The financial industry has emerged as a compelling career path for younger generations in search of a stable and fulfilling career. And, as these digital-native individuals enter the financial job market, they are actively seeking out and attending financial events and conferences.
These events serve as valuable opportunities for them to network with peers, represent their companies, find potential clients, and gain industry insights. Not surprisingly, the event industry has recaptured its momentum, with a forecasted 72.1% recovery rate by the end of 2022.
However, organizing financial events that cater to these young professionals comes with its own set of challenges. It entails optimizing your budget allocations, integrating technology seamlessly, streamlining venue management, increasing attendance rates, and achieving successful sponsorship activation.
So, what can financial organizations do differently to capture the interest and engagement of the new demographic through their events? Let’s find out.
Reimagining Financial Events for Next-Gen Advisors: The Engaging Edge
In 2023, 80% of financial advisors are ready to resume in-person events or conferences after the pandemic. However, event organizers cannot rely on the old formats and agendas to entice this new generation of professionals. They need to host financial events that provide immersive experiences and opportunities to build new connections. Here are four strategies event organizers can use to attract more attendees:
1. Tech-Driven Personalization: Redefining In-Person Event Experiences
The integration of technology has become an essential consideration for event organizers, particularly when catering to diverse audiences with distinct preferences. For instance, Gen Z and millennials really want to attend events in person, while other age groups like a mix of in-person and virtual events.
Leveraging technology, event organizers can offer a variety of event formats that cater to these preferences (in-person, virtual, or hybrid). Prior to the event, implementing customized and branded event marketing to successfully promote your event while event websites can streamline the registration process, and facilitate seamless digital payment transactions.
During the event, an interactive mobile app and hassle-free check-in and badging can greatly enhance the first impression onsite. These tools offer personalized, real-time access to crucial information such as keynote speaker details, session timings, and overall program agendas. They can also send push notifications for session reminders, ensuring attendees are well-informed and engaged throughout the event. Reports indicate that the integration of event technology can boost work productivity by 27% and reduce onsite staffing requirements.
2. Attendee Participation: Introducing Live Audience Engagement
Engaging both in-person and virtual attendees is considered the most significant challenge by 71% of event organizers.
Interestingly, however, the younger generation spends an average of 6 hours daily engaging with content on their mobile devices. Event organizers can leverage this behavior to enhance engagement and create impactful virtual experiences. The next-generation audience can be kept engaged with a flow of branded materials, high-definition video broadcasts, and personalized schedules.
Furthermore, event coordinators can significantly enhance attendee participation by introducing interactive elements. They can integrate features like live question submissions, upvoting, and participation in session polls and surveys through mobile apps. The outcome? The event turns dynamic, relevant, and captivating for all attendees through this interactive approach to audience engagement.
3. Sustainable Venues: Designing Greener Events
The younger generation of financial advisors, particularly Gen Z and millennials, demonstrate a growing awareness of issues related to climate change and sustainability. They are actively attracted to organizations that actualize their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
In fact, 64% of Gen Z are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products. The typical conference attendee, on the other hand, produces over four pounds of waste each day. This highlights the importance of choosing event venues with LEED certification that ensure the utilization of renewable energy sources and the implementation of effective waste management programs.
Attendees can also be advised to opt for sustainable transportation choices to reduce the carbon footprint of events. Providing information on public transit routes, discouraging the use of single-use items and packaging, and distributing digital event materials through the mobile event app can help curb wastage.
Workshops that highlight the importance of sustainable investing and ESG principles in the financial industry can also be promoted. Such initiatives align with the environmental values of new-age financial advisors and provide them with valuable insights that they can apply in their advisory roles.
4. Data-Optimized Lead Generation: Providing Valuable Professional Prospects
Events are more than just a platform for showcasing products and services. The appeal of networking opportunities and potential collaboration can also significantly boost event participation.
According to a Case Foundation report, 79% of millennials feel a heightened sense of belonging when they attend events. Financial event organizers can design their events to encourage networking among attendees through topic-based networking sessions that facilitate these interactions. This strategy improves their overall event experience and helps transforms attendees into advocates for your brand to further increase event promotion. These events and conferences are also a valuable source of leads for financial advisors and sponsors who want to grow their business and reach new customers.
However, generating and converting leads from events necessitates an approach grounded in data analytics and insights throughout the event lifecycle. Event organizers can enhance post-event lead generation for all stakeholders by activating data collected from multiple sources.
For instance, data obtained from appointment scheduling helps identify potential leads expressing interest in the event, while customer interest data provides insights into attendee preferences. The lead management data can help key stakeholders track and prioritize leads to focus on promising prospects for follow-up and conversion. Integrating this data with customer relationship management (CRM) systems can offer a comprehensive view of attendee profiles to personalize communication and enable lead nurturing and progression through the sales funnel for financial products or services or even the next event.
Plan and Execute Successful Financial Events
The financial industry worldwide is projected to reach a valuation of $135.6 billion by 2030. Tapping into this market, as a financial event organizer, your goal is to create memorable events that engage financial advisors.
With Cvent’s comprehensive event marketing and management platform, event organizers can overcome the challenges of planning and execution. Our suite of industry-facing technological tools is designed to simplify the process.
From finding the perfect venue to onsite event management, and attendee engagement enhancement to generating robust data analytics that measure your event's success – all your intricate event planning requirements are covered, end-to-end. Our solutions stack is not merely a toolkit. It is a powerful growth accelerator that helps attract new-age financial advisors to your meeting sand events.
Adopt future-facing event management tools and transform your gatherings into opportunities for growth and advancement with Cvent. You can learn more here.
