Top 4 Challenges Plaguing Event Planners and Marketing Leaders

The last 18 months have changed the landscape for marketers, particularly ABM leaders and event planners. With the majority of people still working from home, getting face time with top prospects, which used to come from face-to-face meetings at IRL events, has become more difficult. While physical events are starting to come back, many companies still have travel bans and many people don’t yet feel comfortable traveling to trade shows and events.

To better understand the state of event planning, we recently surveyed some of the top marketing leaders in the country to understand their biggest challenges when it comes to planning and executing successful events. Here are their top four challenges:

Keeping up with the changing Covid-19 landscape

Marketing leaders have been playing the role of fortune-tellers for the last 18 months. Despite not having any more information than the next person, they have been asked to plan for the return of IRL events while also executing virtual events to keep leads coming in. The uncertainty and double work are causing burnout and frustration for many leaders.

Here is what two leaders said:

“Our biggest challenge is the constantly changing landscape due to Covid. It's near impossible to create plans for in-person events right now, and when we do, they frequently get canceled.”

“Planning is tough in the middle of a pandemic because you're constantly going back and forth on whether or not things will be in-person or virtual. It's always good to have a plan B with how the world is now, but planning for the unknown can sometimes get a little challenging.”

Resources and logistics

By the time the pandemic rolled into its sixth month, many companies were beginning to lay off or furlough event professionals. With travel restricted and trade shows postponed, it didn’t make economic sense to keep entire teams intact. However, as virtual events ramped up, it became clear that event teams were under-resourced. Even if event leaders have open headcount, hiring is difficult due to the staffing shortage, and senior leaders are having to step in and help with logistics.

Here is how marketing leaders summed up their biggest challenges:

“Bandwidth.”

“TIME... and the logistics of executing on these things.”

“My team is spread out across the country so time zones are hard to coordinate and getting us all together.”

Keeping things fun

At the beginning of the pandemic, as organizers began to cancel IRL events, virtual events seemed like a natural and solid replacement. People got comfortable with attending virtual events from the comfort of their homes, and online event platforms like purple cork invested in product development and quickly spun up new features like engaging videos and breakout rooms. Many people wondered whether traditional events would be a thing of the past.

But it quickly became apparent that simply moving an in-person event to a virtual platform wasn’t enough to engage audiences. The best event planners considered the medium and made sure to adjust sessions and activities to drive participant attention and engagement. Marketers sum up the challenge well, stating:

“Standing out from the crowd, delivering innovative experiences clients have yet to receive.”

“Finding that balance in providing a virtual event that people want to attend.”

“Keeping things interesting, finding new and innovative ways to engage attendees.”

Zoom fatigue

The most common challenge that marketers mentioned was ‘Zoom fatigue’. And, before you pooh-pooh the phrase as a make-believe phenomenon, there is now proof, thanks to Stanford University researchers, that it’s a real thing.

After a day of videoconferencing, it’s not unusual to experience mental exhaustion. According to the researchers, some of the reasons why you feel fatigued include having to make close up eye contact with others, constantly be presented with your own reflection, reduced mobility and higher cognitive load. 

Some marketers explain their challenges around Zoom fatigue, saying:

“We are all over Zoomed.”

“I face a lot of Zoom fatigue. Since we can only do virtual events, it is hard to get people for more.” 

You’re not alone!

If you’re experiencing some (or all) of these challenges, know that you’re not alone. All marketers are facing these challenges. purple cork clients across all industries are constantly innovating and updating their strategies and tactics in order to contend with changing conditions while still being responsible for driving prospect, customer and team engagement.

And, best of all, they’re sharing their best practices with their peers. Stay tuned for the next article for their tips and tricks. In the meantime, reach out if you’re looking for an innovative virtual event experience that is proven to drive engagement without contributing to Zoom fatigue.