Exit Five Newsletter #146

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Hello and welcome to the Exit Five Weekly Newsletter - read by 37,000 B2B marketing professionals around the world. Exit Five is a membership site designed to help you build a successful career in B2B marketing. Join 5,000 other members at exitfive.com.

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🧠 Here’s What 600+ Lifecycle Marketers Are Thinking About Right Now

Ever wonder what your peers are actually doing when it comes to lifecycle marketing?

Customer.io surveyed over 600 lifecycle marketers to get a read on what’s working, what’s not, and where teams are investing this year.

A few things stood out:

• Most teams are still prioritizing acquisition, but retention is starting to slip (down from 50% to 45%)
  
  
• Email is still the ROI king, but SMS is gaining traction as a fast, high-impact
  channel
  
  
• More than half of marketers say reporting is their biggest challenge – and most aren’t planning to fix it any time soon

If you’re leading lifecycle, growth, or retention, this report offers a real-world look at how other teams are approaching 2025… and what might be worth rethinking.

Get the full report here.

🦸‍♀️ How To Look Like A Hero With Your Next B2B Event

Events are back.

But throwing events without a strategy is like burning money.

So we chatted with event experts, Stephanie Christensen (previously Event Marketing Director at Qualtrics) and Kristina DeBrito (Director of Strategic Events at Iterable) to get years of their experience packed into bite-sized lessons you can steal.

Whether you’re launching your first user conference, investing in a sponsorship booth at a tradeshow, or looking into hosting micro-events, this guide will help you host a B2B event that will generate buzz and results.

Choose The Right Type of Event

Not all events are created equal. Your choice should align with your specific objectives and company stage:

• Growing Brand? Leverage third-party events to build awareness. Go where your audience already gathers.
  
  
• Established Brand? Host your own “flagship conference” once you can fill 500+ seats confidently.
  
  
• On a Budget? Try piggybacking off of other major conferences your prospects already go to and host intimate events, like dinners.
  
  
• Already Have Their Attention? Executive roundtables and VIP experiences work wonders for accelerating deals already in progress.

The ultimate test: Would YOU be excited to attend this event? If not, it's time to rethink your approach.

Set Clear Goals (Beyond Just Registration Numbers)

Match your metrics to your event's purpose:

• Top of Funnel: Track new leads, site traffic spikes, and social mentions to measure brand impact.
  
  
• Middle of Funnel: Compare deal velocity between event attendees vs. non-attendees. The key question: "How much faster do these deals close?"
  
  
• Bottom of Funnel: Monitor direct pipeline generated and deal size differences. Event attendees will likely have higher billing size and shorter sales cycles.
  
  
• Customer Events: Focus on retention metrics - product adoption increases, NPS improvements, and expansion opportunities.

Pro tip: Define your primary metrics (revenue) and secondary metrics (brand) before your event begins to avoid measurement paralysis.

Get Internal Alignment

The difference between average and exceptional event results often comes down to internal coordination:

• Make Registration Visible: Set up Slack notifications that alert sales when target accounts register, giving them real-time intel on who's attending.
  
  
• Gamify Participation: Create leaderboards showing which teams drive the most registrations. Nothing motivates like healthy competition.
  
  
• Skip Mass Emails: Present directly at sales team meetings instead of sending ignored updates. Offer brainstorming sessions for account-specific strategies.
  
  
• Incentivize Results: Simple rewards for SDRs who bring key accounts work wonders, whether event tickets or recognition.

The magic happens when marketing and sales move in lockstep.

Make It Memorable

The most successful B2B events leave attendees with stories to tell:

• Surprise & Delight: Forget branded stress balls. Try a pancake artist creating custom logo pancakes or tarot card readings that create natural conversations.
  
  
• Focus on 3 Elements: Educate, entertain, and inspire them. Most events nail one or two but miss the third.
  
  
• Location Matters: The venue itself makes a statement about your brand. A sterile hotel conference room sends a different message than a trendy brewery or unique creative space.

The ultimate goal isn't just hosting another event. it's creating an experience people can't get anywhere else.

Master Post-Event Follow Up

The most critical phase of your event strategy happens after everyone goes home:

• Act Quickly: Don't let those warm connections cool down.
  
  
• Create Unique Offers: Skip the generic nurture campaigns. Create personalized next steps based on actual conversations had during the event, not just attendance data.
  
  
• Segment Strategically: Group attendees based on engagement level and ICP status. Your highest-value prospects deserve white-glove follow-up, not mass emails.
  
  
• Babysit the Process: Having a dedicated person in the weeds saying, “What's the next follow-up, who have you called?'" is essential. Don't assume sales will prioritize this without oversight.

The difference between mediocre and exceptional ROI often comes down to this final phase.

People are craving connection more than ever. But you can’t just throw an event to check a box. You need to have a plan. Because when they’re executed thoughtfully from planning through follow-up, they deliver ROI that justifies every dollar spent.

📺 UPCOMING EVENTS

🔄 [TODAY] Mastering Lifecycle Marketing: Real-World Tactics from Leading B2B Teams

Lifecycle Marketing is having a moment.

More teams are investing in it. More marketers are owning it. And more companies are realizing that what happens after someone signs up is just as critical as getting them there in the first place.

But what does great lifecycle marketing actually look like in 2025? In today's Exit Five Live session, we’re teaming up with Customer.io to dig into exactly that.

We’ll talk to two marketers who are deep in the trenches of lifecycle marketing: owning strategy, building programs, and driving results across the customer journey.

Hosted by Danielle Messler, Head of Content at Exit Five, this session will cover:

• How leading B2B teams define and structure lifecycle marketing
• What’s working (and what’s not) across email, in-app, and beyond
• How to approach onboarding, engagement, retention, and winback with intention
• Lifecycle trends to keep an eye on this year

No fluff. No pitches. Just a tactical, honest conversation about what it takes to make lifecycle marketing work in B2B.

There’ll be plenty of time for live Q&A, so bring your questions (and maybe a hot take or two).

Join Live or Get the Recording

🏢 OPEN ROLES

Who's hiring right now?

🔥 HOT JOB OF THE WEEK: Walnut is hiring a Senior Content and Brand Strategist to help shape and execute their content strategy, promote the Product-Led Everything movement, and fuel demand generation efforts. The ideal candidate has a passion for storytelling, a solid grasp of brand-building, and the ability to orchestrate a network of freelance and agency resources.

Interested? Apply here.

Other open roles on the Exit Five job board this week:

• Buddy Punch is hiring a Head of Marketing
• New North is hiring a Growth Marketing Strategist
• Clearscope is hiring a Partnerships Marketing Manager
• Overjet is hiring a Head of Growth Marketing
• Ten Speed is hiring a Senior Designer
• ATSG is hiring a Manager, Content & Brand
• Overjet is hiring a Head of Product Marketing
• Neara is hiring a Demand Generation Manager
• Great Question is hiring a Senior Demand Generation Specialist
• EcoInteractive is hiring a Marketing Coordinator

See all open roles

Have an open role and want to make sure the best B2B marketing talent sees it?

Just reply to this email and we'll send over more info on how you can post it on our job board + get it in front of 25k+ marketers.

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