Virtual Events to Grow in 2010: Report

Virtual events will reportedly play a significant role in the 2010 marketing mix, with 48 percent of marketers planning to increase their use of virtual events in the coming year, according to a survey of about 100 marketing professionals surveyed by Unisfair.

 

The most popular reasons for adopting virtual events are to extend marketing reach at 32 percent and increase lead volume at 15 percent. For those not embracing virtual events, barriers include not knowing how to organize a virtual event, the perception of a complicated set-up process and a lack of a virtual event provider.

 

Marketers also will be increasing social media outreach (75 percent), SEO efforts (51 percent) and e-mail campaigns (49 percent) in 2010, Unisfair said.

 

Lead generation and customer retention/engagement are the most critical objectives for marketers today, with 60 percent and 48 percent respectively ranking them as very important on a scale of one to five, the survey also found.

 

According to 26 percent of marketers  - the highest percentage for any one method. LinkedIn is the social networking tool proven to add the most marketing value. Facebook (News - Alert) came in a close second with 23 percent.