There’s no doubt that event marketing and live events are very effective ways to promote your small business. After all, you have the opportunity to showcase your products or services leading up to the live event and then meet one-on-one with prospects and customers at the event. And thanks to recent improvements in event management software, ROI is becoming easier to measure as well.

But ever wonder what the “other” guys are doing?

Here are some key statistics that illustrate how important event marketing and live events can be for your small business.

 

Event Statistics You Need to Plan 2018

In-Person Connections at Events Are Invaluable

Beyond showcasing your products or services at a live event, it’s extremely important to begin nurturing lasting relationships with prospects. One-on-one engagement is so much more powerful than attempting to engage with prospects online. In fact, 95% of marketers agree that live events are invaluable for making connections with customers. Despite the fact that we live in a digital world, in-person relationships are often a vital part of earning conversions.

 

Technology Is the Straw That Stirs the Drink

Where would marketers be without technology?

It’s an essential component for getting the word out regarding an event you’ll be attending. As a matter of fact, 86% of marketers believe that it has a positive impact on the success of their event. That may seem like common knowledge, but think about just how frequently you use technology to promote or make an event better. Some of the most important ways include:

• Social media
• Mobile event apps
• Live-streaming
• Meeting schedulers
• Marketing automation systems
• Event management software
• Virtual and augmented reality

 

Businesses Are Likely to Invest More in Event Marketing

Organizations typically invest between 20% and 50% of their marketing budgets in events. However, 63% of marketers state that going forward they plan to invest more money in live event marketing and attend more live events. These additional funds could be used to improve exhibit booths and/or for technology that can be used leading up to the live event or during the live event.

 

Over-Performing Businesses Will Spend Even More on Live Events

In terms of over-performing businesses—those that have surpassed their goals—there will also be a significant investment in live events. This is verified by the fact that 80% of marketers from these organizations said they will invest more in live events. Such successful brands as Google, Apple, and Virgin Group allocate a good chunk of their resources to live events. Each of these companies host their own events, such as Google’s I/O annual developer conference, and attend many others. For each, live events are an integral part of their culture and have helped to make them successful.

 

C-Suite Executives Overwhelmingly Support Live Events

Marketers aren’t the only ones who believe live events can hugely benefit their brand; there’s also a significant buy-in from those at the top of organizations. In fact, C-suite executives are the biggest advocates of live events, with 87% of them noting that conferences and trade shows are tremendously important to their brand’s success and are worth investing more money in. Engagement and the opportunity to generate leads are cited by C-suite executives as the most important benefits of live events.

 

Event Management Software Can Help Measure ROI

Although measuring the ROI of live events isn’t yet an exact science, event management software has made it a bit easier to do so. Nearly 60% of those marketers who use event management software said that it’s helpful in measuring ROI. From online registration to social media promotion to revenue tracking tools, event management software can provide invaluable metrics for live events.

As you can see, the consensus among most marketers and C-suite executives is that live events are a crucial component to developing relationships and engaging prospects and customers.

How can a live event benefit your small business and brand?

Let us help go over your options with booth displays and swag that will get you noticed.