Post-pandemic, the events industry appears to be back all guns blazing, and with that comes budget commitments from your business. It can be tough to understand how much marketing and time should be dedicated to events, but don’t underestimate their importance or you’re likely to get left behind in the crowd. This comes as the most successful companies are spending 1.7x the average marketing budget on live events.
64% of companies have jumped on the event bandwagon and boosted their events budgets in 2022. This reflects the increasing trend that the industry is back bigger and better than ever following one of the toughest challenges it’s faced in a long time. In 2018 events were already showing promising growth amongst businesses from a corporate perspective, with almost a quarter of inbound visits to the UK being for business travel purposes. Following this, in 2019 business events generated more than £13.1 billion of direct spend.
These are all incredibly positive statistics but we can appreciate that the events scene has drastically changed in the past three years. That’s why what’s even more exciting, is that in 2021 the Conferences and Meetings category of Business Events was worth a staggering £18.3 billion. This is despite the knocks facing the industry; including the rapid shift to virtual and hybrid events as well as continuously changing restrictions.
If the numbers aren’t enough to convince you to invest in your business’ events programme, there’s a number of practical reasons why you should look into connecting with your community on a face-to-face level.
Lead generation is one of the most lucrative and significant reasons many businesses choose to host events. With 92% of people placing networking as their main priority of attending corporate events, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone there who’s not looking to do business. With almost everyone in the room there for the same reason, it is crucial to have the right people who you can form mutually beneficial relationships with. Inviting the right people to your event to develop and cultivate new clients is likely to reap rewards for your business, as 38% of attendees will visit your company’s website following an event, and 32% of those people will then enter into a relationship with your business.
The purpose of your business event may not necessarily be to see immediate financial returns, but to learn more about your audience, clients and partners to connect on a more long-term personal level. In-person events build a relationship between you and attendees through creating trust that can’t be matched through digital channels. In-person events provide the opportunity for a personalised and memorable experience for each individual attendee, and not just a conversation that inevitably gets buried in a full inbox. This allowance for personal attention has led 97% of B2B marketers to state that in-person events have a major impact on achieving wider business outcomes.
If done properly, your event is likely to leave a lasting positive impression on attendees, with 84% saying that they have a more positive view of a brand, product or service after attending their event.
So how can you ensure that you achieve all this and see a significant return on your investment? By introducing a multifaceted promotional, digital and communications plan and ensuring your event is organised down to the smallest detail, it's sure to be a success.
That’s where we come in, our highly experienced team at Associate Events can provide you with a concept-to-delivery service. We understand that dedicating trusted marketing spending to live events can be daunting if it’s a new concept, but by working with us we will put your mind at ease and show you all the benefits to your business of hosting a live event. Contact us here today to get started!
