PathFactory: 2020 Virtual Event Experience Report

PathFactory has released a new report, “The Virtual Event Experience”, which shows that virtual events are on the rise, but there are challenges for companies to move to virtual events.

It’s no surprise that virtual events have become the new protagonist in B2B corporate strategies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition industry is experiencing upheaval, with people being told to stay home and in-person events having come to a halt. Nine in 10 (89.1%) of the 200 B2B professionals surveyed in May reported that the number of virtual events hosted or participated in by their company had increased in the past 90 days.

Webinars are by some distance the most popular virtual event format for B2B companies (94.6%), followed by small-scale, single-vendor virtual events (68%) and virtual chats (62.2%). Half (49%) of respondents believe that large, multi-vendor virtual trade shows are also popular.

Challenges

Businesses also face challenges when participating in virtual events. These challenges not only affect regular companies but also large businesses. The biggest challenge is promoting the event in a short time. Other challenges include poorly performing email or web ads and not being able to target or attract the right audience for the event.

A challenge for companies with attendance rates above 75% was a lack of consistent messaging at events (36.4%), compared to one in ten respondents overall (10.2%).

Unsurprisingly, not all companies achieved the attendance they were hoping for during their events. The majority of respondents (44.2%) said their average attendance for virtual events was 26-50%, while 4 in 10 (38.8%) said they were able to achieve 51-75% attendance. Only 7.5% reported attendance rates exceeding 75%.

Keeping audiences engaged during events also presents challenges, with the biggest challenge being lack of audience participation (42.9%), followed by a lack of interactive tools (34%) and audience drop-off midway through the event (34%).

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