Making an impression on the audience by providing them with a unique experience lies at the core of event planning. The importance of this marketing branch came to light, particularly during the pandemic when the whole event industry had to stop, adapt, and evolve. We have collected some event marketing statistics to get you going on this topic. Taking some time to read these stats before engaging in event marketing could give you a leg up on the competition.
Event Marketing Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- Nearly 80% of US marketers use events to boost sales. (Inc.)
- Around 31% of marketers consider event marketing the most effective marketing channel. (Aventri)
- For 80% of marketers, live events play a crucial role in the success of their organizations. (Forbes)
- Nearly 60% of event management software users can track ROI. (Endless Events)
- Business events add over $1 trillion to the global economy annually. (PCMA)
- 52% of marketers think event marketing drives the best ROI. (Splash)
- Approximately 40% of events set for 2022 are projected to be virtual. (Statista)
Essential Event Marketing Stats
1. 79% of marketers stateside use events to boost sales.
Events are a powerful instrument to drive brand loyalty and promote new lines of products which is why so many marketers bet on them. Stats further show that an astounding 87% of consumers buy products from a brand after attending an event.
(Inc.)
2. Around 31% of marketers consider events the most effective marketing channel.
Although all channels are effective to some extent, about a third of marketers name events as the single-most effective one. Event marketing statistics further show that 87% of C-Suite execs trust in the importance of live events and want to invest more in them in the future.
(Aventri)
3. For 95% of marketers, live events enable real connections.
According to a survey from Bizzabo, event marketing fosters real connections. Almost all surveyed marketers think that events offer the opportunity to develop in-person relationships with prospective customers. This can be good leverage for obtaining leads in an overly digitalized world.
(Marketo)
4. For 80% of marketers, live events play a crucial role in the success of their organizations.
Live events are the cornerstone of experiential marketing, which plays a significant role in many companies’ strategies. 77% of marketers opt for it as a part of the brand’s advertising strategy, experiential marketing statistics suggest. A third of CMOs meanwhile claim they plan to increase budgets for this segment.
(Forbes)
5. 63% of marketers plan on investing more in live events.
The future holds more budgeting for this segment. Marketers want to increase events budgets (63%) and organize a higher number of events (63%).
(Bizzabo)
6. 80% of event marketers from the overperforming companies plan to invest more in events.
The most successful brands are also most likely to invest in live events. Around 46% of underperforming businesses and 46% of organizations performing as expected plan the same.
(Endless Events)
7. For 82% of corporate event participants, networking is the number one priority.
Networking stands at the top of the list of priorities for event attendees. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in event marketing targeting, statistics confirm. For instance, 66% of surveyed marketers agree that networking is a great opportunity for finding new clients. Other than networking, learning is a priority for 71.3% of attendees. Entertainment (38%) and self-improvement (37.3%) also stand at the top of the list of priorities. Finally, some just want to spend some time out of the office (15.6%).
(SpeakerHub)
8. 65% of live events participants say attending an event helped them understand products or services better.
Participation in an event helps current or future customers understand the company’s offering better. 70% of people become regular customers following exposure to some experiential marketing, statistics show. Moreover, 84% of event participants improved their opinion about the company and its products and services.
(Aventri)
9. 79% of event attendees think an event app needs to give them access to the event’s schedule.
The access to the schedule is the highest on the list of priorities of event planners, too (88%). Among other notable features, participants also expect session descriptions (75%), receiving updates from organizers (74%), and having the option to create a personalized schedule (69%). Other than that, attendees want the option to network (63%). All of these things are at the top of the list of priorities for planners, along with taking care of meeting-specific branding (70%) and providing access to the meeting room and hall maps for users (77%).
(Marketing Charts)
10. About 55% of event marketers see safety as the biggest obstacle to returning to in-person events.
According to event marketing statistics, the industry might still wait for some time before switching back to physical events. Over half of the organizers don’t feel safe planning in-person events, while travel limitations, bad ROI, logistics, cut budgets, and high costs are other notable hurdles.
