How Marketers Can Adapt to Event Cancellations Brought on by Coronavirus

It’s frightening how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading across the globe. With each passing day, we hear updated news on the impact that it’s causing around the world. In person events are a major cornerstone touchpoint for many B2B companies but as the virus continue to spread, many companies have cancelled events or even postponed them. This year, I was looking forward to attending NY Tech Day at the Javits Center on April 23rd, but it was postponed until October 23 and the center will turn into a field hospital to treat coronavirus cases in the upcoming days. This was one of the many events that was cancelled in light of the news. If you would like to know more about the type of the events that were cancelled, you can visit this article written by Vulture. 

Recode reported that the direct economic loss from these cancelled events will surpass $500 million.  Research from Demand Gen Report shows that in person events are crucial to many B2B companies’ business. More than half of US B2B marketers said that in person events and tradeshows were an effective channel for driving conversions. Since I operate a B2B company, I 100% agree with that statement. Tradeshows are essential to the growth of my business and who knows if we will be able to attend them in August.  I have heard about some brands turning their showrooms into virtual ones. So perhaps this presents a new opportunity that was never fully utilized before. Below, I have posted a chart that shows the effective channels for driving engagement vs conversions according to US B2B Marketers.  Events were seen as more effective than digital channels such as email 49%, product demos 39% and website 34%. 

Now, we have to find digital ways to connect with our customers in order to keep them engaged.  We need to be creative and learn how to tap into consumers now that they are home. The article sheds some light on ways that we can do this:

1.       Go digital and be nimble: Companies are hosting virtual conferences

2.       Consider direct mail: Direct mail pieces can offer a personal, in person touch (FedEx, UPS and USPS are fully running and operating despite the coronavirus’ impact)

3.       Measure everything:  These cancelled events provide a great opportunity for marketers to A/B test whether these events cancelled are as crucial as they presumed.

Perhaps this pandemic offers a new opportunity for brands to tap into resources that were never fully utilized. We must all stay positive and hope for the best.