Geomotiv's Insights from SaaStr Annual, IBC, and DMEXCO 2023

September 2023 proved to be a productive month for our business development team as Geomotiv’s representatives, Tamuna Basaria and Egor Nashilov, actively participated in some of the most anticipated conferences of the year.

Their engagement resulted in insightful discussions, the absorption of valuable industry perspectives, and meaningful connections with brilliant minds within the tech community.

In this blog, we are thrilled to present noteworthy takeaways, trends analysis, and the best parts from the events.

SaaStr Annual 2023

Overview

The world’s largest cloud gathering occurred on September 6-8 at the San Mateo County Events Center in San Francisco’s Bay Area. The event brought together 12,500+ SaaS executives, revenue leaders, founders, and VCs worldwide. Some of the largest exhibitors were industry-leading companies, including Samsara, Monday.com, Lattice, Aircall, and Freshdesk.

SaaStr Annual featured over 100 sessions led by world-renowned founders, emerging voices, and up-and-coming talents. With representation from 250+ speakers affiliated with top SaaS companies globally, the gathering facilitated 2000+ networking sessions, one-on-one interactions, and roundtables.

Trending topics

Tamuna Basaria represented Geomotiv at the event and gained valuable insights into the hottest issues shaping the SaaS industry. Here’s what she found.

The SaaS landscape is undergoing a cautious recovery, as highlighted by SaaStr’s CEO, Jason Lemkin. The aftermath of the recession is reshaping startup dynamics, with a surge in venture capital directed toward AI integration. Efficiency and adaptability are also spotlighted as startups navigate changing valuation landscapes.

Product-led growth (PLG) remains a central strategy amidst increasing customer acquisition costs. Integrating Product-Led Sales (PLS) is crucial for unlocking Enterprise-grade Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). A multi-product strategy is also recommended for startups to differentiate and enhance customer retention.

Our experience and key takeaways

Our representative, Tamuna Basaria, engaged in the formal aspects of SaaStr Annual 2023 and embraced the informal and casual setting of after-parties and happy hours. These events provided a unique opportunity to network in a relaxed atmosphere, foster business connections with industry peers, and create an exclusive social offline experience at the conference.

During the lively after-parties and happy hours, Tamuna had the chance to meet many attendees, follow up with a large group of like-minded people, and get quality time to exchange ideas in-depth. Engaging in dynamic conversations and networking with diverse professionals added a layer of richness to her overall event experience.

IBC 2023

Overview

The annual IBC event, held at RAI Amsterdam from September 15th to 18th, is a premier platform uniting professionals from the broadcasting, electronic media, and entertainment industries. The show witnessed an impressive flow of attendees, with 43,065 participants from 170 countries and over 1,250 exhibitors, a 16% increase from the previous year.

Among the notable attendees were professionals from various sectors, including broadcasters, media and entertainment executives, industry enthusiasts, decision-makers, and influencers. Top names like ITV, Disney, Bloomberg, and Warner Brothers were present at exhibition halls, show floor stages and conference theaters. Major exhibitors like Sony, Google, AWS, and others contributed to the show’s status as a can’t-miss event.

Trending topics

The comprehensive content program featured 325+ speakers who addressed key industry challenges. The event showcased groundbreaking topics such as AI, cloud, 5G, VR/AR, and metaverse.

Many speakers touched upon a strong focus on cost optimization among companies, but the most trending topic in this context was alert against excessive cuts. Quality content remains crucial, but discoverability challenges prevail, driving interest in intuitive methods like voice-enabled search.

Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) platforms show promise but need advanced metrics for monetization. Flexibility is among the top priorities as companies shift to adaptable and versatile solutions. As for Generative AI, many experts confirmed that it is in exploratory phases. However, they acknowledged its transformative long-term potential in disrupting traditional media giants, reshaping content delivery, and refining on-demand experiences.

Our experience and key takeaways

Our business development team plunged into the exhibition’s atmosphere and held scheduled meetings with potential partners. Tamuna had eight pre-booked discussions with companies interested in our software development services. Some showed interest in Adoppler – an AdTech product company that started its journey as a product division within Geomotiv.

Thanks to the extensive contact list of our business development team, our representatives got to attend exclusive informal events at IBC. During these after-parties, Tamuna and Egor felt the real power of networking, as it allowed them to personally meet representatives of major media companies.

During networking, our representatives were able to discuss various issues, exchange business contacts, learn the real-life needs of large media companies, and strengthen their knowledge of the current market situation.

DMEXCO 2023

Overview

Digital Marketing Expo & Conference (DMEXCO) is a prominent European advertising and digital marketing event. The gathering took place on September 20-21 in Cologne, Germany, and gathered a multitude of global advertisers, publishers, agencies, and technology vendors.

DMEXCO featured over 700 international speakers participating in nearly 400 sessions and 150 masterclasses across 13 stages. The top companies attending and exhibiting at the event included Deutsche Bank, L’Oréal, REWE Group, and Ogilvy. Many AdTech and programmatic-focused businesses, such as US-based Magnite and Pubmatic, also visited the conference halls.

Trending topics

The event served as a venue for showcasing innovative solutions, exchanging experiences, and diving into critical industry topics such as AI adoption, the proliferation of retail media networks, digital audio, native advertising, first-party data, and much more.

This year’s DMEXCO moved from predicting trends to collectively coping with industry uncertainty. Changes like the arrival of the post-cookie era, the rise of AI-generated content, and challenges in CTV advertising prompted attendees to develop innovative ideas and suggest new ways of overcoming challenges.

Collaboration emerged as another prominent theme at DMEXCO, with platform integrations becoming normal. Many independent AdTech and MarTech companies mentioned they actively sought connections and cooperation opportunities.

Discussions at the event emphasized the growing importance of measurement in digital marketing. With traditional methods proving inefficient, we heard many brands and agencies seeking better ways to plan and measure advertising campaigns across diverse channels.

Our experience and key takeaways

DMEXCO offered a dynamic platform for expanding our network of business contacts and presented unparalleled opportunities for potential deal-making. Our business development team had two packed days of talks with industry friends, business leaders, and AdTech and programmatic professionals.

The event also served as an avenue for gaining insights into the state of European AdTech and MarTech. Attending DMEXCO was a way of conducting market research, which provided firsthand knowledge of how European businesses collaborate with vendors and allocate their budgets. This information from face-to-face interactions at the event lets us draw conclusions and guide our strategies and approaches.

Moreover, attending the conference was instrumental in identifying relevant leads that hold the potential to translate into new projects.

Final Word

Active participation in crowded industry events like SaaStr, IBC, and DMEXCO enhances Geomotiv’s business development ambitions and strengthens the potential to grow our business. Our team anticipates the insights gained from these conferences to translate into innovative solutions and strategic partnerships.

Meanwhile, we remain committed to staying at the forefront of industry trends and fostering collaboration in SaaS, media technology, and digital marketing.