Where should your event budget go? What attendees at B2B events told us

The decisions behind every event

When running events is your business, every event comes with a long list of investment decisions. The floor plan, the content programme, matchmaking, the event app, signage, catering, features and evening receptions all compete for the same budget. Each one needs to earn its place, for your visitors and for the exhibitors and sponsors whose rebookings keep the event growing.

The people best placed to say where that money works hardest are your attendees. They know exactly why they came, what made the day worthwhile and what would make next year even better. That insight lives in conversations on the event floor, in the coffee queue and on the way out of the hall. Capturing it is what we do at Lorefully. So we went back through our own research to see what attendees say about where an event’s budget should go.

How we gathered the evidence

Between June 2025 and September 2026, Lorefully’s researchers attended seven B2B events across a range of sectors. On the day, our Lorerunners move around the stands, networking areas and corridors. They have natural conversations with visitors and exhibitors, asking the questions the organiser wants answered. The Lorefully platform transcribes each conversation as it happens and analyses it straight away, turning it into structured insight the organiser can act on.

For this piece, we brought together 822 answers to questions such as “what was the best part of the event?”, “what are your main priorities for visiting?” and “what’s one thing we should improve?”. We tagged every answer by the areas of event spend it mentioned. We also read a further 134 contributions in full from two other events. Every event and every person has been kept anonymous.

This is qualitative evidence, in people’s own words, so we read the figures as patterns. The patterns are clear and consistent across very different events.

Finding 1: Attendees come for three things

Of 387 answers about why people attend, three areas stood out:

• Exhibitors, products and new ideas: 35%
• Networking and meeting the right people: 32%
• Content, talks and learning: 13%

These three areas account for almost every reason attendees gave for coming.

Attendees described their visits in practical, commercial terms. One said simply: “See new products, see how products are changing.” Another came for “Connecting with the suppliers which could save my money and time.”

For organisers, this is good news. Your visitors arrive ready to do business. That is exactly what your exhibitors are paying to reach. Investment that strengthens the exhibitor mix, helps the right people find each other and keeps the content programme relevant serves both audiences at once. It also builds the case for exhibitors to rebook.

Finding 2: The basics protect the experience

Signage, the venue and the event app were rarely a reason to come. They were, however, where attendees most often had ideas for improvement. Of 435 answers about what to fix or improve:

• Signage and information: 27%
• The venue: 22%
• The event app: 22%

Attendees asked for clear directions to food and water, floor maps that show the essentials, and simple pre-event information about arrival. One attendee told us: “I think I still don’t know where to get the food.”

The event app offered the biggest opportunity. At one event, we asked 35 attendees and exhibitors about it:

• Four described using it and finding it useful.
• Eleven were unaware it existed.
• Ten wanted a smoother map, log-in or connection.
• Nine had yet to download it or had barely used it.

The people who used it well valued the navigation: “I really like the map navigation really handy.” Promoting the app before the event and keeping it focused on wayfinding could give the existing investment a much bigger return.

We call these hygiene factors. They work quietly in the background, and getting them right protects the value your event creates everywhere else.

Finding 3: Features work best when they connect to business

Giveaways, games and evening receptions bring energy to the event floor. Attendees rarely named them as a reason to come, which makes them worth a closer look when you plan the budget.

At one event, we asked visitors which stand activity they remembered most. Most recalled the activity itself: football, darts, basketball, ice cream, beer. The activities that turned into business were the ones linked to a product. One visitor remembered a stand demonstrating a van security product, and bought from it. An exhibitor running a game summed up what they wanted from the day:

That is useful guidance for organisers too. Features that give exhibitors and visitors a reason to talk tend to deliver more for everyone.

Evening receptions drew helpful feedback about timing. One attendee suggested bringing hospitality into the event day, or choosing to “invest further in the lunch”.

Finding 4: Small investments can make a big impression

Some of the investments attendees valued most were also among the simplest:

• Showing who will be there. One attendee said an app listing who was attending, including well-known names, gave them the confidence that the day would be worth their time.
• Recognising people. Another described being met by name at an event abroad, by organisers who already knew who they were. When asked to rebook, they said yes straight away.
• Helping people choose content. Attendees asked for alerts for talks they had saved, and for help picking the sessions most relevant to them.
• Looking after exhibitors. A solo exhibitor highlighted the lunch voucher and drinks included in their package, which meant they could stay on their stand all day.

A simple map for your next event budget

Put together, attendees’ answers sort event spend into three groups:

1. Value drivers: exhibitors and products, networking and content. This is why people come, so invest here first.
2. Hygiene factors: signage, the venue and the app. Getting these right protects everything else.
3. Features to connect to business: giveaways, games and evening events work hardest when they spark conversations, link to products or fit the shape of the event day.

Investing with confidence

The organisers who grow their events year on year are the ones who know what their audiences value. Registration numbers and badge scans show who attended. Attendees’ own words add why they came, what they valued and what would bring them back. That evidence is richest when it’s captured on the day, while the experience is fresh.

This is where Lorefully helps. We work with event organisers to capture what visitors, exhibitors and sponsors are saying at their events, and turn it into structured, evidence-based insight. That gives you a clear view of where your budget is working hardest, where small changes would make a big difference, and what to tell exhibitors and sponsors when it’s time to rebook.

If you’d like to hear what your attendees would say about your event, and where your next budget could work even harder, we’d love to talk. Get in touch at hello@lorefully.com.