket in the UK) can be built into the ticket price or passed to the attendee. For example, if you set £100 as the ticket price, the attendee might actually pay ~£107 with fees, unless you choose to absorb it. For paid training workshops or conferences, this fee is competitive compared to others and you pay nothing out-of-pocket (Eventbrite just takes it from sales). So, it’s a low-risk way to sell tickets too.

Eventbrite’s ubiquity and trust factor is a strength. Attendees are often familiar with it. They know the registration flow, they might have an Eventbrite account that auto-fills their details, they trust that their credit card info is safe, etc. That lowers friction for sign-ups. If you were to direct them to an unknown site or ask for bank transfers, some might hesitate; with Eventbrite, it feels standard.

For marketing, the built-in SEO and discovery can be a small bonus. For instance, if someone Googles “Tech Networking London March 2025”, they might find your Eventbrite listing if it’s public. Eventbrite pages often rank decently for local event searches. Additionally, some people browse Eventbrite or use its app to find professional events to attend – being on that platform can capture those opportunistic attendees who you might not reach via your mailing list.

The platform also offers a degree of community and integration: it has APIs and can connect to other tools (like Mailchimp, or syncing attendees to Salesforce via third-party connectors). Even if out-of-the-box it’s not as integrated as Splash, there are ways to pull the data automatically. However, many just use the export file.

For small teams, using Eventbrite means offloading a lot of technical work – they handle GDPR compliance for registrants (people explicitly agree to terms when signing up), they manage sending reminder emails (less chance you’ll forget to remind folks or have to do it manually), and they produce tickets which adds a perceived value (people treat it more like a real event if they have a ticket PDF or Apple Wallet pass, interestingly).

Pricing: To reiterate, free events are free on Eventbrite. If your event is £0 to attend, you pay nothing to Eventbrite for their standard service. This is fantastic for community building and lead gen events – you can run dozens of free meetups and never pay a penny for the platform (aside from any upgrades like their “Professional” package if you choose it for extra features).

For paid events, Eventbrite’s fee structure in the UK (as of 2025 updates) is roughly 6-7% of ticket price + around 50-60p per ticket. For example, if you sold a £100 ticket, Eventbrite might take ~£7 (so you net £93). They have a help page that breaks down fees precisely. If you do high volume or very pricey tickets, they sometimes offer custom deals or recommend their Premium tier (which is subscription plus lower per-ticket fees).

They also introduced packages: Eventbrite Free, Essentials, Professional, Premium. The Free is for free events only (no fees, limited features maybe). Essentials and Professional are for paid events with different feature sets (e.g., customization, more analytics, the ability to remove Eventbrite branding might come in higher tiers). These might involve a monthly subscription in addition to or instead of per-ticket fees. But many B2B folks use the free or basic tier because they often host free events or can live with the small fee per registration if any.

One thing to mention: if you go with the free route, your event page will carry some Eventbrite branding and maybe suggestions of “other events you may like” (which could even include other companies’ events – slightly awkward if you consider competition). On a paid Professional plan (~£20/month or so), you can have a cleaner page without those and get more email functionality. Depending on how polished you want the experience, this might be worth it. Still, we are talking tens of pounds, not thousands, which is a different scale than the other tools we reviewed.

Limitations: Why wouldn’t you use Eventbrite for everything? The flipside of simplicity is limited customization and integration. The pages, while clean, are obviously Eventbrite pages – you don’t have full control over design. They’ll never look exactly like your corporate website. For some brands, that’s a turn-off for higher-end events; they prefer a fully branded experience (where Splash or Cvent would be better). You also can’t natively host a multi-session agenda or complex content on an Eventbrite page – it’s mostly one long description field. So for a detailed conference site, Eventbrite is too basic.

Data integration is another limitation. Eventbrite captures attendees, but getting that data into your CRM or nurturing system isn’t as seamless as with a purpose-built B2B tool. You might need to manually export attendees and import them to Salesforce or Marketo, or use a connector tool like Zapier. That’s an extra step that some forget to do promptly. Eventbrite has analytics but doesn’t tie directly to pipeline or scoring unless you hook it up indirectly. So, you won’t get the kind of closed-loop reporting out-of-the-box that, say, Splash or Cvent integrated with your CRM would provide.

Another limitation is perception and brand experience. If you’re hosting a private executive roundtable for VIP clients, sending them an Eventbrite link might feel a bit mass-market and impersonal (some might even be confused if it’s a third-party thing). In such cases, companies often use more bespoke invites or at least heavily customized registration pages. Eventbrite does allow making events private (only accessible via direct link, not listed publicly) and you can even password-protect an event. So you can control access. But the look-and-feel is still Eventbrite’s template. In high-touch scenarios, marketers might shy away from that.

Additionally, Eventbrite emails, while functional, aren’t fully custom-branded unless you use their paid tier with some branding removal. So the communications might not match your corporate email templates. Most of the time that’s fine for casual events. But for big customer events, marketing teams often want branded HTML emails.

