Breaking through the white noise: How MediaTech marketing is transforming
- Lorenzo Zanni
- 5 days ago
- 11 min read
The online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines white noise as: “A constant background noise. Especially, one that drowns out other sounds.” Based on this definition, we can safely say that we live in the age of white noise. The quantity of content being produced by both humans and, more significantly, AI, is overwhelming. We struggle to keep up with it. Fear of missing out (FOMO) has become the feeling of our time as we grapple with information overload. And the messages we are seeing are becoming increasingly homogeneous as we delegate more creative agency to AI tools.
This is happening in many areas, and marketing is no exception to this trend. Since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022, marketers have increasingly relied on AI tools to produce more content. However, marketers are also struggling to get noticed and attract leads due to this growing white noise. And, after two years of jumping on the AI bandwagon, we are witnessing a sort of reckoning. The key question marketers are asking now is: how can we change things and break through this white noise?
We believe this is a macro marketing trend that is influencing the media technology (Media Tech) industry as well. Yes, our industry is kind of special, and has its own specificities, though it is now subject to bigger shifts as well. This report aims to identify the key marketing trends in Media Tech in 2025 and beyond. These trends were researched and validated through conversations with marketing and go-to-market (GTM) leaders at NAB Show 2025, as well as through recent feedback and project work across the Media Tech ecosystem.
The business environment in MediaTech
The past few years have been particularly challenging for media businesses. Many of them have reduced headcount, scaled back technology budgets, streamlined content portfolios, and adopted a stricter and more cautious approach to investment. These pressures have inevitably trickled down to Media Tech providers as well.
Marketing, as they say, is one of the first things to come under pressure in dire times. And in those organizations that have chosen to prioritize technology innovation over other functions, marketing spend has been pressured even more as a result, as candidly reported by a Media Tech business leader we spoke to at NAB Show 2025.
But it’s not just about smaller budgets. The current business environment is leading marketers to question how budgets are being spent. Generally, there’s increasing scrutiny on return on investment (ROI) and measurable outcomes, as well as a growing expectation for marketing to directly contribute to revenue generation.
This environment, coupled with the revolutionary impact of AI on marketing introduced earlier, is leading to some significant changes in marketing strategy at Media Tech businesses.
The elephant in the budget
Let’s start from the biggest line in most Media Tech businesses’ budgets: trade shows. Direct and indirect investment in trade shows is often the largest portion of the marketing budget for most Media Tech businesses and, in the current business environment, this has become too hard to ignore.
Trade shows have always been a cornerstone of our industry, driving technology launches, sales, roadmaps, and development. However, the declining trend in trade show attendance experienced by major events such as IBC and NAB Show after the advent of the pandemic has led marketing leaders to increasingly question their effectiveness. For example, many marketers have been recently demanding trade show organizers to provide more granular data on attendance (e.g., buyer seniority).
Figure 1 below shows the trend in IBC and NAB Show attendance from 2016 to 2025 (2025 data is available only for NAB). Note that we took these two shows as references for the Media Tech industry as they represent the two largest events for the sector (other adjacent exhibitions such as ISE exhibit a different trend). Between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, attendance of these shows declined significantly, particularly for NAB Show. Between its peak 2016 and its trough 2025, attendance of NAB Show has roughly halved. Looking at the change in averages between these two periods, IBC attendance declined by 26% while NAB Show’s by 39%
Why has trade show attendance declined and what are the implications for in-person events in our sector?
It is important to take a step back to better understand the answer to this question, as well as extract the trends that generally affect in-person events rather than being specific to each show. The pandemic was a turning point not only for trade shows, but also, more generally, it marked a fundamental shift in buying behaviour. Consumers and companies, including businesses in our industry, adapted to online research, interactions and purchases. And with AI lowering the barriers to entry for research and information availability, the B2B buying process has gradually been shifting away from trade shows.
The changing role of trade shows
However, we quickly realized that something was missing. While the transactional elements of buying and selling could move online (e.g., product research, pricing comparisons, demos), we still needed to meet in person to nurture trust, alignment, and long-term partnerships. The role of trade shows has radically changed as a result. Their capacity to directly drive sales has arguably diminished, while their value in building relationships and trust has comparatively grown.
This shift carries a first, important and obvious implication for marketers: invest in trade show activities that focus on trust building rather than solely on selling. Many marketers reported that this is a fundamental shift forcing them to rethink which elements of trade shows they bet on. This rethinking includes the size and design of trade show booths, some of which are getting smaller and more austere as budgets are re-allocated elsewhere.
