Study Reveals 6 Technology Trends Disrupting the Event Industry

There’s no question that events are becoming a top priority for marketers (the investment is no joke — it's a $565 industry). And just like any other industry, technology is altering the way event organizers do their job.

Today, technology doesn’t just help make the actual event process go smoothly (i.e. check-in, automating emails, guest list management), it also enables marketers to measure their events — a traditionally difficult channel to measure — just as easily as any other marketing channel.

In a new report on the state of event marketing, Harvard Business Review Analytic Services surveyed 739 enterprise leaders from all over the world to better understand the impact of technology on the event industry. From the results, we pinpointed six event tech trends (some already predicted by our CEO Ben earlier this year) that marketers need to keep top of mind to ensure they’re staying ahead of their competitors. 

One of the study’s key findings is a big one: just 23% of the survey respondents are able to track event ROI vs. 37% of tech adopters.

Salesforce, one of the companies surveyed by HBR-AS and an Event Optimizer, is part of the 23%, and a star example of a company who can effectively measure their events’ ROI.

They use both their own CRM and third-party event technology to first calculate and track the total amount of potential business from potential attendees, then measure the amount of new opportunities generated in the 90 days following the event. They also conduct extensive post-event surveys and focus groups to paint a full picture of event success.

Reporting on revenue impact is crucial for event program growth and budgets: the study also reports that those who are able to track event ROI are also increasing their event marketing budgets.

A majority of the best adopters (51%) say they’re finding success from integrating their event technology into their company’s CRM system or marketing stack.

In comparison, non-adopters tend to stick to top-of-funnel metrics (like number of RSVPs and attendees) since they don’t have a way to account for multi-touch attribution and connect their events to pipeline, sales, or revenue.

Beyond ROI and data — but indirectly related — the study reports that event technology also enables better cross-team alignment and real-time action, so sales or customer teams can easily see how an event influenced the sales cycle and gain more insight about their prospects at every stage of the event lifecycle.

The HBR-AS report also cites that Facebook integrates their event technology closely with their CRM in order to maximize the effectiveness of their events. 

With more advanced event marketing technology, companies are now able to capture data — from dietary preferences to interest in various sessions at a conference — at every stage of the event lifecycle for a more personalized experience before, during, and after an event ends.

With this data, brands can automate better post-event follow-ups and personalize their outreach based on guest data (i.e. who showed up to an event, which sessions they attended, how long they stayed, etc.), which is integral to accelerating sales cycles and improving customer engagement.

As data and technology improves and more brands invest, here's what the future looks like: conferences will be able to tell guests that a session they might be interested in is 90% full an hour before it even begins, or brands will be able to tailor future sessions' content to specific guests based on post-event survey data.

The report also states that not only are B2B companies investing more aggressively in event technology than B2C companies, but they also see slightly more value in events: 54% of B2B companies say events drive more ROI than any other marketing channel, compared to 48% of B2C companies.

The study also found that tech companies themselves are investing the most in event technology (followed by business/professional services, consulting firms, and healthcare companies).

But B2C brands are not far behind. Even though B2B companies are traditionally more mature than their B2C counterparts and require more meaningful touchpoints (like events!) in their sales cycles, the lines between B2B and B2C are getting blurrier (especially with the growing expectation of personalization and the emergence of more powerful data).

And companies say the investment is worth it.

Tech adopters say they are more likely to see business value from events, to consider themselves better positioned for future success—90% versus 65% of non-adopters—and to find it easy to demonstrate an event’s impact on their business.

It’s not just about event ROI, though. A successful event program starts by creating the best guest experience—from the first email invite, to the event landing page, to the on-site experience, and even post-event surveys. And with event technology and integrating it with the rest of their systems, marketing teams are better able to streamline workflows and ultimately, scale their event programs moving forward. 

The study uncovered four additional top benefits of event technology:

• Improved event registration and attendance

• Increased process productivity across event staff
• Better (and more consistent) attendee experiences
• Improved ability to plan and execute events that are in line with company goals

We finally have the technology to track and prove our events’ value, and yet we haven’t even begun to start leveraging these tools to their maximum potential. So far, a sliver of the marketplace is ahead of the game: one third of organizations have thus far adopted event marketing technology.

There is hope, though. Another one fifth of companies plan to adopt event technology in the next 12 to 18 months.