• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 10, 2013

A new report conducted by the Virtual Edge Institute, commissioned by Freeman, shows that attendees are increasingly turning to their screens to engage with organizations. Just under 80% of survey participants produce physical events, with 70% of those respondents also producing online events. 42% of respondents indicate their in-person event attendance is trending up, while about 10% note a downward trend.

35% of survey respondents indicate their average length of attendance at more than five hours, while nearly two-thirds report attendance at two hours or more. By comparison, a recent webinar benchmarking study reported average attendance at less than one hour per webinar, indicating that events with multiple hours of content create longer viewing experiences.

“Engaging people using online meeting and event technology has never been more important,” Michael Doyle, Executive Director for the Virtual Edge Institute, says. “Armed with the information from this study, we can help the industry gain insight into best practices for digital events and hybrid extensions in order to improve event marketing ROI and deliver real results.”

While the report highlights that many respondents are searching for sponsorship opportunities and new ways to earn revenue from content captured during events, the statistics show that many event producers are failing to promote that content to prospective customers after the event concludes. 33% of respondents do not have an ongoing marketing strategy to build awareness of on-demand educational content.

Just over half of all respondents report attendance at their online events at less than 500 attendees. As might be expected, those events with larger in-person attendance also report higher online attendance.

35% of survey respondents indicate their average length of attendance at more than five hours, while nearly two-thirds report attendance at two hours or more. By comparison, a recent webinar benchmarking study reported average attendance at less than one hour per webinar, indicating that events with multiple hours of content create longer viewing experiences.

The vast majority of survey respondents have multiple goals and objectives for their digital events, with the most reported goal being the ability for digital events to expand the organization’s reach and audience. Nearly 60% indicating their goal is to serve their constituents by providing education to those who cannot attend the physical event, and an equal number indicating their desire to “make better use of event education by making it available online.

Half of respondents list generating revenue as a goal or objective, with nearly as many interested in establishing their organization as an industry leader, driving more international attendance and providing more value to physical event attendees by providing them access to event content, post-event.

Of those survey respondents who try to monetize their online events, the top three successful techniques are overall event sponsorships, followed by advertising and sponsorships tied to in-person event sponsorships. Online booths are reported as the least successful. Content syndication sponsorships ranked as the highest technique “not yet tried,” but will be watched carefully in future similar surveys.

At this point in the evolution of digital events, the majority of survey respondents are not charging attendees for access to either live or on-demand content. Earlier VEI survey results indicated, by a margin of two-thirds, that they would, in fact, be willing to pay to attend and consume online meeting content, with the majority willing to pay to access select content versus the entire meeting.

For those survey respondents who do charge attendees for access to the online event, 50% of them charge 25% or less than the in-person registration fee.

Nearly 60% of survey respondents are streaming and capturing keynote/plenary sessions, with just over 40% doing the same with breakouts, interviews and sponsor-oriented content. Of those respondents capturing but not streaming content, sponsor material garners the highest percentage of content captured at 41%. Poster sessions appear to be the least captured or streamed form of content.

The most successful engagement techniques noted by survey respondents are attendee chat, social media and polling/Q&A. Online moderators and emcees are also noted as successful engagement elements. Gamification, still in its infancy, is highlighted by survey respondents as the least successful of all engagement techniques.

Doyle says “... marketing is always an area our consulting clients want to know more about... you can have the greatest content and experience... (unless) marketing is right, it’s all for naught... “

Nearly one-quarter of survey respondents indicate they continuously market their online events, an equal number start just one month prior to the event, while another 23% begin two months out. Studies have shown that while the bulk of registrations come in within the last seven days of a digital event marketing campaign, the earlier the promotion begins, the higher final registration numbers will be.

Email marketing is by far the most significant registration driver for digital events, with advertising, search engine marketing and social media the least effective. Dedicated email messages are most widely used by survey respondents, with more than 60% sending them at least twice per month. Enewsletters are the next most utilized tool, with 55% delivering a newsletter once or twice per month.

Selected Key Takeaways:

• 67% of respondents indicate that their online attendance is trending up.
• 50% of respondents want to make money with their online event activities.
• 40% of respondents hope to leverage online events to drive participation in face-to-face events.
• 35% of respondents indicate that average attendees spend more than three hours in an online event.
• Less than 25% of respondents charge money for live access to online events.

For additional information and materials from the Virtual Edge Institute, please visit here