79% of companies expect to host hybrid events in 2021
A new study by Spark found how radically events have changed over this past year. The study polled 270 event professionals and 3,133 event attendees from various industries in the United States to reveal trends that are influencing the event experience.
Also read: 5 Solid Event Marketing Strategies in 2021 To Deliver Successful Campaigns
Here is a quick look at some of the key findings:
- Marketers Made a Swift Shift To Virtual: 32% of companies canceled all in-person events in 2020 and converted them to virtual, rather than postponing them. As work-from-home policies are extended, and business travel is cut, companies recognize that virtual events are not a stopgap solution.
- In-Person Events Will Never Be the Same: 79% of companies expect to host hybrid events (that include an online component) even once in-person events resume.
- Resourceful Event Teams Still Need New Tools: 66% of event professionals are creating virtual events using the same event marketing tools as they used before COVID-19. The study found that 57% of event organizers are using the same processes to create, design, and market events as before the crisis. The tools technology teams rely on to create and market their events were never built for this new virtual and hybrid era. Many companies are managing with what they have, while others are planning new investments in event technology even as they reduce event staff.
- Everyone Is Pitching In: The number of people with non-marketing titles now creating events compared to before COVID-19 has increased by 29%.
- Shorter (and Smaller) Is Better: Fewer than 7% of event attendees believe virtual events should be longer than an hour.
- Events Are Driving Business Growth: 30% cite revenue and sales growth as the most important six- to 12-month goal. After three quarters of dealing with the ever-changing realities of a global pandemic, companies across sectors are coping in their own ways and already making plans for 2021 and beyond. This year, events helped companies stay relevant. Next year, they need to deliver revenue, sales, and new customers.
The most obvious change to events in 2020 is the move to virtual. What is more surprising is how quickly companies made the leap. Rescheduling events might have signaled a wait-and-see approach. But the fact that many companies immediately converted their planned events to virtual indicates that companies were ready. 60% of companies canceled all in-person events in 2020, and 32% converted all in-person events to virtual this year.
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In 2019, training events were the most popular event format. Today, online conferences (40%) are more common. But in the overnight switch to virtual, some kinds of events are proving to be more digitally friendly than others. Training events are most common among companies of all sizes as they are usually smaller in terms of attendees and often hosted by human resources professionals. Other events, like trade shows (15% in 2019), do not translate as well to online formats.
Respondents from advertising & media, healthcare, and retail & wholesale companies have each approached virtual events in different ways this year.
Advertising & media (38%) and healthcare (37%) primarily canceled in-person events this year and converted them to virtual. Retail & wholesale companies were more likely to postpone events and reschedule them for 2021 in hopes of hosting in-person events again (29%). Advertising & media companies and retail & wholesale companies measure event success by the impact on revenue, while healthcare companies use attendance as their primary success metric.
The study also found that large companies (1,000 – 10,000 employees) are more likely to have bigger online conferences (53%) and host online panel discussions (30%) or virtual town halls (19%) than smaller companies (fewer than 100 employees). This could mean that larger companies have the resources to host bigger, more sophisticated virtual events, replicating or replacing the big trade shows and conferences originally planned for this year. On the other hand, younger and smaller companies are more likely to use virtual events to directly connect with customers, prospects, and future employees. This showcases their agility and familiarity with online event formats and platforms.
Also read: With a 360% Increase Since 2019, Virtual Events Become Massively Popular: Intrado Digital Media
What Does This Mean for Marketers?
With event responsibility spread out across an organization, does that mean sales managers, operations, and admins need to be cross-trained as event marketers? No — but they will need the tools to create and manage events in consistent ways. Finding ways to maintain brand consistency will be a priority as event marketing responsibilities continue expanding among non-marketing roles.
A company’s brand must remain true no matter who is organizing a live, virtual, or hybrid event. Nearly every company surveyed agreed that brand consistency remains extremely important (46%) or very important (42%).
While event marketing professionals were forced to do a lot more with less and get scrappy transforming existing platforms, event tech remains a significant hurdle for many companies. As hybrid, virtual, and smaller business events become permanent fixtures of the marketing calendar, companies will need the right tools to create and manage those events across the organization. And they will need the flexibility to adjust to shifting attendee expectations, deliver tailored event programs for each audience, and measure the business impact.
If companies make event technology a priority and embrace the reality of a virtual and hybrid future, 2021 maybe another unprecedented year for events.