What Is In-Person GTM?
And Why It’s the Missing Link in Your Revenue Strategy
If your go-to-market motion only runs on cold emails, LinkedIn DMs, and digital ads, you’re leaving pipeline on the table.
In a world dominated by outbound automation, one channel still outperforms every other when done right: in-person interactions. Conferences, trade shows, field events, dinners, off-sites — these moments build trust faster, qualify leads quicker, and spark conversations that can’t be duplicated over Zoom.
But there’s a problem.
Until now, in-person GTM — the process of generating and activating leads through real-world touchpoints — has been a mess.
First, What Is In-Person GTM?
In-Person GTM (short for Go-To-Market) is the unified strategy of capturing, enriching, and activating leads from in-person events — not just by marketing, but by the entire revenue team:
Marketing. Sales. RevOps. Customer Success.
Think of it as bringing the structure and scale of digital marketing to real-world interactions.
At its core, In-Person GTM answers a simple question:
What happens after the handshake?
Because the hard truth is: most companies don’t know.
Warm conversations vanish. CRM fields go unfilled. Leads go cold before they’re even touched.
In-Person GTM fixes that — by turning conversations into contacts, and contacts into pipeline.
Why Is In-Person GTM Important?
For years, in-person channels have been treated like outliers in the GTM mix. Digital got all the infrastructure. Meanwhile, in-person teams got PDFs, badge scanners, and hope.
That’s changing fast — and here’s why:
1. The GTM team is unifying.
The old silos between marketing, sales, and success are collapsing. Today’s high-performing teams operate under one funnel with shared goals. In-Person GTM aligns real-world activity with the same systems your team already uses.
2. The events industry is exploding.
Global in-person events are projected to hit $2.3 trillion by 2034. Companies are investing heavily in conferences, field events, and trade shows — but without a system in place, it’s hard to prove ROI or scale results.
3. Digital channels are saturated.
Your buyers are flooded with cold emails and ad noise. But when they meet your team in person? They remember you.
In-Person GTM makes sure you capitalize on that advantage — instantly.
What Makes In-Person GTM Different?
Traditional event marketing focused on booths, badges, and branding.
In-Person GTM is focused on pipeline.
It’s not just about collecting leads — it’s about turning those leads into revenue, quickly and predictably.
A true In-Person GTM strategy includes:
- Universal lead capture across any badge, QR, business card, or meeting
- Instant CRM sync and automation, with zero manual data entry
- AI-powered lead enrichment to complete missing fields (job title, email, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Smart routing, tagging, and follow-up that accelerates conversion
- Visibility across marketing, sales, and ops to measure event ROI and rep performance
It’s what happens when every handshake becomes a measurable moment in your funnel — no matter where, when, or who captures it.
Why It Matters for Your Org
If your team is:
- Spending budget on in-person events but struggling to show ROI
- Missing leads because they’re stuck in badge scanners, notebooks, or spreadsheets
- Frustrated by slow follow-up, manual processing, or bad CRM data
- Ready to unify their GTM motion across digital and physical touchpoints
…then In-Person GTM isn’t just a concept. It’s your next competitive advantage.
The Bottom Line
In-person interactions are your highest-intent channel.
In-Person GTM is how you turn them into revenue.
Companies that win the in-person GTM motion will win the next phase of B2B.
And at Popl, we’re building the platform to power it.
Want to see how In-Person GTM could work for your team?
Let’s talk. We’ll show you how top companies are using Popl to turn conversations into closed deals — instantly.
