Events, Marketing and Robots (Well Kinda)

 

What does the future of event marketing look like? As technology advances so too should event marketing right?

With there being an increased focus on virtual and hybrid events in recent years there is a need to embrace novel technologies and move beyond traditional strategies or at least that is the opinion of Sonali Nair in the article  Innovation And Disruption In Event Marketing. With the advances we’ve seen in technology we have more opportunities to provide personalized and immersive experiences. Nair details four benefits of using innovative event technology stating that, according to research shared by eventify, these technologies can:

·        Increase attendance by up to 30%

·        Reduce time and cost efforts by 45%

·        Increase productivity by 40%

·        Increase lead conversion by 25%

While I can’t comment on the validity of those numbers (I couldn’t find the original researching organization, data or methods) if they are reliable that would suggest that incorporation of new technologies can be hugely beneficial.

The article specifically mentions the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as disruptive technologies that are changing the industry. As these technologies make their way into our daily lives, with the ability to create interactive and immersive environments using something as ubiquitous as a smart phone, it would be a mistake to ignore them when it comes to event marketing.  

There are so many possibilities for ways to use advanced tech: from attracting attention to the event by integrating social media, using AI chatbots, facial recognition and interactive exhibits, to working behind the scenes measuring and analyzing attendee engagement and providing enhanced ticket security.

All these advancements are being put in place to help events and marketing companies stay competitive and meet/exceed the needs of their audiences, but do they do that or are we just adding additional noise to an already overwhelming cyber world?

In my opinion each event is unique, you can’t just pile on a bunch of tech-based marketing and event strategies and call it a day. It is about finding the optimal balance between traditional methods and innovative technologies. There is a huge difference between say a wellness festival and a technology trade show. For a show dedicated to the latest technologies of course you would want to pull out all the pieces the AI, VR, AR, apps, etc. and showcase just how connected you can be with your audience. Alternatively, consider a wellness festival, integration of social media and e-tickets makes sense since they would be reducing paper use, but pursuing AI, VR or AR probably doesn’t make much sense when you look at your target audience. Then you may find events that fall in the middle, such as a medical conferences, these conferences can be huge and include hybrid components. There are many ways tech could be incorporated into a medical conference for example AI could be used in combination with an app or website to help doctors and researchers identify the most relevant seminars for their specialty and subsequently build a personalized schedule for each attendee.  This is by no means an exhaustive list of events, but it does give a bit of insight into the ever-expanding tech marketing options available.

While I agree we should take advantage of the technological advancements that are shaping the evolution of our society, I believe there is still a place for traditional marketing, especially when attempting to employ nostalgia marketing strategies.

Where do you see the future of event marketing going? Does your vision include a lot of advanced technologies? Or is simple sometimes better?