Long-Term Strategy & The Move to Hybrid

Currently, there is still a sense that large portions of the events industry are holding their breath as many companies are hoping physical will become a prominent feature of their business models soon.

The group felt that this was misguided, however, agreeing that until there is a vaccine it is highly likely social distancing measures will be in place globally and corporates will continue to enforce highly restricted travel policies.

The group was surprised to see a strong proportion of events companies who are planning to go ahead with in-person events in the latter half of 2020 and into 2021.

Important therefore to create an approach to these opportunities alongside a contingency plan.

While there is little certainty at this time there is a strong case that physical events will not ‘bounce back’ to normal ever.

As companies invest more into digital, as developments continue to unfold in successful digital events, and as executives and corporates continue to question the validity of high levels of business travel, it is likely that hybrid events are here to stay.

It is important for marketers to have an understanding of how their target audience engages online to truly drive value from the virtual experience. Overall, as with live events, standing out is imperative to a successful online event experience.

As an audience is sat at their laptop for everything from internal catchups to head-turning event content it can be difficult to end a day without merging your 4 calls and meetings that day with the 45-minute panel you watched at that day’s virtual event.

Marketers, therefore, need to create memorable experiences otherwise when sales follow up with the event leads, they won’t remember the event, sponsors or content let alone be the warm lead which would have come out of a live event.