And, while the booth remains the primary platform to drive new sales and customer retention, vendors are investing in other activities to engage with their followings, which increasingly include not only customers, but also partners and collaborators. At NAB Show 2025, we hosted two topical and insight-led events, a type of engagement that is increasingly being valued as companies move from transactional to trust building activities.
Changing buying patterns
Buying patterns have also been changing significantly over the last years.
The profile of buyers attending trade shows is shifting. Broadcast and media organizations are undergoing profound transformation, bringing in a new wave of diverse leadership with fresh priorities and values. Many of these decision-makers are more digitally native, more data-driven, and place greater importance on ESG commitments than their predecessors. They often arrive at the show with their buying decisions largely made, using the event not to discover, but to validate. Aligning with these evolving expectations has become essential for Media Tech businesses.
Declining attendance also means buyers’ time is more stretched, and marketing messages are increasingly diluted in a sea of noise. Yes, that’s trade show white noise. To put this into perspective: many vendors have told us that where they once had an hour to engage with buyers, they’re now lucky to get 10 minutes. Meetings are being missed, follow-up emails are going unanswered, and even scheduled conversations are getting cut short. This is leading Media Tech vendors to change the way they engage with buyers.
It's about the journey, not the destination
Media Tech businesses are beginning to recognize that engagement does not start or end at the event itself. It’s about the journey, about how you build engagement before, during, and after trade shows. The trade show itself is simply the culmination of a much bigger and more extended marketing strategy.
For example, with the two topical, insight-driven events we hosted at NAB Show 2025, we did not just engage with attendees at the show. We also generated social engagement (and data) around the events before the show and shared an insight report with attendees afterwards (this also generated data). As you can appreciate, this goes well beyond the event at the show to deliver real value for both buyers and partners involved in the event.
To draw a parallel with our industry, this move is akin to the shift from CAPEX to OPEX: moving from large, infrequent technology investments to smaller, more frequent ones. Rather than viewing trade shows as a one-time push, modern marketing leaders are integrating them into a continuous cycle of engagement that builds over time. This requires a cultural shift, and it is no surprise many Media Tech organizations are transforming their marketing departments to achieve it.
A big part of this shift is having a clear campaign strategy well in advance of the event. That means knowing your message, aligning your content and touchpoints across all channels, and giving new products names that clearly communicate what they do. Overcomplicated, abstract messaging can be a barrier, particularly when buyers are already overwhelmed with choices.
And with buyers increasingly conducting their research online, vendors must ensure that their trade show messaging is fully aligned with what they communicate across other channels such as their website and social media. Any disconnect can undermine trust before a conversation even begins.
Moreover, with fewer buyers stretched across many vendors, Media Tech businesses can no longer rely on walk-by traffic. Yes, there may still be the occasional serendipitous encounters, but those moments are fewer than in the past. The reality is that lead generation and appointment-setting need to happen well before the event.
This move towards continuous engagement is the first big area of transformation Media Tech marketing teams are going through. Let’s look at the others.
Where's the ROI?
We have already touched on the second major area of transformation: companies are no longer investing in activities for the sake of it; they are scrutinizing ROI more closely than ever as budgets are under pressure. As one Media Tech business put it bluntly: “Where’s the ROI?” This shift to measurable outcomes has been made easier by marketing budgets increasingly moving to digital platforms that track behaviour.
For example, it’s no longer enough for a Media Tech company to simply scale press coverage hoping that someone will eventually read a publication. Now, businesses want to know how many people are reading a publication, who the readers are, and what their key characteristics are, etc. And the same applies to trade shows, as mentioned earlier.
Another example is topical content. It’s no longer effective to simply push content out and hope it lands. Instead, the focus should be on driving meaningful engagement by strategically distributing content to audiences most likely to find it relevant. From there, it’s critical to measure not just clicks or views, but what that engagement leads to, whether it’s sales, social advocacy, or other relevant indicators.
While our industry has tried to hold onto traditional marketing methods for a long time, change is now coming, and measurability is taking centre stage. This requires marketing service providers in our sector to adapt their mentality and technology to the digital age. As in the famous Hemingway quote, change may come gradually, but you might want to consider this shift before it becomes more sudden.
