Five ways to maximise your PR and Marketing ahead of eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing
eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing 2026 will take place at Excel London on 23–24 September, bringing together professionals from ecommerce, retail, marketing and technology yet again for the UK’s largest conference of its kind.
More than 10,000 B2B and B2C professionals are expected to attend the events. For exhibitors, sponsors and speakers, that creates a major opportunity - but also a crowded communications environment.
Rather than relying on footfall once the doors open, the brands most likely to stand out will be those that begin building awareness and creating growth opportunities before the event.
Here are five ways to combine PR and marketing to create momentum ahead of the 2026 shows:
1. Build your presence around central themes
The central theme for eCommerce Expo 2026 is “The Age of Intelligent Growth”, with the event set to explore how AI, data and changing customer expectations are reshaping digital commerce.
This gives brands a useful starting point, but simply repeating the event theme will not differentiate your campaign. Instead, connect it to a specific business challenge faced by your target audience.
For ecommerce and retail brands, potential angles could include how to build an agentic customer experience or the importance of building more resilient fulfilment and delivery operations. On the Technology for Marketing side, creating conversations around personalisation vs privacy or measurement techniques across different platforms could be equally as engaging.
The idea is to choose one or two clear campaign ideas and use them consistently across your messaging - LinkedIn content, email marketing, event landing page, journalist meet-ups and sales outreach.
The aim is to make your attendance part of a wider industry conversation, not just an announcement that you’ve booked a stand at the show.
2. Use data to create a news hook
If it’s the first time people, especially journalists, are interacting with your brand, a product launch or exhibition announcement may generate limited interest on its own. Original research, customer evidence and credible data can instead give journalists and prospective buyers a stronger reason to engage with you.
To create relevant news hooks, consider developing a short, insight-led campaign around key questions that your industry is asking right now, such as:
- How are UK retailers using AI in 2026?
- What’s the biggest barrier preventing marketing teams from proving ROI?
- What do ecommerce leaders expect from their technology partners?
- Are businesses consolidating their martech stacks or adding more tools?
The findings can become a report, media story, executive article, webinar, LinkedIn series and/or an event presentation. They can also provide your spokespeople with evidence to support interviews and conversations at the show.
For eCommerce Expo, research could focus on customer experience, retail operations, payments or fulfilment. For Technology for Marketing, it might examine AI adoption, measurement, personalisation or the changing role of marketing technology.
Either way, it’s one of the most tried and tested methods for engaging with journalists. Cision’s 2026 State of the Media research found that journalists particularly value data and research, as well as embargoed information and access to expert sources from PR teams.
3. Target journalists and attendees with relevance
Both events will attract a broad audience, but your communications should be highly specific. Cision’s 2026 report also found that 82% of journalists reject pitches that are not relevant to their audience or coverage area, while 72% say fewer than a quarter of the pitches they receive are relevant.
There are a whole host of journalists attending the shows with very specific ‘beats’ or interest areas - from eCommerce and marketing to retail media, payments and logistics & delivery.
Make sure to research each journalist’s recent coverage before pitching. It can be something as simple as referring to a recent article they’ve written or explaining why your research, spokesperson or customer story fits their audience.
The same principle applies to marketing activity. Do not send every visitor the same invitation. Segment audiences by industry, job role, account, customer status and likely business challenge.
A retail marketing director might be invited to a session on customer retention, while a technology leader receives an invitation to discuss data infrastructure or AI implementation.
Make the call to action specific. “Visit us at stand B20” is less compelling than “Book a 20-minute session to explore how retailers are using first-party data to improve customer retention.”
4. Turn your spokespeople into event experts
Your senior executives should be visible far before the show begins, and there are several tactics you can use at your disposal to increase their exposure. For example, introduce them through useful, opinion-led content to journalists rather than waiting for a panel appearance or stand meeting.
But it doesn’t have to just include the media, as there are plenty of other channels you could be utilising as well, such as a LinkedIn article, social media video, owned podcast interview or a pre-event webinar.
Be careful how you frame your content though, as it should offer a specific perspective rather than simply repeat product messaging. A strong spokesperson should be able to explain what is changing, why it matters and what businesses should do next.
Having this type of messaging and remaining consistent is particularly important because B2B buying groups extend beyond the person who initially contacts a supplier. Edelman and LinkedIn’s B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that more than 40% of B2B deals stall because of misalignment within buying groups.
Use your content to speak to the wider group, including finance, procurement, IT, operations and compliance, addressing the commercial implications of technology and not just its features.
5. Prepare early and plan for follow-ups
A lot of the success behind events goes into the prep work before the doors open, and there’s a lot you can do to ensure you get the most out of the shows.
For example, journalists often work under considerable time pressure, so making information easy to find can improve your chances of earning coverage. Preparing a concise digital press kit with executive biographies, headshots, key company information, customer examples and contact details can be of great help.
But it’s also what you decide to do once the curtain comes down. There is a certain window of time for follow-ups to journalists, prospects and partners, usually within 24-48 hours after you’ve spoken with them. Share promised information, repurpose event content and route leads to the appropriate sales or account teams to make sure hot prospects turn into warm leads.
Turn event presence into business impact
The strongest brands at eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing 2026 won’t just be the ones promoting their stand. They’ll be connecting a timely industry issue with credible evidence, useful expertise and a clear reason for the right people to engage.
That is how two days at Excel London can create value long before the event begins, and continue long after it ends.
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