B2B marketers say trade shows and conferences are the best marketing channels for lead generation and new product launches, according to a new report soon to be released by the The Association of Business Information & Media Companies (ABM).Specifically, 90% of marketers rate event attendance as a successful way to generate leads, and 76% say event sponsorship works well, too. These two marketing channels beat out advertising of any kind (print, email, display, and mobile). PPC was still seen as somewhat effective among most marketers, but that may be changing as new FTC rules and the NSA scandal are likely to change how consumers view PPC ads. TV and radio were considered the least successful.When looking to host or sponsor an event, marketers were most interested in audience demographics and event attendance. And, as we’ve written about in our in-depth How-To on Programming Events, sponsors want to think that at least 25% of your audience is perfect for them to sell to almost immediately. They want the rest to be future prospects. Sponsors rarely care about consultants, students, reporters or other demographics in the audience, even though they should.Also, when programming an event, B2B marketers should be cognizant of where the money is coming from. If it’s from sponsors, getting the right audience (and a big enough one) will take precedence, which might mean dropping the ticket price. If it’s from ticket sales, then the content and speakers will be the most important factor (and sponsors should get little say in the content development).