2019 Event Marketing Benchmarks and Trends

Learn what 1000+ marketers have to say about the events industry in this landmark report. Featuring insights on event marketing budgets, tactics, team sizes, technology and more.

Last year we emailed over 400 mid- to senior-level marketers asking for their thoughts on the events industry. The results were shocking.

We discovered that 95% of respondents believed that live events provide attendees with a valuable opportunity to form in-person connections in an increasingly digital world. We also discovered that 80% of overperforming businesses planned to increase their event budgets the following year.

This year, we decided to launch the largest report on professional events yet. We surveyed over 1,000 mid- to senior-level marketers at companies like Amazon, General Mills, KPMG, AppNexus, Digiday, and Porsche. We also expanded the number of questions asked. As a result, we have compiled a broad and statistically significant data set giving us the best possible view into event industry trends.

Findings from this year’s report show that events are more effective for achieving business goals than ever before.

Below you can find the executive summary to the 2019 Event Marketing: Benchmarks and Trends Report.

2019 Event Marketing Report: Executive Summary

Businesses that are surpassing company-wide goals consider events to be the single most effective marketing channel for their organization. These companies spend more of their marketing budgets on events, invest more heavily in event technology, and have less trouble proving event ROI.

1. Most respondents (41%) consider live events to be the most critical marketing channel in achieving business outcomes (out of 9 possible channels). This reflects a 32% increase since 2017.

2. Businesses are doubling down on live events. Between 2017 to 2018 the number of companies organizing 20 or more events per year increased by 17%. Additionally, the vast majority of respondents (95%) believe in-person events provide attendees with a valuable opportunity to form connections in an increasingly digital world. This reflects a 12% increase compared to 2017.

3. The majority of company leaders are supportive of their company’s event strategies, but this support is contingent on the ability of event teams to prove ROI. The majority (84%) of leadership (Vice President and C-Suite) believe in-person events are a critical component of their company’s success. Respondents from companies whose leaders support events are 28% more likely to prove event ROI.

4. The most successful businesses are spending 1.7x the average marketing budget on live events. The majority of these organizations (66%) also do not express trouble proving event ROI and are leveraging event software systems that are integrated with core business platforms within their organization.

5. Conversely, companies using multiple event software solutions have 2x more trouble demonstrating event ROI than those with one integrated event software solution.

6. The majority of the businesses that use event software (53%) plan to provide more people in their company with access than they currently do. On average, businesses that use event software save 223 hours a year.

Discover case studies, perspectives from event marketing leaders and more in the full report. Click the button below to read the 2019 Event Marketing Benchmarks and Trends Report now.