Confidence in attendee engagement leaps 50%

Confidence in the future of attendee engagement has jumped by more than 50% this year, according to new research.

Respondents to IACC’s Future Meetings Barometer for August 2022 were asked to compare how upcoming events would compare to pre-pandemic shows.

The findings show confidence that engagement will be better has increased to 45%, up 29% from the previous report in spring. 

Future physical shows are expected to offer enhanced networking opportunities and personalised audience experiences.

The report indicates event participants also demand advanced content delivery – indicating changing consumer preferences with the adoption of digital technology.

IACC’s barometer report analyses insights from event professionals, IACC venues and industry experts across three different continents. The next report will be released in November 2022.

What’s behind the figures?

The findings from IACC back those from another barometer report by UFI. According to the association, digitisation of exhibitions has increased rapidly through use of new services and products. 

This has reshaped audience expectations for live show offerings – the usual one-size-fits-all approach is no longer tenable. 

People want an immersive, personalised experience right from the moment they sign up on the event website. Their pain points, needs and preferences all need to be accounted for in the buyer’s journey.     

The widespread adoption of new tech tools and solutions are playing a key role in fulfilling these expectations. Read more about these tools in our Future of Events ebook series.     

What does it mean for organisers?

Live shows in the MICE industry have become more tech-driven since the pandemic. 

It follows the boom in ecommerce and digitalisation of our personal lives, making these features more of an expectation for professionals.

Luke Bilton, Chief Growth Officer at ExpoPlatform, said: “In events, the trend towards more digitally-enabled experiences was already there, and the pandemic has been a massive acceleration of this.”  

These tech-enhanced experiences are called Smart Events and characterised by greater audience engagement, improved networking, innovative content delivery and increased ROI.

For smarter live events, organisers should consider including these tools:

1. AI-powered matchmaking: Enable meaningful business interactions using people-to-resource mapping algorithms.
2. Hosted buyer programme: Use online hosted buyer software to create a curated buyer-seller experience, increase leads and boost sales.
3. Lead retrieval: Scan leads real-time, qualify and nurture prospects and make decisions with analytics dashboard.
4. 365 community: Build an online community to offer personalised experiences, networking and revenue generation opportunities before, during and after the live event.

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.