(EventMB)
11. The COVID-19 vaccine is the most important factor that might persuade event organizers to plan and attend live events, with 40.4%.
Effective treatment is second on the list (16.2%), followed by effective onsite testing (15%). Government permission and unrestricted travel come in next with 12.7% and 6.7%, respectively. Finally, low infection rates (4.7%) might do the trick as well.
(EventMB)
Event Marketing Industry Statistics
12. The event industry was estimated to grow 44% by 2020.
According to some earlier pre-COVID-19 predictions from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, events were to grow 44% by the end of 2020. This growth is set to be underpinned by millennials, who look for authenticity, and events are an excellent way to deliver on that.
(Inc.)
13. By 2026, the global events industry is projected to reach $2.3 billion.
Since 2018, the growth of the event industry has been apparent. It is set to go from $1.1 billion to $2.3 billion at a CAGR of 10.3% between 2019 and 2026. Major growth drivers will be the rise of interest in events among younger people, a higher reach in this group, and a projected surge in sponsors. Tech advancements will further expand market possibilities.
(GlobeNewswire)
14. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to achieve the highest growth of 13% CAGR between 2019 and 2026.
Based on event marketing stats, all four largest regions have strong markets, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, and LAMEA. In 2018, Europe dominated the industry of events with two-fifths of the total market and is expected to dominate it going forward.
(GlobeNewswire)
15. The sponsorship segment is set to have the highest revenue CAGR of 12.1% between 2021 and 2028.
The sponsorship events category generated the highest revenue share in 2019, with the trend set to continue. Sponsoring the event enables businesses to reach a larger number of potential buyers, driving sales up.
(Allied Market Research)
16. One-day conferences are the most popular event type for marketers, with 54%.
According to event marketing industry statistics, organizers most commonly hold one-day conferences, followed by product training (46%). Business or channel partner events are third with 45%. Thought leadership workshops come in fourth (44%), closely followed by VIP meals (43%).
(Splash)
17. B2B firms allocate most of their budgets for hosting multiple-day conferences.
Among B2B companies, multiple-day events are the most popular (24%). Following that, B2B organizers host trade shows and conventions (23%), one-day conferences and seminars (22%), or business/demand channel partner events (19%), according to event marketing targeting statistics.
(Splash)
18. Nearly 60% of event management software users can track ROI.
Measuring the value of events and their ROI was a big challenge for event planners in the past. The modern software for event management can now mitigate these issues. With revenue tracking tools, databases, and software integrations, ROI is much easier to measure. Overperforming organizations have been able to demonstrate ROI 26% more often than underperformers.
(Endless Events)
19. The event management software market is projected to reach $6.4 billion by 2026.
According to event marketing industry statistics, the software market in this field is set to grow at a 10% CAGR between 2020 and 2026, from $3.6 billion at the start of the period. Companies trying to migrate their IT infrastructure to the cloud post-COVID-19 will be among the top growth drivers.
(MarketsandMarkets)
20. Business events add over $1 trillion to the global economy annually.
Business events gathered over 1.4 billion attendees from 180 countries in 2017. North America held the highest spot based on its $381 billion contributions. Asia followed with $290.9 billion, while Western Europe added $266 billion to the global economy. Combined, the top 50 countries contributed over $990 billion in business events spending.
(PCMA)
21. By 2030, it’s expected that the employment rate for convention, meeting, and event planners will grow by 18%.
Event marketing statistics show that the growth of event planning jobs is outperforming the national average. Projections show that each year 16,400 new openings for this occupation will pop up over the decade (2020-2030). By 2030, there should be 148,000 people employed in this field in the US alone.
(BLS)
22. In the US, the average annual salary for event planners was $51,560 in 2020.
However, not everyone earned the same. So those organizing events, conventions, and meetings in the top 10%, earned over $88,360 median wage. Alternatively, those in the bottom 10% earned $29,240. The highest median salary was for those working in administrative and support services ($53,980).
