1. Digital events

Digital conferences and meetings are becoming widely popular as they provide huge value to marketing strategies. Get it right and you can double participation, expand sponsorship deals, lower carbon footprint, reduce costs, provide gateways to gaining attendance to your physical events and ultimately increase revenue.

Digital events are more inclusive for your community. There has been a massive shift in workforces now permanently working from home. Digital events allow the attendee to stream content from the comfort of their homes fitting around their work and home life. It makes sense that people want to consume events in their own time, a lot of people don't want to take time out of work or have to make plans to rearrange personal commitments to travel for a physical conference or meeting that can be easily enjoyed online. Adding a digital choice to attend allows those who live far away to attend virtually without having to go through unnecessary travel if they don't wish to. Digital options remove the fear of long journeys for those who find it emotionally or physically difficult.

‘Almost three-quarters of planners (71%) plan to continue to employ a digital strategy to maintain their virtual audience once they return to physical events.'

(EventMB, 2020)

Digital event software also provides analytical and tracking tools that you simply can't gain from a physical event. A good event management platform and virtual venue are essential in creating smooth event delivery from start to finish. Look for a provider that can provide you with a bespoke branded website, virtual venue and complete event management software to organise events. A good tech company will have a solid onboarding process, a great customer support team and great account managers to guide event planners through all the tools available to them ensuring they get the most out of the software.

2. Sustainability

Following on nicely from our digital trend is the ever-growing and important focus on sustainability. There is more pressure now on face-to-face events to justify why they have encouraged travel and gatherings in person. If you are hosting a face to a face event what are you going to do that you can’t do with digital? How can you justify doing it in person and not online? People do want to attend physical events, but there's got to be a tangible experience that they can't get online, otherwise the event should be hosted online.

‘58% to 67% of eventprofs are very likely or completely likely to address sustainability in their meeting plans for 2021.'

(Global Meetings & Events Forecast, 2021)

Events continue to take steps forward with their commitments to reduce their impact on the environment. No throwaway freebies, avoidable merchandise and more digital events to reduce unnecessary travel continue to soar on into 2022. Attendees are becoming ever more savvy and knowledgeable on truly sustainable practices. Attendees can see straight through events that are genuinely making an effort to be sustainable and those that are just ticking boxes. Events that fail to demonstrate sustainable initiatives and green practices are not only off-putting to potential attendees but also to sponsors and partners. Essentially your core values as a business do not align with theirs and their customers.

‘Streaming experiences can reduce total climate pollution from events by 60-98%.'

(Eventcellany, 2020)

3. Non-traditional venues

When it comes to in-person events, think outside the box when choosing the venue! Research by Social Tables shows that over 90% of event planners agree that events are more likely to be booked in a non-traditional venue than five years ago. Opting for a unique and interesting venue is more likely to get your event maximum exposure on social media.

Although be sure not to overthink the venue and don't try too hard to be different as this can backfire. Make sure the venue is suitable, accessible, appropriate and meets the event criteria. Venues that provide experiences beyond the conference or meeting are becoming more popular such as museums, art galleries, heritage sites, gardens, and warehouses.

Hotels are still a popular choice however event organisers are considering the surroundings of the hotel when choosing the venue. Is the hotel situated in an area attendees can explore after the event? Attendees are more likely to attend a meeting or conference and stay overnight if there are some entertainment, historic and tourist activities they can explore before they go home. Hotels are now becoming aware of this trend and coming up with innovative ways to attract event planners that are seeking more inspiring surroundings. They are either offering different design and styling options or pushing non-traditional spaces.

4. Smaller, intimate events Conferences and meetings will become smaller and more intimate.

We've spoken previously about the importance of hosting small events but content marketers are dedicating a lot of effort to hosting micro-events. Why? Because many people seek private discussions where they can gain advice, talk about strategies, share their experiences and network with others. People like the feeling of being part of an exclusive club. Smaller digital events are low-cost, easy to host and can be held more frequently and regularly. Smaller events are great gateways to larger events. Hosting more, smaller events is also going to help get personalised topics and discussions in front of your audiences. Smaller events make it easier for you to convey your message and give a personality to your brand. Fewer people make it easier for the conference speaker to capture the attention of guests and engage with them personally.

5. Conferences and meetings should be meaningful experiences with a purpose

Arguably the most important part of a conference or meeting is the content. The quality of the content not only gets people through the doors in the first place but it holds attendee engagement throughout the event.

The main reason people attend conferences and meetings be it in person or online is to be educated or inspired. Another Reason people attend these types of events is for personal development to increase their knowledge, help further their careers and seek potential business opportunities. Attendees seek events that will provide them with the information they won't get anywhere else from high quality speakers. Attendees are looking to be entertained, network and ultimately learn something new.

Meaningful digital experiences and sustainability continue to lead the way in meetings and event industry trends. Are our sustainability practices at our events truly sustainable? Continuing to utilise the latest technology to deliver a unique event experience will remain paramount.

To find out how Evessio's industry-leading event management software and virtual venues can help grow your events, speak to a member of our team. Get in touch

Claire Singleton

Marketing Manager

Evessio

Claire is the Marketing Manager at Evessio, an industry-leading event management platform for awards, conferences and exhibitions. Claire has years of experience and specialises in marketing event software, marketing events and sponsorship. Claire has a proven track record of re-branding events and implementing strategies that doubled event participation.