The Future of Events – Are Virtual Events Here to Stay?

The pandemic may have propelled the virtual event phenomenon, but it was already big in 2019. Research indicates that in the year 2019, the industry amassed nearly $78 billion in revenue.

Between 2020-2027, the virtual events industry is anticipated to experience a stellar Compound Annual Growth Rate(CAGR) of 23.2%. The numbers alone indicate the bright future of the space. In this blog post, we are going to dig deeper into reasons as to why the future is looking positive for online events.

Role of Stay-at-Home Economy

In the past year and a half, there has been a profound shift in the way we work and live. Coinbase, a company that offers cryptocurrency services has come up with a “remote-first” policy where employees can continue to work from home indefinitely.

On similar lines, Dropbox has offered its employees a choice to keep working remotely and visit the office if and when they need to. Other bellwether companies such as Ford Motor Company, HubSpot, Facebook, and Amazon have announced similar measures.

Virtual events are ideal for engaging an audience in decentralized environments.

Role of Reduced Expenses

Using an online event management platform like Beetsol has its charms. Both organizers and the audience save costs by choosing to go digital. While the former saves on setup costs, the latter saves both money and time on accommodations and travel (2020 showed us it’s possible!).

Another underrated benefit is concerned with the environment. Less air travel means fewer negative effects on the planet’s atmosphere. You may be led to believe that investing in a virtual event management solution may offset the savings. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Expenses incurred on rental and venue are far greater than the investment made on an online event management platform. Hence, the cost-effectiveness of virtual events means that they’re here to stay.

Role of Digital Marketing

Rebecca Harmer, Head of Events at LinkedIn, says “It’s now impossible to ask questions about the future of digital marketing without also asking questions about the future of virtual events.” That’s how much online events matter in the digital marketing realm, especially B2B marketing.

Harmer stresses the importance of virtual event management in fostering high-quality conversations, strengthening customer/client relationships, and building excitement among the target audience.

Whether it’s a product launch, lead generation, live demo, “ask me anything” session, networking, webinar, conference, online events have helped B2B marketers build awareness and reach far wider audiences than they ever could with in-person events.

According to the State of Virtual Events report released by LinkedIn, 75% of event marketers across the globe plan on using virtual events to reach audiences across borders and seas.

This is good news for people who are often faced with geographical constraints while hoping to attend in-person events.

Events-Management-As-a-Service

As more companies take their gatherings and events online, a new need has emerged. Audiences expect to transition seamlessly online so that they can fully participate in virtual events.

This is why brands need events-management-as-a-service that goes beyond commonly-used video conferencing apps.

With the help of online event management platforms like Beetsol, brands can host events, conferences, training programs, product launches, trade shows, concerts, recruitment drives, sessions from experts, that have hundreds of attendees and also facilitate one-on-one conversations.

So, do we expect in-person events to return?

Two Words – Hybrid Events

The in-person events will return. There are certain aspects of physical events that cannot be replaced by a completely digital experience. It could be meeting your favorite speakers in real life, sharing a room with industry experts, or an opportunity for face-to-face networking.

But because of many reasons outlined above, virtual events aren’t going anywhere. They will co-exist with in-person events. Possibly, event organizers will continue to host online events to keep the attendance high and offer a limited number of tickets for in-person events.

And, if resources permit, an in-person event can be live-streamed via online event management platforms so that people who cannot fly to the venue can also listen to the speakers.

Then there is on-demand content (recorded using a virtual event management platform) that can be offered once the event is over. Therefore, the future will entail hybrid events so that brands and their customers get the best of both worlds.