Seven steps to run an event marketing supplier comparison

What to take away

Fix four things before you shortlistscope, delivery model, data ownership and exit terms.
Give every supplier the same question set, in the same order, and record the answers in one file.
Decide whether you are buying a campaign, a software licence or both.

What each supplier type is actually for

A full-service agency takes the brief, builds the campaign and reports on the result. A platform vendor sells seats or licences and expects your team to do the work. Freelancers and in-house venue teams sit between the two and suit narrow jobs, such as a single conference stand.

Supplier models compared

Full-service agency

Who does the work: Agency builds campaign
What you buy: Campaign delivery
Pricing basis: Management fee plus costs
Delivery risk: Agency carries risk
Best for: Full campaigns

Platform vendor

Who does the work: Your team does work
What you buy: Seats or licences
Pricing basis: Per seat, event, registration
Delivery risk: You carry risk
Best for: In-house teams

Freelancer/venue team

Who does the work: Narrow jobs only
What you buy: Single project
Pricing basis: Project fee
Delivery risk: Shared
Best for: Single conference stand

Confusing these models is where comparisons go wrong. A licence quote and a campaign quote look similar in a spreadsheet, yet they buy different things. For a like-for-like view of the categories, the event marketing tools and supplier guide for 2027 explains what each model includes before you shortlist.

Some suppliers blur the line on purpose. A platform that also sells a managed service will quote both, and the managed option often carries a minimum spend. Ask for the licence price alone so you can see what the service layer costs.

Write the brief as a one-page output list: what the campaign must produce, for whom and by when.
Set a budget range and an internal ceiling before anything goes out, so you can rule suppliers out honestly.
Shortlist three to five suppliers that match the model you chose, not the ones already sitting in your inbox.
Send identical questions on scope, team, timeline, fees and data handling, with no rewording between suppliers.
Ask for two references from comparable events in the past eighteen months, then ring both.
Check the reporting with a real dashboard from a similar campaign, client data removed. Programmatic buying deserves particular scrutiny, and the IAB UK back to basics guide to programmatic sets out the chain you are paying for.
Agree exit terms in writingwho keeps the attendee data, how it transfers, and the notice period.

Full-service agencies

Agencies carry delivery risk and normally bill a management fee plus costs. Ask for that fee as a percentage and as a fixed number, because the two answers rarely match. Ask which parts are subcontracted, since that decides who you chase when something slips.

In England, full-service agencies such as Amplify (London), Jack Morton (London) and George P. Johnson (London) do not publish rate cards. Typical management fees run from 15% to 25% of production and media spend, and senior day rates from £700 to £1,200. Producers typically charge £350 to £700 a day.

Platform and licence vendors

These vendors charge per seat, per event or per registration band. Pricing scales with use, so model your worst-case volume rather than your average. Support levels and onboarding fees differ between vendors, and both belong in the comparison table.

Published UK rates exist for ticketing platforms. Eventbrite charges free events nothing, then 2.9% plus £0.79 per paid ticket and 2.5% payment processing. Ticket Tailor charges free events nothing, then £0.49 plus 1.5% per paid ticket. Enterprise platforms such as Cvent and Bizzabo do not publish UK list prices; quotes depend on event volume, registrations, user seats and support.

Ad platforms are part of the same comparison. The ad resources for marketing agencies on LinkedIn list formats and targeting options. YouTube's guidance on Premium benefits explains ad-free viewing, which affects paid placement budgets.

UK data rules for attendee data

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the organiser is usually the controller and the supplier the processor. The ICO expects a written contract with processor obligations, a defined purpose, and safeguards for transfers outside the UK. Ask who owns the attendee list, how it is exported, and what happens to it on exit.

What to put in the shared question set

Five questions cover most risk:

Who works on the account day to day?
How are leads exported?
What does the reporting show?
What notice must we give?
How accessible is the platform to your audience?

Add references from your own sector and any access rules your venue imposes. The event marketing software selection guide for England sets out a scoring model if you would rather weight the answers than list them.

Common questions

How many suppliers should we compare?

Three is workable and five is the practical maximum. More than five adds paperwork rather than information, and your team stops reading the answers properly.

How long does a supplier comparison take?

Two to three weeks for a mid-sized event programme. It compresses if the brief is signed off before the first call and every supplier receives the same question set.

Should we use the venue's preferred supplier list?

Treat it as a starting point, not a decision. Preferred lists can reflect commission arrangements, so score those suppliers against the same criteria as everyone else.