(BLS)
Event Marketing Effectiveness Statistics
23. In 91% of cases, businesses measure the success of their events by the number of participants.
Planning an event is hard work, and so is measuring its ROI. Most people rely on the number of attendees to measure ROI. Other factors include the number of tickets sold, post-event surveys, engagements on social media, revenue, or post-event sales.
(InitLive)
24. Events have the highest generation power for leads at the top of the funnel.
One of the benefits of an event is the leads generated. For 68% of businesses, it’s the number one lead generator. Next are webinars with 61%. Lead nurturing campaigns, meanwhile, take up the third spot.
(Marketing Charts)
25. 52% of marketers think event marketing drives the best ROI.
According to event marketing effectiveness statistics, 23% of marketers believe they can calculate ROI for their events. Of those that can, 52% also believe it generates more business value than any other channel. Only 8% think it generates less.
(Splash)
26. 75% of organizations with budgets for events of around $50 to 100 million expected ROI of over 5:1 per event.
In addition to ROI, events generate long-term customer loyalty and intangible benefits for the brand. However, the best way is to use software integrations that enable organizers to track ROI based on data and revenue.
(Eventige)
27. For 86% of marketers, the most valuable metric for tracking ROI and ROO of sponsorships and event marketing is sales or products and services.
Other than tracking sales, most marketers measure the effectiveness of their sponsorships and events by the amount of media exposure (85%). In line with the event marketing stats, the third spot goes to increased brand awareness (84%), followed by attitude toward the brand (81%), and entertainment of key customers (79%). Other notable metrics include lower costs of customer acquisition (78%), TV logo exposure (73%), and lead generation (69%).
(MarketingProfs)
28. 86% of event marketers think technology can positively impact events.
Most event marketers think of technology as the new trend that has the biggest positive impact on their operations. The industry is benefitting from different tools, including live streaming, video conferencing tools, etc.
(Endless Events)
29. Roughly 89% of event organizers that use event technology save 200 hours per year.
Event marketing statistics show that event technology does not only play a vital role in tracking events’ ROI but also saves time. Or at least that’s what 89% of event organizers, including event management companies, claim. Moreover, 20% of them claim they saved even more than 200 hours per year, i.e., 360 hours.
(Interprefy)
30. About 67% of live video viewers are likely to purchase a ticket for an event after watching a live video.
A live video of an event plays an important role in driving ticket sales. For events like concerts and festivals, 30% of people who watch a live stream will attend the same event next year, event marketing stats suggest.
(Eventbrite)
31. 98% of consumers capture content while attending live events.
Out of those that capture content, 100% of them share it on their social media channels. That opens up ample opportunities for event marketers to generate brand awareness. 32% of brands use content from live events for their traditional media campaigns. Over three-quarters of brands use it on their social media networks.
(PR Newswire)
32.87% of event organizers plan to use AR for their future events.
VR and AR both have proven to be extremely useful for experiential marketing, statistics confirm. It’s no wonder that 87% of marketers plan to use AR, and 88% will bet on VR in future events.
(Reality X Media)
33. Over 88% of event organizers use social media for their events.
Social media platforms are the most common tool for raising awareness about events for most event planners. Promoting events is not the only function of social media in the event industry but also a valuable content distribution channel.
(Aventri)
34. Approximately 40% of events slated for 2022 are most likely to be virtual, event marketing stats show.
The pandemic has put a strain on physical events. However, most event marketers reacted quickly and switched to the online world. In 2021, nearly one-third of all trade shows had been organized this way, virtual events statistics show.
(Statista)
Event Marketing in a Nutshell
As these event marketing statistics show, this marketing strategy has long been popular and hasn’t lost its appeal despite the pandemic’s impact on the industry. Marketers have been quick to adapt, moving some events online with the help of technology. What seems to have remained unchanged, though, is the value event marketing brings to customer relationships and, ultimately, to a business’s bottom line.
