Below : Predicted changes to marketing spend Q2 2020 Q2 2021
Trade shows
-41 % -50 %
Internal events
New audiences Surprisingly , last summer only about half of the visitor respondents had participated in a digital event of any form and this has not increased substantially , hovering around 60 %. However , through digital , we are seeing a potential new audience emerge who plan to attend live events when they return . From our core audience , of those who exhibited at a new digital event last year , nearly half ( 48 %) say they are very likely to exhibit live at the event given the chance .
0 % -1 %
-35 % -42 %
Digital events
-4 % 2 %
Other marketing channels 10 % 0 % -10 % -20 % -30 % -40 % -50 % -60 %
Over half of all visitors are keen to attend a live event where they have previously participated in some way . In this round , a new group , was surveyed for the first time . Made up of senior marketing decision makers based in the US or UK who had not used trade shows as a marketing channel prior to the pandemic , around 70 % of ‘ the panel ’ said they are very keen to participate in live events for the first time as a consequence of exhibiting or sponsoring a digital event . This indicates that the digital events that arose to meet a specific need during the pandemic have been instrumental in attracting new audiences to trade shows . Although the core exhibitor audience has been lacklustre about digital , ‘ the panel ’ are highly positive about it as a channel . This group expects digital to remain part of their marketing mix going forward and there seems to be great potential to convert them to be exhibitors at live events too .
Will hybrid be best of both ? There is no evidence of a large-scale shift away from live events to digital , with exhibitors who had attended both live and virtual events rating live as a single channel more highly while hybrid was seen as a distraction from the overall experience . Those who are more positive about hybrid tend to have participated in virtual events generally since the start of the pandemic . Although it appears digital has the potential to capture a new audience , it is important
Above : Sophie Holt
that the scepticism of the current audience and the middling experiences they have had around digital , is not ignored .
In summary Our survey reflects the optimism that live events will soon return to prepandemic levels felt by the exhibition industry . Budget cuts have not been as harsh as predicted and spend is expected to return to 2019 levels within an average show cycle . Quality shows are likely to be protected and digital has opened up new opportunities to convert naysayers to the power of live .
Existing exhibitors
Virtual booth is the most used option – 38 %
44 % more likely to organise their own digital event
67 % more likely to have sponsored a digital event
Only 64 % of exhibitors have participated in digital
Increase driven by sponsorship & virtual booths
80 % have participated in digital
Marketers who didn ’ t use trade shows before the pandemic
September — 19