CHICAGO — The 2025 Channel Insights report is revealing telling statistics around exhibitor success and what B2B event organizers should lean into to maintain and increase their market share in the post-pandemic landscape.
Through the surveying of more than 3,00 events over the period of 2017 to 2025, the report highlights how exhibitors feel about events now, and what they’re looking for in the future as budget constraints and pressure to prove ROI from participating increase.
Trade Show Executive is breaking down the report’s six key findings further for show organizers to understand their competitive advantages and how to best leverage them.
1. Exhibitors are Getting More Value from Events Post-Pandemic
The report measured the exhibitor experience through four traditional metrics: Overall Satisfaction, Likelihood of Return, Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Importance.
NPS saw the largest increase from before to after the pandemic, jumping a staggering 27 points, while overall satisfaction saw a jump from a 2019-high of 3.55 to the high in 2022 of 3.80. Scores for likelihood of return say a bump from 3.88 up to 4.08, and the importance rating rose from 3.68 to 3.93. The increases have remained consistent since 2022, and demonstrate that the improving satisfaction from events is not just a “honeymoon period,” but is the beginning of a trend.
2. Event Objectives are Being Met More Successfully
Compounding with exhibitors’ increasing satisfaction is that their objectives for attending events are being met with more success. The objective that has seen the biggest increase in its average achievement score since the pandemic is meeting with existing customers, with a .68 change on a 5-point scale.
The next highest achievement score ratings are for launching a new brand, product or service (.56 change), entering new markets or geographies (.43 change), generating leads/collecting target customer data (.40 change), and market information gathering (.37 change).
“For years, organizers have encouraged exhibitors to invite their customers to key shows. Yet at the average event, only about half of exhibitors take advantage of this chance to secure valuable face time with existing clients — a major missed opportunity for the rest,” said Explori CEO Mark Brewster. “This research provides compelling, large-scale, independent evidence that exhibitors who use shows to engage with their current customers report notably higher ROI and satisfaction than those who don’t. My hope is that shows worldwide embrace this evidence to improve attendee acquisition efficiency, attract more qualified buyers and, most importantly, deliver stronger returns for every exhibitor.”
3. In-Person Connection is More Important Than Ever
It should come as no surprise that after a few years without face-to-face meetings and events, there is a renewed sense of importance of live events. Besides the hiatus of events, the shift to remote and hybrid working models has also increased the desire and importance of meeting face to face. Adding to this increasing importance is the rise of content volume and “digital fakes” online as technologies like AI continue to evolve and make it harder for brands to cut through the online noise.
4. Economic Pressure is Driving Smarter Exhibiting Strategy
While overall satisfaction is on the come-up and there is a heightened sense of importance of in-person events, the ever-present challenge to everyone is costs. Now exacerbated by global inflationary pressures that have far outpaced budgets, cost containment is a top priority for exhibitors — and they’re ready to explore their options.
Since the pandemic, exhibitors have reported being more selective about what events to attend and focused on measuring their success by the quality of interactions they have rather than quantity. There is also an increased focus on relationship-building and management to help increase their ROI.
And while they are looking to grow their impact without blowing out their budget, exhibitors are increasingly looking to data to help them make decisions and be more strategic about their spending.
Related. 2025 Channel Insights Report Details How to Maintain Momentum for Improving Exhibitor Satisfaction
As exhibitors look to adjust the way they show up for events, for example looking to sponsoring rather than exhibiting, it is more important than ever that event organizers provide the systems and tools to help brands understand their objectives and success at an event to remain a relevant channel for them to use.
5. Flexibility and Collaboration are Key to Event Success
Another key finding from the report is that exhibitors are looking for more flexibility and collaboration from show organizers in how they are able to participate in events based on their objectives.
“I tell my teams that we don’t need to sign up for a booth just because you think you have to. Instead of a booth, maybe sponsor a lounge or ancillary event, or host a private reception or happy hour. That’s what we shifted the model to in order to maximize our ROI,” stated Dean Armintrout, Senior Director, Experiential Marketing at Zendesk, in the report.
Armintrout’s comment reflects the growing need for more flexibility in how brands can participate and show up for shows. Events that don’t allow non-exhibitors to sponsor may miss out because of their more stringent policies, ultimately losing customers and leaving revenue on the table.
When it comes to different event formats, the study shows that B2B festivals are generating significantly higher NPS and Overall Satisfaction ratings. While a traditional trade show has an average overall satisfaction rating of 3.8, B2B festivals see an average of 4.01; and the jump is even higher in NPS ratings with B2B festivals scoring an average of 27.9 while traditional their trade show counterparts only score an 8.5.
On the collaboration front, exhibitors are looking for organizers to work with them as a strategic partnership, so that event formats and packages can be designed with the exhibitors’ needs top-of-mind. The report also revealed that exhibitors are looking for better data-sharing and “playbooks” or other information guides to help them maximize their ROI.
A Vice President of Events in the aerospace industry said the following in the report: “If organizers want a multi-year commitment from exhibitors, then they need to show their mid-term strategy, and help us as well to see the long-term impact. This being said, they must be able to follow the trends, and the trends are changing quickly. So, it’s a mix of being agile, but also having a clear road map and being able to show what is unique when you attend this exhibition.”
6. Technology Can Unlock Greater Efficiencies
Contributors to the report also highlighted the importance of technology in the overall event experience, with many saying they feel technology, especially AI, could be used more effectively to enhance experiences, help facilitate connections and create logistical efficiencies for attendees and exhibitors.
“AI is no longer just a talking point — it’s becoming a tangible part of the physical event experience. We’re already integrating it into live demos workshops, breakouts and smaller customer touchpoints. It’s not just a slide in the deck anymore — it’s powering registration flows, driving personalized interactions and even shaping high-stake executive sessions. The opportunity isn’t whether to use AI, it’s how creatively and meaningfully you bring it to life in every part of the event journey,” stated Vanessa Karlsson, Director, Global Events at Cisco, in the report.
