About 84% of C-suite aim to increase the number of events organised

More than three quarters (87%) of the C-Suite believe that live events will become increasingly important to the success of their organisation.According to a new report titled "Event Marketing 2018: Benchmarks and Trends" published by Bizzabo, which surveyed 400 mid- to senior-level event marketers, 84% of the C-Suite surveyed plan to increase the number of events they organise.The report also stated that 63% of event marketers surveyed intend to invest more in live events in the future both in budget and the number of events.Also, live events is believed to be the single-most effective marketing channel by 31% of event marketers over content marketing (27%) and email marketing (25%).About 86% of event marketers believe that event technology will have a major positive impact on the success of their events. Likewise, 91% of overperforming business place a greater emphasis on live events as a marketing channel as compared to underperforming businesses (65%) and those that are performing as expected (80%).Also, 80% of overperforming businesses plan to increase spend on event technology by US$4,500 more than underperforming businesses (54%) and those performing as expected (60%).Investing in live eventsDespite the positive attitude towards live events, only 23% of the companies surveyed allocate only 20% to 50% of their marketing budgets to organising events, meanwhile 22% set aside 10% to 20% of their marketing budgets. Also, 28% of companies allocate only 1% to 5%  of their marketing budget to attending or exhibiting at live events that are not organised by the marketers themselves.According to Bizzabo, there is plenty of room for growth when it comes to exhibiting at events, and that it is worthwhile for marketers to increase investment in this area if they are looking to get ahead of the competition. Alternatively, Bizzabo noted that the findings might be a result of the fact that marketers are not receiving the same level of return from exhibiting at live events as compared to organising them.Live event promotion and trendsMost respondents (40%) view email marketing as the best channel to promote their live events, with 62% more likely to use event management software (EMS). According to Bizzado, this correlation between email marketing and the use of EMS can be attributed to EMS integrations, making it easier for event marketers to pursue email marketing strategies. Alternatively, companies that use EMS may have more effective event promotion systems in place, and in turn rely on email marketing.Personal relationships (16%) came in second, followed by content marketing and word of mouth (9%), organic social media and direct mail (8%) and paid social media (5%). The ultimate goals for companies when organising events are lead generation (25%) and community building (25%).However, the goals may be hampered by the main challenge still faced by event marketers - increasing event registrations (36%), followed by increasing revenue from events (29%). As a result, marketers have to learn to embrace innovative approaches to event promotion and attendee engagement, according to Bizzabo.Live streaming (30%) was ranked as most impactful to events, followed by social networks (24%) and virtual and augmented reality (20%).