We may have crossed the finish line to a new year. However, COVID-​19 isn’t quite done with us yet. It looks like most of us will still be operating under business as unusual conditions. That is, until the vaccine is distributed to the masses later this year. In the meantime, virtual events are being coming increasingly important in the marketing strategy of many marketers.

COVID-​19 is Helping Virtual Events

Businesses can’t reach as many of their customers in person like they used to. So, many are turning to the internet for help. According to a webinar by BrightTALK, 79% of marketers are now hosting webinars for their companies. Why is this? Virtual events are helping businesses achieve their goals. BrightTALK says that three of the top goals for marketers during this pandemic are:

• To convert their leads into customers: 63% of marketers agree
• Increasing the company’s competitiveness in their market: 47%
• Increasing revenue from the company’s current customers: 42%

In the past, marketers found that in-​person events helped them achieve each of these goals. Then, the pandemic hit and businesses had to restrict their in-​person activities. So, in March 2020, 61% of marketers decided to significantly increase the number of webinars and other virtual events hosted by their companies. Now, they are finding that virtual events are working just as well for their companies. As a result, 34% of these marketers have now added virtual events to their core marketing strategies.

The pandemic has dramatically changed how businesses will operate going forward. Many companies will continue to allow employees to work remotely and the popularity of online events likely won’t decrease significantly either. That means that there will be opportunities for marketers who utilize virtual events for years to come, even after the pandemic is behind us.

Why Webinars?

Some companies, however, still have not created their own virtual events yet. According to BrightTALK, the main reasons they haven’t is because they either don’t have the time to create one (34%) or they have run into challenges when coming up with creating their own content for an event (27%). That’s where companies like yours come into play.

Your virtual event creation services can help save your clients time and can create an event that is better received than one they would have come up with on their own. According to AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel, even before the pandemic set in, 14.4% of U.S. adults were active online meeting/​webinar participants. Also, in 2019, 12% of U.S. adults took action because of non-​advertising information they heard during a webinar or online event. These virtual event responders have deep pockets, as well. They’re 46% more likely than other consumers to have an annual household income of between $100,000 and $124,000, 36% more likely to have a $125,000 to $149,999 annual household income, and 14% more likely to have a household income of above $150,000 annually. This not only says a lot about the individual’s buying power, but also the buying power of the companies they work for.