Less is more
The third area of transformation is a shift from quantity-driven to quality-driven strategies that prioritize relevance to end-users rather than mass reach. In recent years, Media Tech marketing strategies have focused heavily on scaling output through automation, but in a landscape saturated by AI and homogeneous content, audiences are demanding more meaningful content, experiences and engagement.
As a result, more Media Tech businesses have told us that they are planning to lead with original insight, data-driven content and authentic experiences. The topical, insight-driven events we hosted at NAB Show 2025 are just one example of this trend. As the lines between B2B and B2C marketing continue to blur, companies will also take more creative risks and experiment with new formats such as podcasts, short-form video, interactive content and gamification.
And this transformation extends well beyond content, as it is also reshaping communications. Mass marketing is becoming ineffective as buyers’ attention spans shrink due to white noise. Micro-targeting is emerging as a best practice in its place thanks to advancements in AI and data enrichment tools. Today’s Media Tech marketers are moving beyond basic firmographics, leveraging behavioural and engagement data to deliver campaigns that feel truly valuable and relevant to end-users. This change is coming too.
United we stand, divided we fall
Another trend we are noticing is the gradual integration of sales and marketing teams. More specifically, the traditional division where marketing builds awareness and sales drives conversion is gradually dissolving. Today, these teams are increasingly integrated, with joint accountability for revenue generation, customer experience, and positioning.
At NAB Show 2025, several marketing leaders noted that their departments are beginning to merge, sometimes even officially, reflecting a broader shift toward alignment across the funnel.
This convergence demands not just greater operational integration, but also a shared data infrastructure and tighter collaboration on performance metrics. For marketing teams, it also means optimizing for sales and revenue outcomes, not just engagement, as we mentioned earlier.
Moreover, this shift calls for new skills and mindsets in both marketing and sales. The "little black book" approach relying only on personal contacts to drive sales and engagement is not enough anymore. Marketing and sales teams now need to be fluent in areas such as digital, CRM, data enrichment, and GTM intelligence to identify, prioritize, and nurture leads more effectively as well as personalize outreach. Data and relationship are therefore becoming more united as well. In other words, working the data is becoming as important as working the room and customers’ expectations regarding relevance have changed.
Community rules
Finally, more Media Tech marketers are turning to communities as a means of building sustained engagement over time. This is consistent with Media Tech companies extending customer and partner engagement beyond just trade shows.
Communities are gaining traction particularly in industries such as Media Tech where trust and long sales cycles are common and where technical complexity requires collaboration.
At NAB Show 2025, multiple marketing executives cited community-led strategies as a key area of investment going forward. This is expensive, if done well, as communities need to be properly managed and community members need to be incentivized to contribute.
And community isn’t just about engagement, it’s about data, insight, and advocacy. Companies that succeed in this area will build proprietary channels for feedback as well as long-term loyalty, ideal for breaking through the white noise.
Figure 2 below maps the key, changing buying patterns in the Media Tech industry with changing marketing strategies.
Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list. The landscape is evolving rapidly, and what works today may not be enough tomorrow. It’s essential that we continue this conversation, challenge assumptions, and share learnings across the industry.
AI can be a positive force, if used correctly
Before concluding this analysis, let us clarify something. Throughout this report, we highlighted some of the dark sides of AI in marketing. However, AI can be a positive force, if used correctly (indeed, I have already mentioned a few areas where this is the case earlier).
In most cases, this means combining AI with human moderation, at least for now. For example, you can use AI to analyse a massive list of prospects with the objective of filtering those that are most likely to be interested in your product portfolio. From there, human insight can step in to validate the results, add strategic nuance, and personalize outreach. This hybrid approach ensures that AI handles the scale and speed, while human insight brings context, creativity, and relationship-building.
In other words, use AI as a marketing intern whose output needs reviewing, not like a marketing consultant.
The future of MediaTech marketing
As we look towards the future of marketing in Media Tech, success may come from harmonizing seemingly contradictory forces: efficiency with authenticity, data-driven decisions with creative differentiation, technological advancement with human connection. This is both fascinating and daunting.
The transformation we're witnessing isn't just about adopting new tactics, it represents a fundamental rethinking of marketing strategies.
Tomorrow's marketing leaders will recognize that breaking through the white noise does not require shouting louder but rather saying something worth hearing. Moving to continuous customer engagement, measuring marketing ROI, investing in quality content and experiences as well as building communities are some of the areas Media Tech marketers are focusing on to stand out.
The companies that embrace these changes won't just survive the transformation, they will lead it.
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