FEBRUARY 2, 2024
As we wrap up a successful 2023, having hosted 420 in-person and virtual gatherings and having facilitated more than 27,000 connections at those events, it’s a good time to think about opportunities and trends for the year ahead.
Recently, I came across this article, “Evolve Your Event Marketing Strategy for 2024 and Beyond,” from my Gartner colleague Christy Uher Ferguson, Distinguished VP Analyst, B2B Tech Marketing. Christy shares insights on how marketers should evolve their event strategies this year, and I found a few points particularly relevant for clients who are considering Evanta as part of their marketing or sales strategy in 2024.
1. Business travel is expected to rebound – but isn’t there yet.
One relevant data point from Christy’s report is that according to the 2023 GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook — Annual Global Report and Forecast, the Global Business Travel Association “indicates that global business travel spending is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2024.” While that is good news for sponsors of events who want business travelers to return, the report also notes that the travel volume has not fully rebounded yet.
One advantage of participating with Evanta is that our events are local to where C-level executives live and work. While business travel may come back this year, our programs are not impacted by travel and expense budgets since executives can easily access a local venue or a virtual discussion. In her research report, Christy recommends that marketers explore “smaller, more intimate regional-based events,” which is exactly what we offer to C-level members of Evanta communities, who we organize by their role and region to create local networks of their peers.
2. Flexibility is key – participants want options.
In this Forbes article on “The Six Corporate Event Trends To Watch In 2024,” they observe that flexibility remains important to event participants. They write, “For those aiming to attract these individuals to events and conferences… providing flexible options to attend, combined with exclusive learning and networking opportunities, can help demonstrate the value and create that elusive yet desirable FOMO (fear of missing out).”
At Evanta, we have kept virtual town halls in the mix for executives and sponsors despite our wholehearted return to in-person events. Our member research indicates that executives find value in frequently joining a one-hour discussion with their peers, and virtual discussions are easy and convenient to fit into their busy schedules.
The Gartner research report also proposes finding a balance between virtual and in-person delivery. One key takeaway from the 2023 Gartner Tech Marketing Benchmarks Survey is that while spending on digital events is declining, “Technology marketers using virtual events in their marketing campaigns are 3.7 times (or 270%) more likely to have seen 10% or greater year-over-year growth in the past 12 months.” Striking that balance between in person and virtual is something to consider for sales and marketing leaders who naturally prefer to be face-to-face with prospects and customers.
3. Valuable peer networking and learning opportunities are a must.
Regardless of in-person or virtual, according to the Gartner report on event marketing trends, “these events must evolve to deliver engaging, informative experiences that enable peer networking and capture audience interest and attention.” At Evanta, our core benefits to executive members include networking with other C-level peers, collaborating with them, and sharing best practices on a year-round basis.
Another key part of our value proposition is our ‘by, for’ model, in which C-level practitioners lead each community. This peer-driven approach makes the topics and agendas particularly relevant to executives – because their peers helped determine it. In addition, Evanta’s proprietary Leadership Perspective Survey provides us with the top priorities and challenges of our community members each year, ensuring that what we offer is timely and meets their needs.
4. Consider your success metrics.
Another thing for sales and marketing leaders to think about this year is their measures of success for events. In the past, people mostly measured leads – how many and the quality. According to Gartner research on evolving your strategy in 2024, though, “Technology marketers are evolving success metrics to align to business objectives and building robust data views… New success measures include level of engagement within target accounts, progression of pipeline deals and customer retention.”
A Cvent report echoes that view, noting that 71% of event teams operate under the marketing team, emphasizing “the growing perception of events as facilitators of marketing objectives, encompassing tasks such as boosting revenue, generating leads, and fostering loyalty and relationships.”
This is a trend that also speaks to our core value proposition at Evanta. By giving clients opportunities to meet face-to-face with C-level executives, they are more likely to progress deals by operating at the top with the actual decision maker. Our smaller, high-touch engagements also enable you to have valuable conversations and foster relationships with your customers and prospects, rather than having only a “one and done” meeting.
As the Forbes article eloquently states, “Creating opportunities to foster human connections helps people feel they belong and derive value from an event long after the closing keynote.”
That’s what we strive for at Evanta – facilitating connections that have value long after the event ends. If you want to learn more about sponsoring with us to make C-level connections at highly engaging events, reach out to us here.
