Chart of the week: Organisers turning to 365 communities

Almost 70% of organisers are using or planning to use digital communities to engage their audiences throughout the year, according to a new study.

Findings from EventMB’s Future of the Event’s Industry: 2022 Outlook Summit show nearly a majority of event professionals were using or planned to use this 365 model as an engagement tool.

Around 17% already had flourishing event communities while 23% were in the process of building one. Furthermore, nearly 30% were planning to develop such a community for their attendees.

The EventMB summit brought together event organisers from different fields to discuss the lessons learnt from the pandemic and what it meant for events in 2022. 

What’s behind the figures?

People and businesses have become more connected than before over the last two years. Restrictions on face-to-face meetings opened new digital avenues for attendees to connect and interact with each other – such as online communities.

Groups and channels on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter quickly became a hub for industry buzz. Meanwhile, advancements in event technology were happening at a rapid pace. 

Organisers recognised the need to create similar, niche community platforms having the desired functionality to engage their members. This meant providing tools to enhance networking, helping buyers and sellers connect and sharing content and industry updates around the year.

Audiences now want to continue exploring opportunities beyond the limited timeframe of physical shows as they begin to return in a digitally enhance format – Smart Events.

They are also eager for more educational content and engagement opportunities around the year, as our last week’s chart analysis showed. This has encouraged organisers to create focused communities that allow people to “connect anytime, anywhere”.

What does it mean for event organisers?

Year-round communities are a great source of content and social interactions. They offer ample opportunities to nurture quality leads, generate revenue and increase audience satisfaction. 

For most organisers, this model has become a part of their roadmap for future engagement strategies. It’s crucial to equip these communities with powerful tools that will create value-driven outcomes for attendees and exhibitors. These tools include:

1) AI matchmaking: Intelligent AI algorithms to connect users with relevant people, products and content. 

2) 365 marketplace: Year-round product discovery platform where buyers and sellers can connect, explore products and conduct business deals.

3) Content hub: Share educational resources and industry updates to help users make a more informed decision about different brands and products.

4) Sponsorship opportunities: Increase revenue through digital advertising, lead generation programmes etc and boost exhibitor ROI.

Wondering where to begin? Learn how to create a 365 community for your events. Need a quick overview of the tech requirements to set up an online community? Download our 365 Community Technology checklist now.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it useful. At ExpoPlatform, we want to help you build better events and communities. Please get in touch and ask for a demo here. Thank you.