The report “Digital event. Events and Online Meetings 2020/2021 Analysis, Forecast, Benchmarks.”
By BluExperience | July 25, 2021 | report
The report “Digital event. Events and Online Meetings 2020/2021 Analysis, Forecast, Benchmarks.”
The forced abandonment of offline meetings, on the one hand, was a strong shock to the event industry (and to all of us), and on the other hand, allowed it to… improve. The development of digital capabilities and the shift to this form of event organization even made us start talking about the formula of events 2.0.
We present you with the first such rich and cross-sectional report on the meetings industry. The analysis of the past year and the forecast for the coming years are invaluable to both event agencies and their clients.
Frozen offline, thriving online.
One can venture to say that the pandemic showed the strength and value that Event Marketing enjoys among the companies using it. This is because, contrary to fears, it turned out that most of them did not give up on EM, but only changed its form to digital. Also, the majority appreciates it, but – and this may come as another surprise – the only faint percentage declares that after the change in conditions they will remain exclusively with online events anyway.
Some types of events are particularly popular in hybrid and online formats – for example, those focused on education and training, which accounted for more than 80% of total events. Despite the undoubted advantages, such as the ability for Guests and Speakers to participate without the barriers of place and time, digital is not without its drawbacks. Survey respondents point to fewer opportunities for interaction, sustained attention, engagement, and socialization, which are particularly desirable for team-building, for example.
For technical reasons, the organization of online events is best placed in the hands of professionals – this is also the opinion of those surveyed, about ¾ of whom use agency services, and this is the reason they indicate as the most important. In turn, half rightly note that small inside teams are not able to prepare an online event at the right level, and that outsourcing it to an agency raises the perception.
The analysis also indicates areas that could be better managed. For example, the fact that only ⅓ of companies outsource content preparation or overall image creation to agencies. We also need to work on creativity and increasing the efficiency factors of the event to increase audience engagement. It’s also interesting to note the relatively low share of product launches, sports events press conferences that seem made for digital. It’s possible that one of the reasons for this is still insufficient awareness of the possibilities and opportunities of events 2.0 – and this is also pointed out in our Report.
What did respondents identify as the biggest challenges, the desired types of interactions and tools used, stated budgets for the coming year and perceptions of the effectiveness of digital events? Answers to these and many other questions can be found in the Report.
The publication was developed by a team led under the aegis of MeetingPlanner.pl, consisting of representatives of agencies: BERM, CMA Events, El Padre, KDK Events, Live Age and Plej.