The marketing body found 80% of respondents believe face-to-face delivers better ROI than any other media, and highlighted the importance of face-to-face activity to generate valuable sales leads.
Face Time commissioned COG Research to canvas opinion from marketers on the value of face-to-face marketing in comparison to other marketing platforms such as TV, press and radio.
Face Time employed a relatively new research technique for the exhibition industry called Implicit Response Testing (IRT), which records not only the answer but also the speed of response.
The speed of response allowed Face Time to understand the sub-conscious opinion of the respondents towards different marketing platforms.
Jim Curry, director of FaceTime, said: "The calibre of sales leads is critical to any sales and marketing professional. The physical nature of attending an event inherently means that visitors are seriously interested in products and services being showcases, and 89% agreed that face-to-face delivers real audiences with real money to spend."
More than 80% of business directors agreed that exhibitions are the second most effective means of generating sales leads after a company's own website.
"Face-to-face is head and shoulders above other platforms such as digital, TV and social media," adds Curry, "which marketers recognised as the only other channels to effectively convert sales leads."
Face Time also found that 80% of respondents said a person spends more money with people or companies they have met face-to-face than with people they have not met.
Association of Event Organisers (AEO), the Association of Event Venues (AEV) and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) in February 2010, and aims to raise the profile of live events.
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