The Data Advantage: How In-Person Events Power Continuous Digital Engagement

In-person events are not without challenges. Budgets are tighter than ever and registration numbers are volatile. According to recent industry surveys, 58% of event planners report reduced budgets for in-person gatherings in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic years, while nearly 70% say that driving attendance has become harder. Still, those numbers are outweighed by the clear engagement derived from in-person experiences. 70% of attendees say that in-person events are the best sources for training and professional content and 80% of attendees say in-person events are the most trusted way to discover new products and services.

In contrast, virtual events are easy to produce, inexpensive to host, and easy to attend, but notoriously easy to ignore. The average attendance rate for virtual events has dropped by over 30% since 2020, and engagement metrics like participation in Q&As or post-event follow-ups are significantly lower than their in-person counterparts.

On the surface, this results in difficulty extracting organizational dollars for in-person events, but forward-thinking event marketers are blending the power of in-person gatherings with continuous digital engagement derived from in-person insights.

The Opportunity: Digitally Sophisticated In-Person Events

We simply have to reimagine what digital innovation means for live, in-person gatherings. With robust data collection and audience insights, marketers and growth teams can transform their ongoing digital programs to be inherently more relevant, human, impactful, measurable, and memorable – while maintaining the magic that only happens when people gather in the same room.

Three Pillars of Digital Optimization for In-Person Events

1. Robust Data Collection:

Digital optimization for in-person events starts with capturing data at every touchpoint – powering a data ecosystem without disrupting the attendee experience.

Registration Forms: Collect not just names and emails but preferences, interests, and expectations during registration and session signup. Example: ask about learning preferences, an insight you’ll leverage during the event and beyond.
Session Sign-Ups: Understand which topics draw the most interest before the event begins. Recommendation: share these insights closely with your content strategist to ensure these insights continue to inform engagement.
Engagement: Track questions asked during sessions, poll responses, and feedback. Reminder: if one person has a question, others are wondering the same. Use this insight for sales talk tracks, podcast topics, articles, and more.
Vendor Interactions: Track booth visits and time spent interacting. Tip: Your vendors are data-rich and insight-starved just like you. The more you can help them understand and articulate their success, the more likely they’ll return or even increase their investment.
Networking Activities: Capture data on how attendees interact, network, and engage each other. Recommendation: use this insight to understand how to make valuable connections among your audience on an ongoing basis. Who’s learning from who, and how can you facilitate?

2. Audience Insights:

All of the above is raw data. Valuable, but unrefined. The next step is to synthesize these signals into meaningful intelligence that translates to insights that drive engagement.

Robust Profiles: Combine data from registration, session attendance, and post-event feedback to create (or ideally, update) detailed audience profiles and personas.
Dynamic Segmentation: Segment attendees based on behaviors and interests, allowing for personalized content and follow-ups.
Engagement Strategies: Apply insights to craft more relevant experiences, whether that means targeted invitations to side sessions or personalized follow-up content.

3. Ongoing Personalization and Digital Programming:

The most successful in-person events meet attendee expectations for value, context, and trust by delivering content that feels unequivocally relevant. But insights should ensure that even post-event, your audience experiences leverage what you’ve learned for relevance and personalization.

Personalized Content Delivery: Tailor recommendations for guides, templates, articles, and more whether you developed that content or not. A simple note from an account manager or sales person that says “I know you are interested in learning more about (this topic), and thought this article summed it up nicely” is uniquely differentiating and valuable.
Networking and Connections: Tailor recommendations for introductions, networking opportunities, and more. Consider how you can deepen engagement with your audience by leveraging their connections with each other and providing value to their professional lives with valuable connections.

The Future of Digital in In-Person Events

It’s time to rethink what digital means in the context of in-person events. Digital isn’t just virtual, it’s an opportunity to enhance the in-person experience through thoughtful, data-driven strategies. The most successful events of tomorrow will seamlessly blend the physical and digital, creating experiences that are rich, engaging, and profoundly human.

The future of events lies in perfecting the balance between digital sophistication and human connection. To keep learning about the potential of in-person events, check out In-Person Events Warrant More Budget Than Ever (Here’s How to Win It).