Event management software Bizzabo has announced that its customers held a record number of events in the first half of 2024, with the average number of events increasing by 52% compared to the same period in 2023.
Bizzabo said the growth is driven by a rise in field marketing events and the adoption of year-round event portfolios.
The increase in events is most evident among enterprise and mid-market organisations.
Between January and May, enterprise organisations hosted an average of 16 events, a 52.4% increase compared to 2023. Mid-market organisations hosted an average of 11 events, a 112% jump.
Bizzabo defines enterprise organisations as having 2,500 or more employees and mid-market organizations as having between 1,000 and 2,499 employees.
In-person is once again the dominant event format
Bizzabo reports that in-person events grew 40.3% overall in the first five months of 2024, while the number of virtual events remained consistent, declining 0.8%.
While this growth was observed across all market segments, enterprise and mid-market companies underwent the most significant change, hosting 84.2% and 87% more in-person events, respectively.
Smaller, regional events drive year-round customer engagement.
Bizzabo customers are expanding their event portfolios with regional field marketing events, defined as in-person events with fewer than 150 registrations. The first half of 2024 saw a 60% increase in these events, with enterprise customers hosting an average of nine and mid-market customers hosting an average of 10.
These regional events are essential to the trend toward holistic, year-round event portfolios.
While January, February, and March are not traditionally part of the “spring events season,” there was a 54.8% increase in in-person events held on Bizzabo in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023. In January alone, events increased by 84.5%.
Enterprise companies held an average of six smaller in-person events, a 76.5% increase compared to Q1 2023. Meanwhile, mid-market organisations held an average of seven smaller in-person events, a 217.4% increase.
“Bizzabo's report validates the growing trend toward complementing conference-style events with intimate experiences designed to engage regional audiences year-round,” said Alon Alroy (pictured), CMO and co-founder of Bizzabo. “With this iteration to event strategies, it’s more important than ever to have event software that allows you to scale effortlessly.”
