Changing Times, Changing Roles: What's Ahead for Event Marketers?

Breaking the Addiction to Big Events: The Changing Role of the Event Marketer

For event marketers, 2020 has been a reeling shock to the system. Not only have event professionals been forced to deal with the most obvious challenges — like reduced budgets and staff, plus shifting everything to virtual — they're also learning new skills and adapting their technologies to "make it work." They've had to become digital marketers overnight. 

On top of all that, event marketers face their companies' addiction withdrawal to big events. Even as in-person gatherings may return next year, the big events that have been part of marketers' regimen won't regain their centerpiece status anytime soon. And that's a good thing.  

Ditching the big events habit is long overdue. While highly visible, big events are often resource-intensive, logistical time-sucks, with notoriously difficult-to-measure returns. The shift toward smaller events that deliver more quantifiable business results is valuable for companies looking to realize a better and faster return.  

But as that pivot becomes permanent, what does the event marketer's role look like? 

First, those new roles will require new skills. For example, 34% of companies are using new technologies to adapt their events for a different business climate, according to a survey of event professionals we conducted in October 2020. Event marketers will need to master these new tools. As smaller events begin to take center stage, event marketers will also find they have more hands-on and influential roles in shaping the dynamics, themes, and outcomes of the events they manage. 

Focus on Clever Curation Instead of Big Crowds and Halls 

Nothing impacts the dynamic of an event more than the people attending it. For big events, the equation is simple: attract the greatest possible number of attendees. Smaller events, in contrast, focus on getting the right people together, not the most people. That means less focus on topline numbers (total attendees, total registrations) and more on bottom-line results (sales funnel progression, MQLs).  

When designing smaller events, event marketers play a significant role in identifying attendees who complement one another's interests and knowledge base. As opposed to a big event that attracts more people in a less-targeted way, smaller events can curate attendees that align with the organization's aims. Should all the attendees be viable prospects, or is it more important to have subject-matter experts in relevant fields? These are the questions an event marketer needs to answer.

As more non-marketing personnel become involved in creating events, setting guidelines and expectations for attendee curation will be essential. And they'll need tools to do this efficiently. Our Q4 survey found that 29% of companies have more non-marketing staff now creating events (than before COVID-19). Companies need the right technology that allows teams to build their attendee lists strategically while maintaining brand consistency and the ability to track interactions. 

Build Lasting Connections, Not Casual Encounters

A well-curated attendee list is one thing. Getting attendees engaged and encouraging tangible interactions is another. Corporate event attendees prioritize networking, but they still need event marketers to be matchmakers. This is especially important in virtual settings, as 56% of event attendees say that socializing is what they miss most from in-person events. 

Event marketers can facilitate more effective networking by researching key attendees' interests and career histories to identify commonalities. They can make pre-event introductions through email or social media and automatically prompt LinkedIn connections. This type of interpersonal prep work can lead to more substantial face-to-face time. And by front-loading the "getting-to-know-you stuff," you can get to the big ideas more quickly  

See the Richer Picture: Develop Cohesive Content and Context 

Even with the right people together in the same virtual room, an event can only be as successful as its objective, content, and context. That is why 37% of event professionals cite the creation of high-quality content as their main challenge in this year's transition to virtual events. The good news is that smaller events are ideal for innovative ideas and content. They can be tailored to specific subjects or designed to achieve certain outcomes.  

Smaller events also give marketers the ability to create narratives. Instead of shoehorning all their content into one big event, smaller events can link together in themes and a series. This approach allows event marketers to organize more bite-sized content that can add up to a bigger story.  

A series of 10-minute webinars, for example, can cover the same information and meet the same objectives as an hour-long webinar with a better invite-to-attendee ratio (because who can't spare 10 minutes for a subject that interests them?). Or a series of curated events billed as "a dinner with" various experts that create an overarching sense of inclusion and interest has a more lasting impact than a one-off panel discussion at a conference.  

Event marketers' role is to ensure a cohesive theme, communicate how one gathering relates to others, and provide an overall perspective.

This year has proved that event marketers' roles can evolve, and they will undoubtedly continue to. They will need to play a more prominent role in attendee selection and attraction, making introductions and connections, developing compelling themes and topics, and providing context.  

To do this, they'll need the right event technology and tools that can enable and simplify attendee activity tracking and follow-up and unified event branding and programming. In other words, event marketers need the resources to keep pace with a constantly-transforming events landscape. 2020 ensured that events will never be the same. Now, event marketers' most important role will be as the masters of adaptation they've proved themselves to be this year. Smart companies will support their role in any way they can.