Laura Davidson has run more than 2,000 event campaigns a year across more than 40 countries, which means she has watched this exact decision play out at a scale almost nobody in this industry has access to. Her argument is that your agenda is the single most discoverable asset your event owns, and locking it behind a form costs you far more than the email addresses it collects. Especially now that buyers are asking an AI before they ask Google. Then we made her rule on seven more event marketing tactics most teams run on autopilot.
In this one:
Why gating your event agenda works against you in AI search, and what to publish instead
The one paid channel she says event marketers should stop buying entirely, and where that budget belongs
How many brand touches it actually takes before somebody registers for a B2B event, and why your campaign plan assumes a smaller number
Why the "last chance to register" email should go out four separate times, and the one thing that has to change in each send
The reason every trade show ad looks identical, and what the events pulling ahead are doing instead
If you are building next year’s campaign plan right now, this is the 18 minutes that will change two line items in it.
About the guest
Laura Davidson has spent 14 years running paid media for some of the largest trade shows and conferences in the world, at a volume that means she has watched the same mistakes repeat across more than 40 countries. She built Tag Digital out of Glasgow with her husband, sold it to Freeman, and now leads digital at mdg. She is unusually willing to tell you which of your tactics are wasting money.
Connect with Laura Davidson and Tag Digital:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lauratagdigital
mdg, a Freeman company: mdg.agency
Instagram: @tagdigitalglobal
About Your Host
Megan Martin is the founder of M Squared Dynamics, a consulting, facilitation, and content strategy firm helping event leaders, marketers, and sales teams turn live experiences into measurable business growth. She’s the host and executive producer of Event About It, co-founder of Opportunity Hunters, and a two-time PCMA Visionary Award nominee (2022 winner). With nearly 20 years in the industry, Megan operates at the intersection of event strategy, marketing alignment, and behavioral intent signals, turning events from line items into pipeline drivers.
Connect with Megan and M Squared Dynamics:
Podcast: EventAboutItPodcast.com
Newsletter (Step and Repeat): msquareddynamics.com/stepandrepeatsignup
Consulting and strategy: msquareddynamics.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmartincmp/
Instagram: @m2dynamics and @eventaboutit
TikTok: @eventaboutit
Keep the Conversation Going
Subscribe to Event About It so the Aftershow lands in your feed the second it drops. In it, Laura breaks down what replaces the click now that 68% of searches end without one, and what actually decides whether your event gets funded.
Send this episode to the demand gen lead who still thinks the agenda is a lead magnet.