For on-site, Eventbrite’s check-in app is good for a single point of entry and a simple list. But it’s not as advanced as something like Cvent OnArrival where you can print badges on the spot or handle complex multi-track check-ins. If you have 10 staff at different doors, they can all use the app in sync – so that’s okay, it does sync across devices. But if you need to do anything beyond checking names, you’ll need something else.

Finally, Eventbrite’s customer support for free users is mostly self-service. Paying customers get better support. If you’re running a mission-critical event on Eventbrite and something goes wrong (like the site goes down or payments fail), you don’t have a dedicated support line unless you’re a premium user. Generally the platform is stable and issues are rare, but with free tools you don’t get that white-glove support.

Summary: Eventbrite is a pragmatic choice for straightforward B2B events, especially when you need to move fast, have little budget, or are targeting an audience that doesn’t mind a standard user experience. It’s great for things like open seminars, user group meetups, recruiting events, or co-hosted events with partners where using a neutral platform is easiest. A lot of startups use Eventbrite in their early days to host community events and then migrate to something else as they grow – but some continue to use it because it just works.

Use Eventbrite if you value the low barrier to entry. For instance, if you’re testing out doing events and not ready to commit to expensive software, Eventbrite lets you dip your toes. If you only do a couple of events a year, it might cover your needs without any cost. It’s also a decent backup or complement: you might primarily use a tool like Splash, but perhaps for a certain public-facing event you leverage Eventbrite’s reach. Or you might list your event on Eventbrite in addition to your own registration page just to catch extra sign-ups (though managing two lists requires caution).

One notable scenario: some B2B marketers run roadshows or training series and put them all on Eventbrite as a central calendar, which some audiences find and share. The network effect there can be useful if you’re building a community.

However, when professionalism and brand experience need to be top-notch (like high-value prospects or customers in attendance), you might outgrow Eventbrite. The fact that Cvent acquired Splash, as noted before, shows that when companies mature, they often seek more integrated and branded solutions. But that doesn’t diminish the place Eventbrite has – it remains a go-to tool for many, including large companies for their smaller initiatives.

In summary, Eventbrite offers 80% of what a basic event needs for 0% of the cost (in many cases). It’s like the trusty economy car: not luxurious, not highly customized, but it will get you from A to B very reliably. As a B2B marketer, it’s worth keeping Eventbrite in your toolkit for those times when you just need a quick, reliable way to handle event registration without a procurement process. And since attendees are familiar with it, you won’t spend time supporting technical questions – they’ve likely “got the ticket and know the drill.”

B2B event tools: Conclusion & selection guidance

Bringing it all together, we’ve reviewed five platforms, each excelling in different facets of B2B event marketing. Choosing the “best” tool really depends on your specific needs, event strategy, and organizational context. In many cases, companies end up using a combination of these tools for different purposes. Here’s a wrap-up and some guidance to help you decide:

• If you run large-scale events or a high volume of events as a core part of marketing (and need end-to-end control): Cvent is the heavyweight solution that likely covers all your bases. It’s the right choice if you have a dedicated events team and a budget to invest in a comprehensive platform. Cvent will shine for managing conferences, big customer summits, or extensive event programs where you need everything from a registration website to badge printing and post-event ROI reports in one place. It’s also a platform to consider if security and compliance are top of mind and you need a vendor that can check all enterprise IT boxes. Just be prepared for the cost and complexity; the payoff is huge if you leverage it fully. Many large UK B2B firms (especially in tech, finance, etc.) rely on Cvent to underpin their event strategy.

• If your focus is on delivering highly engaging event experiences (especially a mix of in-person and virtual) and you want a modern, all-in-one solution: Bizzabo is a top contender. It’s ideal for marketing teams who run marquee events or a series of thought leadership events where audience interaction is a priority – for example, a tech company doing an annual user conference plus monthly webinars. Bizzabo’s strength in hybrid events and networking makes it great if you anticipate some portion of your audience attending remotely or if you want to foster community-building at your events. Opt for Bizzabo if you value an intuitive UI and you’re aiming to impress attendees with a slick digital experience. In the UK, where hybrid events remain common (given geographically spread audiences), Bizzabo helps ensure neither your in-person nor your online attendees feel like second-class citizens.

• If you have a robust field marketing program with lots of smaller, repeatable events across regions (and need to empower many team members to run them efficiently): Splash will likely give you the best bang for your buck. It’s the choice for scaling up event frequency without scaling headcount. Use Splash if your pain point is inconsistency or difficulty managing dozens of events done by different people. For example, if you have 10 sales offices each running quarterly client roundtables, Splash ensures they all have great invites, tracked attendance, and shared data. It’s also very useful for international teams – UK marketers can set templates and colleagues in EMEA or APAC can localize and launch events easily. With Splash now part of Cvent, it could even serve as a feeder system: use Splash for your many small events, and when one of those evolves into a big annual conference, perhaps that jumps to Cvent. The key is, choose Splash if agility and brand control for frequent events matter more to you than deep complexity or advanced attendee features.

