Finally, in-person events are recovering to pre-pandemic levels! According to a report by Agency EA, within the last six months, 90% of business-to-business (B2B) and 70% of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers executed at least one in-person event. For the remaining 10% and 30% of B2B and B2C marketers, respectively, who didn’t host their own company’s in-person event last year, they say that 2023 is the year they’ll start back up. Is 2023 your client’s year for returning to in-person event planning? Here are some event marketing strategies you should use to get things back up and running successfully.

Event Marketing Strategies for a Successful 2023

Hybrid Events

Many U.S. citizens may view the pandemic as behind us, but COVID-19 cases still surge from time to time. According to Agency EA that’s only one reason people are worried about attending in-person events again. Here are the top three:

COVID safety
Time investment
Ability to socialize

While the concern for COVID may fade with time, the other two concerns won’t. Events take a huge amount of time out of an employee's regular work schedule to travel and attend a conference. And socializing face-to-face isn’t everyone’s strong suit. No wonder Agency EA finds that only about 50–60% of event attendees within the last six months have attended in person.

So, Agency EA recommends that brands look into hybrid events for future event marketing strategies.

Don’t worry, adding a hybrid option for an event doesn’t necessarily mean that attendees can join for free, diminishing desire to attend in person. You can charge different fees for attendees to join the event virtually. 52% of B2B marketers and 43% of B2C marketers plan to do so in the future. And if you’re still worried about hybrid events negatively impacting in-person attendance, think about making your client’s venue more enticing. There are few people who would pass up getting to visit a warm beach in the dead of winter. Highly sought-after tourist locations are also potential attention grabbers. And if their company is going to pay for their trip, why wouldn’t they come?

Include/Spotlight Engaging Experiences for Attendees

Why should people attend your client’s event? Of course all events promise knowledge and networking opportunities, but how, exactly, is your client planning on fulfilling these expectations while making their event more engaging?

Here are the experiences Agency EA recommends adding to your client’s event marketing strategies:

Networking Events/Initiatives: Don’t ask attendees to find time to network in between sessions. Make it easy by adding a networking event to the schedule so they know for sure that everyone in attendance has the same goal: making new connections.
Pop-Up Experiences: Is there a part of your client’s event that’s only going to be around for a short time and will be particularly helpful or fun? Well, add one and spotlight it!
Health/Mindfulness Activities: Getting back out and about is reminding many people about how they spent the last few years cooped up inside and focused on surviving instead of wellness. Consider having your client schedule a few events to get attendees out of their seats and doing yoga or another physical activity in a special session.
Product Showcases: Attendees don’t want to just hear about products; they want to see them in action! Add some showcases to your client’s agenda
Attendee Gaming Experiences: Adding a game to your client’s event can take excitement about the whole thing to the next level. Maybe add an experience BINGO game or another activity to your client’s event’s mobile app to encourage attendees to get more involved in the event.
Evening Events: All work and no play can make an event boring. Adding optional dinners, cocktail hours, etc., to an event’s agenda can spice things up, encourage further participation and make your client’s event even more fun (and “Instagramable”) for attendees.

Market the Event with Social, Live Streaming and Email

According to Agency EA, “Both B2B and B2C marketers agreed that social media, live streaming, and email marketing are the top channels they use to extend an event’s reach.” So, they’re probably good media types to add to your client’s event marketing strategies. However, those recommendations should just be a starting point. You need to reach potential attendees the ways they like to be reached. What are those methods? Look up their audience profile on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel to see which types of advertisements they take action to the most often.

Photo by Teemu Paananen