Marketing Pro Group (MPG)

“We’re not 100% sure if GA4 is set up correctly...” If you’ve said this - or even thought it - you’re not alone. During our recent GA4 webinar, only 4% of attendees said they were confident their setup was implemented correctly. The vast majority said they were either unsure, suspected gaps, or knew something wasn’t quite right. If you think your GA4 might be collecting some data - but you're not sure if it’s the right data, or how to interpret it - you’re not the only one. Because GA4 was not a straightforward 'upgrade' to the previous version of Google Analytics, we see a lot of companies still grappling with it. Almost every company we talk to needs a GA4 audit and revamp to ensure their tracking is set up correctly and that ROI on marketing investment is showing accurately. And here’s the key thing: You can’t expect your marketing function to successfully and meaningfully prove ROI if your tracking isn't accurate, complete, or aligned with your goals. What we really need to normalise is taking action once we acknowledge this problem. It's not acceptable to ignore: ➤ unclear reporting on marketing ROI, an dhow this breaks down channel by channel... ➤ ... and by extension, the undermining effect this can have on the value of marketing as a function. This is about the quality of insights that power your campaigns, guide your budget decisions, and ultimately shape your growth strategy. So what do you do next? Here’s what we recommend to every business we work with: ➤ Start with a GA4 audit. Not a quick check that GA4 is switched on and has numbers feeding through to reports - but a thorough, objective review. Are your key events being tracked? Are your goals correctly configured? Is the data flowing properly? ➤ Get clarity on what you actually need from GA4. It’s not about tracking everything. It’s about tracking what matters to your business. Start with your goals, then work backwards to the metrics. Involve the right people. ➤ If you don’t have in-house expertise, bring in external help - even if it’s just for a sense-check. Sometimes a second pair of expert eyes can identify major gaps (or confirm you're on the right track). We’ve seen time and again how much value unlocks when businesses stop guessing and start being able to trust their data 100%. But that trust only comes when you know the foundations are solid. So, if you’re sitting with that feeling - “I hope GA4 is working...but I don't really know” - please know this: ✅ You’re not alone. ✅ It’s fixable. ✅ And the sooner you fix it, the faster you’ll get the insights you need to make confident decisions. DM Helen Coetzee today to find out how Team MPG can help. Or find out more here https://bit.ly/3G2avQW

Our new and essential blog series: "EVENTS CEOs' MARKETING SERIES" is now live. The big question we're diving into for Part 1 of this series is: what marketing resources do we need to realise the growth potential of our events? In the blog we explore the following key questions every events leader should be asking: ✅ PEOPLE: “Do we have the right level of marketing knowledge, skills and manpower to grow our flagship/star events?” ✅ DESIGN: “Have we set the right budget for branding and design? What can be ‘rinsed and repeated’ or repurposed from last year, and what needs reworking or redoing?” ✅ WEBSITE: “Are our event websites set up correctly to drive the level of engagement, leads and registrations we need?” ✅ DATABASE: "Which contact records do we need to clean and/or tag to make sure we reach the right people with the right messages?" "Which data sets do we need to grow to make sure we have enough relevant contact records for our key audience groups on our key events?" "Have we considered the marketing needed for both delegates/visitors and to attract new exhibitors/sponsors?" ✅ PPC/PAID MEDIA: “Have we set aside enough money for media spend and to pay PPC/Paid Media experts to run our campaigns well? And are we getting visible ROI from this channel?” ✅ ADVOCACY: “Have we invested in an automated ‘word of mouth’ tool?” Read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/4iRqVKP To receive a notification each time we publish a new instalment to the series, sign up to MPG Insights here https://bit.ly/4iM7KBS.

AI allows events businesses access to powerful new tools, but it can’t replace your event marketing team (or your need for human marketers if you don’t have a full time team in place). It’s tempting to think we can replace our people (an expensive resource) with the likes of chatGPT i.e. very low cost or free tools that anyone can use. As Jodie Cook writes in this article for Forbes, if we rely too heavily on AI tools, we risk losing the edge that makes our marketing truly effective. The human touch still matters. Strategy, creativity, nuance - these are things machines can support, but not replace. Having AI at your fingertips is like having a hundred 'coalface' marketers ready to execute - but they still need a strong marketing manager to plan, brief, guide, and review their work. That’s why experienced marketers are more critical than ever. They know how to set effective strategies and leverage the right tools to bring these strategies to life. Having the right people in the right roles working on strategy, planning, coordination, and communication - all human skills - has never been more important, especially as we head into a thriving but crowded B2B event landscape in 2026. You may have the opportunity to grow your flagship event rapidly, But without a solid human foundation, even the most advanced AI won’t deliver the results you need. That’s why getting the right balance and strategically blending human insight with smart tech is the best formula for success.

