Now that face to face consumer events are back the focus is on getting people engaged and attending events again. The challenge is the landscape is not the same as it was 18 months ago, with virtual events and other digital offerings becoming commonplace. The winners in this shifting paradigm of events will be those who can most effectively leverage these new digital tools.
Everyone has heard of the huge 40+% growth online sales saw over the last 18 months as people have in many cases been left with no other option but to buy online. While some of this is likely to pull back as being able to go to the shops becomes normal again, people are now more comfortable looking online than ever before. And that is the key for events, people are more likely to look online than ever before.
How events can adapt and thrive
76% of people will research online before making a decision to attend in person, that’s up from just 31% in 2011. This means having a good online presence is vital for anyone in 2021 and especially events. A fully fleshed out online presence has been difficult for consumer events previously as trying to display exactly what your exhibitors will be exhibiting wasn’t possible beyond a limited exhibitor directory – which normally involved chasing exhibitors just to upload something a few weeks prior to the event.
Being able to offer your exhibitors the opportunity to upload their products for sale on an online event shop gives your potential customers exactly what they are looking for, a taste of what they can expect at the event. Giving you greater opportunity to show them the value of your event, and because it’s an online shop it works to drive ticket sales 365 days a year. This is one of the reasons we created ShowShoppa, to give your event’s marketing a boost 365 days a year.