Event to Pipeline Playbook for EU Conferences

In-person events are back — and they’re more valuable than ever.

Across the Baltics, Nordics, and wider EU, B2B founders are again flying to trade shows, SaaS summits, and tech expos. But for most teams, the ROI ends when the badges come off.

You spend thousands on travel, stands, and tickets — yet walk away with a pile of business cards and vague “let’s keep in touch” promises.

At GrowTech, we’ve helped dozens of European startups turn those missed opportunities into repeatable event-to-pipeline systems. The secret isn’t just being visible at conferences; it’s knowing how to turn each event into a 4-week outbound sprint that books meetings before, during, and after the show.

Why events still matter for B2B sales

In the digital-first world, face-to-face moments stand out more than ever.

For European buyers, especially in the Nordics and Baltics, personal trust is everything. A five-minute conversation at an event can build more credibility than twenty cold emails.

But that only works if you treat the event as part of your sales process — not as a one-off marketing expense.

When done right, events become a predictable pipeline generator.

The GrowTech 4-phase event playbook

Our clients use this system to plan, execute, and follow up around every major EU event. The key: treat conferences as campaigns, not calendar dates.

Phase 1: Pre-event targeting (2–3 weeks before)

1. Research who’s attending.
2. Use the event page, LinkedIn hashtags, and attendee lists. Export key prospects into your CRM or Sales Navigator.
3. Engage early.
   • Comment on their posts about attending the event.
   • Send a friendly message:
   • “Hey, saw you’ll be at SaaStock in Copenhagen — are you open to a quick chat there about outbound expansion?”
   • Keep it casual. You’re starting a relationship, not booking yet.
4. Run a pre-event content sprint.
5. Post once or twice per week about topics related to the event — “Top 3 things we’re testing before SaaStock” or “How Lithuanian SaaS teams prepare for EU events.”
6. This visibility warms up your prospects before they ever meet you.

Phase 2: On-site outreach (during the event)

1. Go for micro-meetings, not demos.
2. Forget 45-minute presentations. Focus on 10–15 minute face-to-face chats — coffee, hallway, or stand corners.
3. Use LinkedIn search + event filters.
4. Message attendees nearby using the “at event” tag. A simple “Hey, I’m also here — want to meet for 10 min?” works wonders.
5. Capture context, not contacts.Don’t collect cards for the sake of it. Instead, write one line in your notes:
   • “Interested in AI outreach”
   • “Expanding to Baltics Q1”
   • “Needs SDRs for Nordic region”

Those notes fuel your follow-up relevance later.

Phase 3: Post-event follow-up (within 48 hours)

Timing is everything. By the third day after the event, most people forget who they met.

Your goal is to strike while you’re still fresh in their memory.

1. Personalize the first message.
2. Example:
3. “Hey Anna, great chat about Nordic expansion at TechBBQ — here’s the deck I mentioned on outbound frameworks.”
4. Send short, visual recaps.
5. Post-event LinkedIn posts showing your team, takeaways, or highlights help re-engage leads who saw you at the show.
6. Run a “post-event sprint.”
7. For one week, your whole team should focus on re-engaging event contacts — no generic campaigns, only event-specific follow-ups.
8. Score and segment.Prioritize based on intent:
   • High intent → book meeting immediately.
   • Medium intent → add to nurture.
   • Low intent → keep on light content drip.

Phase 4: Turn lessons into pipeline systems

After the event, collect your data:

• Number of pre-booked meetings.
• Number of new conversations started.
• Conversion to qualified pipeline.

If you’re not tracking those, you’re not running an event strategy — you’re just attending.

Use what worked to refine your next event cycle. Every event should perform better than the last.

Tools that help

• Sales Navigator: for attendee mapping and pre-event research.
• Taplio / AuthoredUp: for scheduling event-themed posts.
• Calendly or Chili Piper: for on-the-go meeting booking.
• HubSpot / Pipedrive: for tagging and post-event follow-up sequences.
• Google Sheets: simple shared tracker for booth and field notes.

Keep your workflow clean. Overcomplicated systems kill momentum.

Pro tip: Use attaché offices and chambers of commerce

If you’re a Lithuanian or Baltic startup entering Nordic or Western EU markets, leverage local trade attachés.

They can provide market lists, introductions, and on-site logistics. Combine that with your warm-up strategy to secure high-quality meetings before the plane even takes off.

Final takeaway

Conferences aren’t about collecting contacts — they’re about collecting context.

When you approach events with a structured outbound mindset, every trip turns into measurable pipeline.

Visibility before. Conversations during. Follow-up after.

That’s how you turn events into a sales engine — not just an expense line.