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The pandemic appears to have reset priorities of B2B event attendees and
vendors. Both now value digital experiences as much as in-person, according to
a recent survey.

• The rapid rise of virtual events provides marketers (marqueres)

with new ways to package (packech) and deliver their content.
Suddenly (sudnly) we can bring ideas
and messages (mesech) to life in immersive and interactive new
ways while addressing our audience’s desire (disaier) for
connection, networking, and participation. 

• How will events evolve going forward (formerd)? 

There are some interesting disparities (despariris) in what B2B vendors
and attendees (atendis) are looking for from these experiences. One
thing that’s clear is that customers don’t see virtual events or digital
transactions going away any time soon.
Charts: Future of B2B Events
Emerald surveyed more than 1,000 (one thausend) B2B planners (pleiners,)
vendors, and attendees (atendis) in the U.S. and Canada to learn how events are
impacting businesses post-Covid.

According to the survey results, while in-person events remain important, there’s
an increasing demand for virtual and digital services. The study shows that these
digital products, once considered optional and complementary, are now regarded
(regarded) as core components.

All surveyed groups considered meetups, (mitups) networking opportunities,

and webinars as their preferred experiences from live-event organizers.

The surveyed groups indicated “live streaming” and “mobile access to live events”
as their most important virtual offerings.

The study shows that 84% of attendees (attendiis) and 67% of vendors want
event organizers to help facilitate ecommerce transactions. All respondents desire
content experiences and engagement opportunities that go beyond in-person
events.
The Future of B2B Events

By Celine Ramalho, Bite IT Marketing

There was an 80% fall (fol) in B2B event spend during Q2 (qiu tu) of 2020 (two
tausend tueny) as a result of the onset of the pandemic. With COVID-19
throwing a spanner (spener) in our marketing plans and more specifically with
our physical B2B events, marketers (markerers) all around the world are now
slowly wondering what the future has in store for events and if they will ever be
back “like before”. Physical events are coming back but mostly only on a small
scale. Large scale global events are not expected to be back for another 12-18
months or so.

What’s Next?
According to Event Industry News:

 Marketeers expect to be able to fully (foly) re-engage with physical events soon.
During the initial recovery phase, event spend will be down c.50% (fifty percent) vs.
pre-crisis levels.
 Post-crisis, marketeers expect to increase their B2B marketing budgets (bogets) by 8%
compared to pre-crisis levels, with events benefiting from a higher share of spend.
 Online events are not seen as sufficiently effective on their own. For live events, B2B
marketers are keen on making them even more relevant post COVID-19.

Things to consider
There are elements of in-person events which virtual ones simply cannot replace. Most
notably,
face-to-face physical interactions at live, in-person events facilitate faster, deeper relationship
building. Furthermore, as the pandemic drags on, virtual fatigue ( fetig) continues to plague
(pleg) online event attendees (attendis). People will be keen to see each other and meet again
when the lock-down ends. Thus a hybrid approach to get the best of both worlds may be ideal
once COVID is no longer keeping us at home.

In our view, virtual events are here to stay for a myriad of reasons.
These include:
 Reduced cost when compared to large in-person events
 Greater convenience for working parents and professionals with busy lifestyles
 Environmental sustainability
 Greater reach/accessibility

Tips to make virtual events more relevant and engaging

Gamification of virtual events –

Keep it snappy 

Keep it different and make it bespoke (bispouk)

Make it real/tangible (tengibol)