The Ultimate Event Trends Guide for 2023

As event planners and marketing professionals, it pays to stay ahead of the trends. The events industry moves fast, and new technologies are rapidly changing the way events are conducted and experienced. To help you stay on top of what’s happening in this ever-changing sector, we’ve compiled an overview of 8 emerging trends for 2023 that you will want to pay attention to as you prepare your next event or conference.

The forecast for 2023 is an exciting one, with a focus on gamification, sustainability, analytics and data tracking, social media, and personalisation. Let’s take a look into what this means for your next event.

Gamification

To make an impact at your next event, strive to create an experience that is truly memorable. By incorporating gamification elements, you engage attendees in social activities and conversations while also providing entertainment. Add another level by offering prizes and this can help drive new leads and relationships.

Gamification is a fun, interactive opportunity that motives people more than traditional marketing methods.

Sustainability, Upcycling, Reusability

Sustainability has become a key focus, and it continues to be an important part of event planning in 2023. Corporations are increasingly looking for ways to reduce waste at events by reusing materials and upcycling them into new products. Additionally, they are also exploring ways to incorporate renewable energy sources into their events, such as solar panels. Sustainable initiatives provide double benefits as they often result in cost savings over time as well as being good for the environment.

At Creative Hire, our business mission is simple: to provide our clients with the highest quality displays for exhibitions, events, conferences and retail environments without contributing any extra waste or clutter. We focus on repurposing existing materials to ensure maximum brand exposure while still adhering to an earth-friendly agenda that has no negative impact on landfills.

“Let’s get serious and talk about sustainability.”?Clint Hill, General Manager at Creative Hire says.??“Reuse, repurpose, repeat. This is the cycle that we follow religiously when we create something new. Our team of in-house designers are tuned in to making custom and hire elements reusable. As product experts, they know exactly how to tick all the boxes on reusability. There are big wins in the reuse process, saving energy and conserving resources, reducing waste and making use of a product that has been thoroughly tested and seamlessly executed on prior occasions.”

Read more?here?about the importance of sustainability in our ‘Going Green’ insight article.

New Year, New Rules, New Possibilities?

We’re back! Reconnecting and rebuilding from lost time. However, there is a renewed focus on creating valuable and engaging event experiences that are tailored to the audience. As we emerge from the pandemic, we are now facing the triple threat of hybrid, virtual and in person events and this means your event needs to cater for each or all of the different types of attendees.

Pre-pandemic hybrid or virtual gatherings accounted for only 18.9% of all events. After the pandemic, the numbers shifted, with 59.5% of event planners intending to hold hybrid events moving forward. And whilst the majority of people would prefer to attend a hybrid event in person, at least a third would prefer to attend virtually.?(Nilsson, 2020)

The market for virtual events is estimated to reach $366.5 billion by 2026 and on-demand content is increasing in popularity.?(Market Data Forecast, 2022)?

Event planners and organisers must adapt to the change or risk being left behind. A successful hybrid event will include webinars, live streams, data collection, audience engagement tools and multi-channel marketing.

Know what counts

Data tracking will be an important part of any successful event plan in 2023 due to the immense amount of information available about attendees’ preferences, behaviours and interests that can help organisers make inform decisions.?

By understanding what works best for each individual attendee you can optimize the experience accordingly for maximum engagement. This will ultimately lead to higher ROI for your event over time.?

?Read more on how to maximise ROI on your exhibition stand?here.

Are you reel ready?

Video content is fast becoming a popular choice for promoting events or engaging potential attendees prior to the start date. In fact, if you want to reach almost half of the world’s population, this is the channel to use. Insider intelligence estimates that 3.63 billion people globally will watch digital video content this year!

Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook Reels, TikToks or Instagram Stories are all great options when it comes down to producing engaging videos and visuals that won’t break the bank but still help reach your potential audience.

Into the unknown

Whilst traditional event locations such as convention centres and hotels will receive more event enquiries this year, Non-traditional locations are becoming more common among event planners as they look for something ‘outside-the-box’ for their next event, exhibition or roadshow.

The pandemic forced planners to consider regional NSW, outdoor locations such as rooftops and public spaces and other non-traditional locations such as farmhouses, warehouses and parking lots.?And although these formats may not be for every brand, they are a key consideration to generate maximum interest and engagement.

There’s an abundance of new openings across Australia this year including the much anticipated W Hotel Sydney or the transformation of the iconic Fort Denison, Sydney; The debut of the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne; The extraordinary new riverfront precinct at Queens Wharf Brisbane and the rebuild of Southern Ocean Lodge in South Australia. There will be no shortage for brands to take advantage of extraordinary event spaces in 2023 and the team at Creative Hire can work with you at each and every one of them.

Personalisation

A key customer service trend for 2023 will be personalisation. Tailored experiences provide a higher level of engagement and overall ROI.?

‘Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And seventy-six percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen’?(McKinsey & Company, 2021)

Brand loyalty is a thing of the past in today’s world. Consumers are increasingly switching between different brands to get what they need – which makes personalization an essential part of any event marketing strategy for better customer retention and successful product innovation.

Artificial Intelligence

As technology advances, so to do the opportunities. Artificial Intelligence is becoming more and more powerful and it is a great tool that can be used end to end; from pre-event planning, onsite activation through to post event analysis.

The AI market is forecasted to grow to nearly $267 billion by 2027 and is therefore an important consideration when planning your next event.?(Fortune Business Insights, 2022)?

Talk to our team today but how we can level up your event using AI.

When it comes to event planning, it pays to stay ahead of the trends. Our team will discuss endless opportunities that will take your brand to the next level.?Contact us today!