Playbook: Designing Events for Trust

Trust has become marketers’ most valuable currency and how brands will differentiate themselves, with 94% of marketers agreeing that trust is the key metric for B2B success in 2026. Particularly in a B2B environment, where trust is the overwhelming driver for customer behaviour and the most valuable outcome for B2B brands now more than ever. Every B2B marketer knows the importance of relationships, and it’s trust that powers success and influences future decision-making.

For marketers designing for trust, live events are one of the most impactful channels. Through events, brands can create the familiarity and credibility that only comes from human connection, showing up tangibly, and getting people in the room.

Broadsword works with some of the leading financial and professional firms in the world, specialising in delivering corporate events in the financial, fintech, professional services, and political sectors for over two decades. Our clients trust us to deliver their events professionally and connect them effectively to their audiences – which is what drives our business. And for sectors like these, trust is a non-negotiable and powerful differentiator.

Our latest downloadable guide explores how you can design events for trust including:

• The 95:5 rule explained
• Trust as a growth lever
• Earning trust through events
• Measuring what matters
• Exclusive case studies from leading brands

Access and download the guide here

What is the 95:5 rule?

Most of your potential customers are not currently in-market. Flip the funnel to focus on the future.

The 95:5 rule highlights a fundamental challenge in B2B marketing: most potential customers are future buyers. At any given time, up to 95% of business clients are not actively in the market, meaning only a small proportion are ready to buy.

This is why the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute emphasises the importance of mental availability as a driver of brand growth. Mental availability refers to the likelihood of a brand coming to mind in a buying situation.

The role of events

Events play a valuable role in building this mental availability by creating memorable brand experiences and repeated opportunities for engagement.

By bringing customers together around relevant topics, insights and conversations, events help strengthen brand associations and increase the likelihood that a brand is remembered when a future buying need arises.

In this way, events are not only a channel for generating immediate demand, but also a long-term investment in future demand creation.

Designing events for trust

Events are an essential touchpoint for brands to engage with their audiences on a deeper, more emotional level to develop relationships.

WARC reports that brand consideration, trust and belonging increases when attendees recall partnerships, and further deepens when they engage with the partners’ activations. Consideration among attendees who recalled a partner was 46% – a 60% uplift compared to those who did not. Engagement on-site with a partner drove consideration to 62% while brands that were recalled on-site by attendees were more strongly associated with connections such as being a trusted brand. While simply being exposed to a brand at an event is valuable, it is engagement that elevates the level of trust and loyalty among attendees.

1. Show up consistently: Ultimately, events should be treated not as standalone moments and focusing on just one flagship event makes it difficult to build relationships. Delivering trust at scale requires intentional design, for example a global event playbook can be used as a framework to show up consistently for audiences.
2. Engage meaningfully: Events can be an opportunity to give your sales team a front row seat to audiences challenges, not to sell, but to learn. Valuable perspectives, and meaningful conversations differentiates a vendor and a partner. LinkedIn reports that 73% of decision makers say thought leadership is a more trustworthy way to assess a company’s capabilities than marketing materials.
3. Design quality experiences: What does your event offer that an audience can’t get anywhere else? AI provides answers instantly so increasingly events need to provide their worth to attendees whether it’s throughinteractivity or human touch.Think about what would make your event a trusted forum that attendees want to attend again and again.

Consumer trust is earned through everything a brand says and does: Share your mission and deliver on it, consistently acting in line with your values and core principals.

Customers, now more than ever, are choosing brands that demonstrate corporate social responsibility and integrity. It’s about the business behind the brand looking after its people and planet, and having a voice on important societal topics, rather than just caring about profit. CSR now accounts for a large proportion of reputation and customers will vote with their feet when it comes to supporting business that align with their beliefs, reflected in the fast-growing B Corp movement. Consider fundraising activities, community projects, partnerships with social enterprises, and ethical gifting.

Founded in 2006, Broadsword is an award winning event agency and B Corp certified business based in Hong Kong and London. Led by the belief that events have the power to inspire audiences, drive conversations, and spark a new way of thinking, we help brands do this through impactful event design and storytelling that connects. Get in touch to build events that have an impact.