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According to Forrester, 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a prospect ever speaks to sales. That means the most critical window to influence decisions opens earlier than most teams realize.
Events—whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person—offer a powerful opportunity to capture first-party intent when buyers are most engaged. But too often, those signals remain hidden in plain sight—buried in data that goes unused.
Every event attended, session joined, and question asked is a signal—an indicator of where a buyer is in their journey and how ready they are to engage. When captured and activated correctly, these signals can help marketing leaders prioritize the right accounts, personalize outreach, and accelerate deals.
What Are Event Buying Signals—and Why Do They Matter?
Event buying signals are behavioral cues that reveal a prospect’s interest, intent, and buying readiness—captured through how they engage before, during, and after your event. And when it comes to signal strength, nothing delivers deeper insight than live attendee behavior.
Think about it: when someone registers for a webinar, attends a session, responds to a poll question, or downloads a resource, they’re telling you something. They’re raising their hand. These actions are more than just engagement—they indicate intent.
It allows you to move beyond vanity metrics and focus on what really matters: buying behavior.
Where to Find Buyer Signals in Your Events
According to a study by Aberdeen Group, marketers who use intent data see a 2x increase in conversion rates. The ability to detect and interpret these signals offers a competitive advantage. Events—whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person—are goldmines of buyer intent. They offer a unique opportunity to observe how prospects interact in real time, what topics they care about, and how deeply they engage.
Here are just a few examples of signals to look for:
- Session Duration – Signals sustained interest or drop-off points
- Live Engagement – Poll responses, Q&A, and chat activity highlight real-time intent
- Repeat Attendance – Indicates growing interest and deeper consideration
- Content Interactions – Downloads and resource visits show topic-level buying signals
These signals can reveal where a buyer is in their journey—early-stage interest, mid-funnel evaluation, or late-stage decision-making. And when aggregated across accounts, they can help you prioritize outreach and tailor messaging with precision.
How to Turn Event Signals into Revenue Results
Capturing buyer signals is only the first step. The real value comes from activating that data—turning it into actionable insights that drive pipeline.
Here’s how marketing leaders can operationalize event data:
1. Integrate with Your Tech Stack
Ensure your event platform is integrated with your CRM and marketing automation tools. This allows you to sync engagement data in real time and enrich lead and account profiles.
2. Refine Lead Scoring Models
Incorporate event signals into your lead scoring logic. For example, attending a high-intent session or asking a product-related question could increase a lead’s score significantly.
3. Enable Sales with Context
Equip your sales team with detailed engagement insights. Knowing that a prospect attended a session on a specific product feature can inform more relevant and timely follow-up.
4. Personalize Nurture Campaigns
Use event behavior to trigger personalized email journeys. Someone who attended a session on “AI in Marketing” might receive follow-up content on that topic, along with a CTA to book a demo.
5. Identify Buying Committees
Events often attract multiple stakeholders from the same account. Mapping engagement across roles can help you identify and influence the full buying committee.
Your Next Best Signal Is Already in Your Data
Buyer signals are everywhere—but the most actionable ones are often hiding in your event data. By capturing, interpreting, and activating these signals, marketing executives can move beyond guesswork and start driving real pipeline impact.
The next time you host a webinar or field event, don’t just measure attendance. Look deeper. The answers are in your data. See what your buyers are telling you with their behavioral data? And how can you use that insight to move them closer to a decision?
Don’t let valuable signals slip by. Every attendee action is a window into buyer intent—if you know where to look. That’s where Certain comes in. We help you uncover and activate the insights hidden in your event engagement—so you can prioritize accounts, accelerate deals, and prove event ROI.
Ready to Turn Event Engagement into Revenue? Connect with a Certain event expert to see how event signals can become your most powerful pipeline driver.