Earlier today, I spent an hour in an online seminar with some #B2B #event #marketers - all valued members of Marketing Pro Group (MPG)'s network. We talked about the most important updates to #PPC/ #paidmedia platforms that event marketers need to be aware of, with MPG’s PPC/Paid Media gurus taking us through these updates - step-by-step. What stood out for me today was the need to understand and be focused on the right #metrics when measuring #ROI of PPC/Paid Media. Far too often the vanity metrics of impressions, clicks and views are the main focus, when there are far more valuable and important metrics to be concerned about! Here is MPG’s framework of PPC metrics that matter – in order of importance: VALUABLE METRICS get straight to the point. Return-on-ad-spend (%) Total conversions (#) Cost-per-conversion (£) Conversion rate (%) VIABLE METRICS give you supporting insight Click-through-rate (%) Cost-per-click (£) Cost-per-mille (£) VANITY METRICS mean nothing in isolation Impression (#) Clicks (#) Views (#) If you PPC/Paid Media agency is: (1) Only reporting on vanity metrics, and/or (2) Telling you conversion metrics are impossible due to tracking issues …then you need to get in touch with me ASAP so I can show you how MPG does things. We ALWAYS make sure conversions can be tracked and TRUE ROI can be measured. It’s time we shook things up. Let us help you make PPC/Paid Media a real growth driver for your business – bringing in more revenue and making your business more profitable. No channel is more automated or more scalable than PPC/Paid Media. It’s time to get serious about this critically important area of event marketing!

2026 is going to be a big year for events if our conversations with event leaders are anything to go by, so now is a great time to be strategising about how you'll exponentially grow your flagship event’s delegates and revenue. The event sector is booming and you can reasonably expect event marketers to reach big targets the likes of which may have felt less achievable in previous years. If you think your event marketing resources needs bolstering - get Team MPG on board to fill the resource and skills gaps to complement your in-house resources. We work alongside many great event marketers, giving them the chance to grow their knowledge, skills and confidence on our journey together - making any project with us a long term investment in your business growth. Or we can be your whole event marketing team if in-house resources are not in place. We also put in place essential efficient and scalable processes for event marketing that will be in place and help you grow for many years to come, even after we have “left the building”. MPG future-proofs your business when it comes to event marketing capabilities. We handle every aspect of integrated multi-channel campaigns, database growth and digital marketing. Our 12 year track record speaks for itself. DM Helen Coetzee today to find out how Team MPG can boost your event marketing when you need it most. Or find out more here https://bit.ly/3DObPX7

We really enjoy working with Donna, an event marketer at Questex. We understand what it’s like to be an event marketer, and we work hard to make it's easy for them to plan and run their PPC campaigns, ensuring they understand what we’re doing and why we do things the way we are. We make sure they can learn more about how PPC works while we're setting up, managing and optimising the campaigns for their events. And - most importantly - we make sure the results are both strong and visible, so marketers can present ROI focused results back to their businesses. Our PPC experts regularly spend time with clients in project meetings - giving them full access to the people in MPG who work directly on their campaigns. What we do, and how we do it is truly unique. And we believe that our clients - like Donna - know that!

