Market Trends
Four major growth trends in the knowledge and information economy are informing our strategy and capital allocation.
In a more digital world, the value of live is higher than ever.
More of our professional lives is now spent online. Business and team meetings, research and learning are more likely to happen through digital platforms and channels.
But as live experiences and opportunities to connect in person have become scarcer, they have also become more valuable.
We invest in building and maintaining leading scale events that are the key annual convening place for the specialist markets we serve.
These provide opportunities to connect and build relationships with suppliers, partners and customers face to face and see complex products first hand – things that are now increasingly rare – and to do that at scale in one place.
B2B buying behaviour has become more complex and digital
When businesses purchase products and choose suppliers, more of their research is now conducted online before they make direct contact with a company about a solution.
For vendors, online presence and digital brand awareness are critical, with more companies focusing spend on branded content services, thought leadership and whitepaper distribution, digital event participation and advertising on the most relevant platforms and media.
When prospective buyers interact with these platforms, it also generates valuable data that can provide sales teams with insight into customers’ intent to purchase.
In 2021, we created IIRIS, our first-party data engine, to capture, enrich and analyse customer data and interactions across our B2B brands and products. We subsequently built out our lead generation and audience development services, particularly within Informa Tech and through acquiring NetLine and Industry Dive.