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COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns, rules, and regulations have had a dramatic impact on the event marketing industry and many other sectors in the economy. Many event marketers have struggled to find ways to pivot in the face of tight restrictions on in-person events while others have managed to innovate their way out of a very tricky predicament.
Online events have risen greatly in popularity since COVID-19 mandates were implemented, and new platforms have burst onto the scene to give event marketers alternatives to in-person events. Many tech platforms that cater to remote work, online events, and eCommerce have seen sharp rises in valuation after pandemic response measures were enacted.
Zoom was an early favorite of online event organizers because of its already ubiquitous presence among remote and tech workers. Many event organizers and marketers began hosting virtual events on Zoom and selling tickets to those events through other third-party platforms. Many of these online ticketing tools also allow event organizers to collect the information of anyone that registers for the event or buys a ticket.
This information provides a perfect foundation for future email marketing or outreach efforts. That’s because anyone that buys a ticket has already shown an interest in the event’s subject matter, and could therefore be open to receiving marketing communications regarding that topic. Some of those event participants could even become potential leads or customers in the future.
One example of a third-party ticketing application that has become popular for event marketers is Eventbrite. Eventbrite is a web and mobile application that allows organizers to sell tickets to online or offline events. Attendees are automatically sent reminder emails as the event approaches.
Eventbrite also has a payment gateway integration so that attendees can easily buy their tickets on the platform. In the case of a virtual event, confirmation emails can easily be customized to contain a private Zoom link that attendees can use to join the event. Eventbrite does take a small percentage commission from ticket sales, but for many event marketers, that is a cost worth paying given the ticketing and sales automation features that Eventbrite offers.
One reason that Zoom quickly became a popular platform for engaging online events is that it enables organizers to create breakout rooms to facilitate online networking. Breakout rooms take segments of attendees in an event and put those individuals in closed discussions with one another. This allows attendees to have a more personal connection with people in the event that are most relevant to them.
What’s more, organizers can customize breakout rooms based on the common interests of attendees. That allows event marketers to provide specific networking opportunities to their audience. The fact that customized networking opportunities are so easy to facilitate online represents one of the primary benefits of online events.
One of the biggest problems that many people encounter with in-person events is connecting with the right types of people. Instead, many attendees find themselves wandering through conference rooms, having random conversations with those in their immediate proximity. Breakout rooms allow organizers to make the networking experience more targeted and relevant to their audience.
Another platform that experienced a dramatic rise in popularity is the social audio application Clubhouse. Clubhouse allows users to join rooms to hear and join audio conversations that they find interesting. The fact that Clubhouse is an audio-only app made it become popular for remote workers or founders who wanted to grow their businesses since users could participate while still working.
The app was not only used for business networking, but also for connecting socially with others in an audio-only environment. Giving people the ability to socialize remotely without having to take a break from work made Clubhouse a viral sensation and contributed to a dramatic influx of venture capital into the company.
Clubhouse has since experienced a downturn in users since pandemic restrictions have loosened, but it remains a popular application for those interested in joining audio-only events. Event marketers have found success using the platform to form online events that individuals can participate in without having to spend hours glued to a computer screen.
One of the biggest challenges for event marketers when organizing online events is that conversion rates are significantly lower than in-person events. This is because, in the case of in-person events, attendees often have to travel to a location, making it less likely that they will cancel at the last minute. In the case of online events, however, last-minute cancellations are much more common because it is so much easier to do so.
A big factor that affects conversion rates for online events is whether the event is free or paid. Free events are often tempting for event marketers; intuitively, we think that a free event will attract larger crowds. While this is true in some cases, making an event free to attend can sometimes have the opposite effect.
This is because attendees are more likely to show up for an online event if they have already purchased a ticket. That financial commitment makes attendees less likely to cancel at the last minute, which is why many event marketers have chosen to offer paid events.
Since converting sign-ups into show-ups is more challenging for online events, event marketers have realized that regular content marketing is very important for online events. Attendees don’t have to physically travel to the event, so it’s crucial that they see content related to the event in their feeds and inboxes. This article from Digital Authority Partners points out that much of these content marketing efforts are digitally focused because remote workers are fixed to their computers for most of the day, according to
To sum up, it’s clear that COVID and ensuing government pandemic policy have significantly impacted the event marketing industry, causing organizers to turn to a variety of online tools and platforms. Many professionals and event marketers are eager for pandemic restrictions to be loosened and some trends suggest that that may be in the works. Time will tell how the industry will change and develop as government restrictions evolve.
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