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Events must be a core part of your marketing mix in 2023. Why? Because no other marketing channel is as multi-effective. Engage audiences? Tick. Create leads? Yep. Build personalised relationships and obtain valuable data? You bet. Combine all of those and you’re on the path to significant ROI.
Events are increasingly becoming digitised, and this digital transformation presents marketers with the best of all worlds: an in-person experience complemented by virtual events and digital assets that deliver more touchpoints, power continuous engagement, produce large audience reach, and nurture leads at every stage of the funnel. No other marketing channel offers this unique breadth of engagement.
The events landscape has shifted, and 2023 is full of opportunities. Here’s how events can help drive your marketing strategy forward.
Driving engagement
We all know connecting with customers and prospects is the holy grail for any brand, and there’s no better way of doing this than through strong engagement. According to a 2021 Forrester Report, 74% of event decision-makers say that events are the best way to deepen customer relationships.
That’s because events are all about driving engagement. And having a mix of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events means you’re driving engagement with an even better car; one that gets you from the A to B of conversions much faster. By enabling dedicated time and attention from your audience, events provide a unique opportunity for more intimate engagement than other marketing channels.
Embracing this mix of event formats in 2023 means your opportunities to engage with your audience will be no longer limited to a one-off event. Instead, through digital tools like event apps, webinars, video, and on-demand content, you can extend the lifecycle of an event and develop always-on engagement.
The result? Stronger relationships and faster conversions by carrying prospects deeper into the buyer journey.
Generating leads
The digitisation of events has fundamentally changed how companies can generate and nurture leads. Now, by combining in-person, virtual, and hybrid events, organisations can nurture leads at every stage of the funnel, boosting their sales pipeline.
Let’s take fintech company, Fidelity Information Services (FIS), as an example. After pivoting its extensive event programme to virtual events during the pandemic, FIS was able to prove the value of virtual experiences in engaging with prospects and customers.
Using Cvent’s events platform enabled FIS to give attendees an immersive, high-tech experience, and the ability to track attendee data and engagement points through the platform gave sales teams additional insights into their audience.
The platform’s Marketo integration delivered further valuable insights, such as campaign performance, that moved virtual attendees further down the funnel for FIS’s sales team. The results were staggering: lead volume increased by 38% over the previous year, while there was a 68% increase in new deals created and a 131% increase in existing deals created, as well as an 89% increase in sponsorship revenue.
Better data, better insights
Events provide more touchpoints than other marketing channels like paid search and email, enabling brands to gain key insights throughout an extended customer journey. In today’s landscape, events have become a data-rich and data-driven marketing channel.
This data can be used to improve targeting, create a more personalised attendee journey, and track the ROI and revenue attribution of events. This is the case for Morningstar, whose events team manages hundreds of annual events globally. To support its global events, the company teamed up with Cvent to centralise operations and elevate the attendee experience.
Through tools such as Cvent's reporting system, RFID scanning and event and lead capture apps, Morningstar can accurately track both the leads and revenue generated through its events. Among a number of impressive results, the company captured almost 2,000 leads from their in-person and virtual events, accounting for a 123% increase in attributed revenue.
Fundamentally, CRM tools won’t do it on their own for events: to get a full picture of ROI attribution, event tech such as registration systems, production tools, and engagement methods should be integrated with your CRM and the traditional marketing tech stack. In 2023, this is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
Make 2023 the year of the events
The digital-first landscape has changed the marketing game and provides unique opportunities for brands. To fully benefit from the potential of events to drive engagement and revenue, your 2023 marketing strategy should include an integrated mix of in-person, virtual and hybrid events at each stage of the buyer journey. After all, no other marketing channel is as effective in engaging audiences, building personalised relationships, nurturing leads, delivering valuable data, and converting it all into revenue potential.
Want to nail your 2023 event marketing strategy? Explore here.
