The Coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent global pandemic has been a devastating shock to the health and well-being of our society. Everything was impacted―our families, our businesses, our daily activities—and its lasting impact has already taken hold of the global economy.
We’ve watched brands pivot incredibly quickly, during these unprecedented times, in order to retain audiences and provide meaningful, engaging content on new digital platforms. And yet, there are still so many questions for event strategists as we look into our crystal balls for answers on what the future holds.
Our team of advisors at Impact Point Group has put together this Digital Event Forecast to be used as a tool as you plan for the next few months—and beyond.
These reflections capture the events that have been executed amidst a global pandemic and the industry changes and pivots we’ve observed as of April 30, 2020. The forecast is both a snapshot of what our industry has accomplished, as well as our analysis of our success, influence and opportunities for growth and future impact. We’ll continue to update this report and add to our library of resources, as we discover new information, ideas, platforms, challenges and solutions.
These reflections capture the events that have been executed amidst a global pandemic and the industry changes and pivots we’ve observed as of April 30, 2020. The forecast is both a snapshot of what our industry has accomplished, as well as our analysis of our success, influence and opportunities for growth and future impact. We’ll continue to update this report and add to our library of resources, as we discover new information, ideas, platforms, challenges and solutions. It’s now up to us to define what it looks like to engage audiences in a virtual space.
We’ve quickly seen a convergence of industries, adapting and collaborating together in order to engage audiences in new ways and on new channels. We expect to see brands that were once focused exclusively in broadcasting, news and entertainment, corporate events, technology, digital marketing and story-telling converge and look for new ways to partner.
And while event teams look for solutions via a web interface, the lines between what event teams own and what the in-house digital marketing teams own will continue to blur. To be certain, this will redefine the talent pipeline for our industry.
Read the report to see what other trends are on the horizon for digital events.
Here’s a sneak peek:
The Hybrid Event Is Here to Stay
Face-to-face events will resume (although perhaps not at scale), as soon as we can safely gather. But it’s clear that we have an opportunity to tap into new audiences.
Meaningful Interactivity
We’re going to see better tools and technology that allow us to infuse real, uncurated interactivity into our online meeting spaces. We have to break through our current technology barriers and get beyond the passive Q&A and unthreaded (and unmanageable) chat platforms and bring back live, human interaction.
Back to Live
You just can’t replace the energy and dynamics of live-hosting to help weave a story together and keep the audience engaged. Brands will have to find their individual risk tolerance with truly going live for portions of the event in order to keep the energy up and keep audiences from straying away.
Creativity Returns
Shelter-in-place is today’s reality, but we’ll quickly grow bored of executives recording or broadcasting from their home-office settings. Here is where we need to look to the entertainment world for inspiration. Live acoustic performances, humor, commercial “shorts” designed to entertain and other inventive strategies will start to emerge as brands seek to differentiate.
New Platforms and Consumption Models
We expect that we’ll soon be experimenting with gamification features, including fully-wrapped environments, VR interactivity and a first-person point of view. We’ve seen early signs of borrowing from streaming services, with staggered releases of simu-live content over weeks vs. consolidated into one day or time. We predict monetization will begin, in the form of add-on exclusive or VIP experiences, testing both subscriptions and paid advertising models.
Read our full “futurecast” in the Impact Point Group Digital Event Forecast.
If you’re ready to think ahead for your brand, we can help align your engagement strategy to critical business goals…as well as what’s coming next.
—Erica Spoor