Thank you Tamar Beck at Gleanin for another insightful post. Here’s our take: We work with B2B event organisers to enact a genuine shift to a balanced multi-channel marketing approach, and in the past few months we've had many conversations with event leaders who still see event marketing almost entirely focused on email campaigns. Relying almost solely on email as the main driver of bookings is now a very risky approach. Email is still an important channel and it needs optimising with data that is well structured and more relevant messaging for more segmented lists. But even when you're doing this, email is not enough. PPC/Paid Media is now a very important channel - alongside email and advocacy. PPC/Paid Media can no longer be ignored or given less attention than it deserves and needs. Our 1st piece of advice is: don’t spend a penny on clicks until you’re sure you can measure ROI. That doesn't mean impressions and clicks - which are vanity metrics. Make sure you can accurately measure conversions too. Here are 3 red flags to look out for to avoid wasting your money on PPC/Paid Media campaigns: (1) You’ve been told CONVERSIONS from PPC campaigns can’t be tracked. This is usually not true. We can only speak from experience, but Team MPG has always been able to put conversion tracking in place for our clients - even if a workaround is needed when systems are tricky. It can be done, if the people working on it know how to do it. (2) You’re being told PPC/Paid Media results are good, but you've only been given data on impressions and clicks. On their own, impressions and clicks are pure vanity metrics. Without metrics related to conversions (see point 1), they mean nothing. (3) The people running your campaigns are using AI & machine learning within the platforms to do most of the work. This may sound like a good idea, but means the algorithm is not being trained properly and your ads are probably going to look and sound bad. So they won't work. A combination of skilled people using a 'high touch' method, and conversion tracking in place (see point 1) are what you need to train PPC algorithms to reach target audiences you're aiming for. This is especially important when you're marketing B2B events - where an untrained algorithm will burn through your budget very quickly and all you'll have to show for it is lots of impressions and clicks, and not much else. These 3 red flags can be eliminated quickly with the right level of focus and campaign managers who know what they are doing when it comes to PPC and events. The good news is that when you get PPC right for events, it's incredibly powerful and you'll see a boost in bookings - getting beyond your reliance on email marketing. MPG are a safe pair of hands when it comes to PPC for events - ensuring this is integrated with other important channels like advocacy and email. We know how to do it the right way and have the track record to prove it. DM Helen Coetzee to find out more.

MPG's 'sweet spot' is working on #events that are already at min. £500k revenue and have the potential to #grow to £1m+ within two years. Sometimes we also work on #eventlaunches when we believe the right ingredients are in place for a £1m+ event within 3 years of launch. Working on these flagship and high growth events, we have helped many #founders and events leaders achieve #fastergrowth than they would have without us on board. Plus - we make sure the growth is sustainable because we embed systems, processes and data in our clients' business that enable continuity and #scale. We pay for ourselves - many times over. And that is how all #marketing should work! One of the main reasons why MPG's methodology works, time and time again, is that we always start by laying strong #strategicfoundations for growth. A key foundation stone is a solid #marketmap. I've included a simple screenshot below. It's pretty basic, but so few companies do this thoroughly enough and early enough in the #growthjourney of their key events. Once the foundation of 'who do we want in the room' is established, we layer on relevant, value-based #messaging for each key target group, as well as #marketsizing of each segment to make sure the growth opportunity - the size of the prize - is well mapped out. These are just three of a number of strategically important things we do very thoroughly for our clients in the early stages of working on a growth event. And we insist on all key foundations being in place before we start the main marketing campaign - because we know that outbound campaigns and inbound marketing will work a LOT better once this groundwork has been done. It's this groundwork that is the key to boosting numbers and revenue, while also attracting exactly the right event attendees, sponsors and exhibitors who are likely to come back year after year. If you're a founder or senior executive in an events business and would like to talk through the all the 'groundwork' areas - I'd be delighted to have a chat! I love talking to progressive, ambitious leaders about how they can grow their events with the right marketing approach - one step at a time, doing the right things well, in the right order, at the time. #eventleadership #growthmarketing Marketing Pro Group (MPG)

Event marketing is difficult. And training event marketers to do their best work and produce great results takes a lot of focus, time, effort, and event marketing expertise. So, when I am asked "How have you trained your marketers in MPG? How have you created such strong event marketing skills and knowledge, and such a great event marketing team?" My answer is this... I have not trained them. They have trained one another. AS A TEAM they have all the knowledge and skills event marketers need to do a great job in helping our clients grow their events faster. The whole team trains the whole team. Being immersed in a TEAM of event marketers who live and breathe event marketing, with all the specialist and technical knowledge they need at their fingertips, with a true teaching and learning culture at the core of our business - is what makes MPG unique. Marketing Pro Group (MPG)

We love working with Kirsty McKenna and the team at Questex. Kirsty is an inspirational leader: results-driven, and deeply invested in her team's success. She has the vision to understand the incredible impact that her marketing team can have with MPG working alongside them. Together we are empowering Questex - a leading information and events company in the experience economy - to exponentially grow their reach and deliver their essential value to more people within their chosen markets.