If you’ve been keeping your finger on the pulse of the marketing world, you’re likely well aware of the seismic shifts AI is causing in the B2B landscape. But let’s zoom in on one exciting area: the events industry. Brace yourselves, because generative AI is here to shake things up in ways we’ve only dreamed of before!
How exactly does this nifty tool come to the rescue, and what magic does it hold for the future of events? Let’s begin by uncovering the gaps in event marketing, shall we?
According to a report done by Forrester, our fellow B2B marketers have been grappling with some age-old event planning woes. The report shows 63% of event marketers underutilize the event content they create, 55% are not maximizing the value of data they capture at their events, and 53% are struggling to give attendees that special, personalized touch. And guess what? That’s just the tip of the iceberg! We’re talking about challenges like targeting the right audience, flexing those cutting-edge content creation muscles, and nailing the post-event follow-up dance.
Pre-Event AI Superpowers
With all these challenges, how can AI help? In the pre-event stage, AI improves efficiency and productivity. AI can help improve audience definition and targeting, so you are getting the right people to the right event. It can help enhance content creation, making content better and more engageable. It can also help simplify event management by optimizing event budgets, automating routine tasks, and assigning those tasks and timelines appropriately. Plus, AI is streamlining the RFP process with bots! Allow them to take down your event information and watch them fill in forms for you.
At Event AI Awesomeness
AI is all about serving up personalized and inclusive experiences on a silver platter. Think highly personalized attendee journeys and a big warm hug of inclusivity for everyone involved. But wait! Personalization doesn’t only come from the event experience itself. Pre and post event AI can sprinkle its own personalization magic all along the way.
Post Event AI Brilliance
Once the confetti settles, post-event AI steps up, helping you squeeze every last drop of ROI from your event with savvy analysis and content repurposing. For AI, it’s all about maximizing the value of event content, personalizing attendee follow-up, and improving event data analysis. Leveraging AI encompasses various metrics such as pricing strategies, estimating attendee numbers, website visits, sign-ups, social media engagement, post-event surveys, and social media reviews to gauge satisfaction. This comprehensive analysis not only aids in benchmarking events against each other but also signifies the democratization of data analysis facilitated by AI.
Overcoming Adaptation Hurdles
The biggest challenge? Wrangling the beast of implementation and navigating the murky waters of change in corporate settings. Another common hurdle faced is finding legitimacy and authenticity with the resource. Generated content may not always stand out from competitors and isn’t unique to the brand. Good, thorough prompts are a must when using the tool. And oh, let’s not forget about those pesky ethical and legal issues. But fear not, with the right focus on security, risk mitigation through governance, using the tool as team upskilling, and partnering internally with all teams, you’ll be surfing the AI wave like a pro in no time!
How Should Marketers Dive In?
In the same survey taken by Forrester, less than half of B2B event marketers claimed to have a grasp on AI, and only a cool 28% were investing in AI training. And for the marketers using AI, over 70% said they are not revealing how they are using AI for events. But hey, the good news? Event AI usage is on the up and up, with 2024 shaping up to be a major milestone in the events industry’s AI journey.
Use Cases: What’s Hot?
The top current 3 use cases seem to be:
1. AI powered captioning/translation/interpretation.
2. Chatbots/IVAs delivering pre, at and post-event support
3. Automated distribution of secondary event assets
The top 3 planned use cases in the coming year:
1. Data driven and automated post-event attendee follow-up
2. Automated production of secondary event assets
3. Personalized attendee recommendations
In a nutshell, AI isn’t here to replace marketers—it’s here to amplify our superpowers! Good creative continues to come from humans. It is all about writing GOOD prompts and importing GOOD data into this scary, new tool.So hey, if you’re not already riding the AI train, what are you waiting for? All aboard!
To learn more about the future of events, visit our website.
To see how Heroic can help spice up your next event, contact us.