• If your company spends significant budget on trade shows and sponsorships and you need to maximize the ROI of those by capturing leads effectively: Integrate’s (Akkroo) lead capture tool is almost a no-brainer. This is the tool that directly tackles the often-forgotten “last mile” of event ROI – getting the leads into your pipeline. Go with this if you’ve ever had the frustration of coming back from an expo with a stack of business cards and scant follow-up. By implementing Integrate, you’re essentially saying: “Every single conversation we pay for at an event will be logged and followed up.” That discipline can dramatically improve revenue from events. It’s especially recommended for companies that do many events per year (say 10, 20, 50+ events), where manually managing leads would be chaos. If you only do one trade show a year, you might manage without it; but if events are monthly or bi-weekly occurrences, the cumulative value is huge. Integrate will give you comparative data too – helping you decide which events to double down on next year. In an environment where every marketing pound is scrutinized, having clear data on events is a competitive advantage.

• If you need a quick, cost-effective solution for event registration, or you’re just starting to build out an events program (and want to test the waters): Eventbrite is your friend. It’s the easiest way to get an event off the ground with minimal support. This is a great starting point for startups, small businesses, or any scenario where simplicity trumps sophistication. It’s also useful as a supplementary tool – for example, maybe you primarily use Cvent for big events but decide to throw an informal meetup on short notice; using Eventbrite for that might be perfectly sufficient and saves you the heavier setup. Choose Eventbrite when you don’t have complex needs and you want attendees to sign up with as few hurdles as possible. Just keep in mind that as your events strategy matures, you’ll likely incorporate other tools for the advanced needs (and that’s fine – Eventbrite can coexist, or you can migrate off it when the time comes).

It’s worth noting that these tools are not mutually exclusive. Many B2B marketers use multiple in tandem: for example, a large tech firm might use Cvent for their flagship user conference, Splash for their regional events, Integrate for when they exhibit at third-party trade shows, and Eventbrite if they sponsor a public community event. They each fill a role. The ultimate stack might involve two or three of them working together.

When deciding, consider factors like:

• Event size and frequency: Big, rare events lean toward comprehensive platforms (Cvent/Bizzabo); frequent small events lean toward agile tools (Splash/Eventbrite).

• Team structure: If you have an events team vs. events being one of many tasks for marketers. Dedicated teams can handle more complex tools.

• Integration with CRM/marketing automation: If proving ROI is crucial and you have the ops support, a tool that integrates deeply (Cvent, Splash, Integrate, Bizzabo all do) will save time. If you don’t have that infrastructure, Eventbrite’s simplicity might suffice for now.

• Audience expectations: C-suite executive audience might warrant a polished, bespoke experience (thus avoid anything too generic), whereas a developer meetup can be run on a simple platform and attendees won’t mind.

• Budget and ROI: High budget and high stakes (e.g., a user conference that costs £200k to put on) generally justify an enterprise platform to maximize the experience. Lower budget or experimental events call for more frugal options.

• Pandemic contingency: Although we hope for stable in-person events, having a virtual backup plan is wise. Bizzabo, Cvent, and even Splash (to some extent) offer virtual options, whereas Eventbrite can schedule a Zoom but doesn’t host content, and Integrate is irrelevant for virtual (no physical leads to scan unless you adapt it to virtual booth lists, which some do via uploading those contacts). So if pivoting to virtual is a concern, lean toward those with strong hybrid/virtual features.

Looking at the UK market specifically, we see a strong resurgence of live events – British B2B marketers are eager to get face-to-face with clients again, but they’re also more data-driven than before. The tools we’ve discussed reflect that balance: enabling richer in-person experiences (because humans crave them after years of webinars) while capturing digital data and signals from those experiences. Content from events (like session recordings or live polls) is now often repurposed for wider audiences, and platforms like Bizzabo facilitate that blending of live and digital content. Meanwhile, the emphasis on ROI and accountability in 2025 is higher than ever – every event is expected to justify itself. Tools like Cvent’s analytics or Integrate’s lead capture provide the evidence needed to defend event spend.

In conclusion, the best tool or mix of tools for you will hinge on your event strategy. It might help to map out your event types (flagship conference, product roadshows, third-party trade shows, webinars, etc.), estimate their frequency and importance, and see which tool aligns to each. You may find one platform covers 80% of them, or that you truly need separate ones for distinct purposes. Also consider the maturity of your event operations: if you’re just building the muscle, you might start small (say Eventbrite + a manual lead process) and then adopt more sophisticated solutions as you scale up (bringing in Splash or Integrate when volume increases, for instance).

The good news is, you’re not short of options. The tools we’ve reviewed are among the best in their categories, and they’re continuously evolving. By leveraging the right ones, you can transform events from stressful, hard-to-measure endeavors into streamlined, data-rich components of your marketing machine. B2B events have huge potential to drive business – they forge human connections and trust that few other channels can match. With the platforms and technology available in 2025, you can capture that magic and link it directly to outcomes.

So, whether you’re planning your next big expo booth or a series of executive dinners, equip yourself with the right toolset. It will save you time, elevate the attendee experience, and make sure no valuable contact slips through the cracks. Here’s to your events program reaching new heights – with happy attendees, happy sales teams (from quality leads), and a happy CMO who can see the impact on the bottom line. Good luck and see you on the show floor!

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