10 Essential AI Tools for Event Planning & Marketing

Saving time when you work in events is like gold dust. Creating a fantastic event that is memorable and gives you a good return on investment (ROI) takes time, patience, and the ability to juggle multiple things. And let’s face it: it can all get a bit stressful. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) can save you both time and in more ways than you might think. But with so much hype around AI and so many tools to choose from, it’s difficult to know where to begin. 

That’s why we’ve compiled ten of our favourite AI tools to help you save time, personalise your content, and give you real-time feedback. 

1. Cvent AI Writing Assistant

We’ve all experienced it: a blank page on your computer screen, a blinking cursor, and an empty brain. Words, no matter how hard you will them, will not form into a cohesive sentence. It’s this frustrating experience that makes generative AI tools like the Cvent AI Writing Assistant so handy.

What it does

The Cvent AI Writing Assistant lends an extra hand when it comes to your event content within the Cvent platform. And the best part is it can be used across a variety of Cvent products. 

Let’s say you’ve written a marketing email, but it’s reading as too formal for your audience. Tell the tool to rewrite the content in a more playful tone, and voila: you’ll get an upgraded piece of copy in seconds. 

Here are just a few ways you can use the tool:

• Attendee Hub: Create custom pages with rich descriptions.

• Cvent Supplier Network: Improve your request for proposals (RFPs) and communication with suppliers. 

• Exhibitor Management: Write exhibitor descriptions, taglines, task descriptions, and category descriptions. 

• Registration: Create event and session descriptions, marketing emails, and more. 

• Video Center: Spin up video descriptions that deliver. 

How it helps 

The first and most obvious benefit of using the Cvent AI Writing Assistant is that it saves you countless hours. This is time that would otherwise be spent perfecting copy and tone, editing, and rewriting. 

But as you use the tool more you’ll begin to find it helps you drive brand awareness, increases registrations, and ultimately drives attendee engagement. 

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for the Cvent AI Writing Assistant:

• You’ve had a busy week and you’ve got two things to do before the weekend – write a webinar description and create a survey to distribute during the event. You try to focus but the words just don’t come. Easy: use Cvent AI Writing Assistant to create them for you. 

• A colleague has called in sick and their job was to create all of your event session descriptions and speaker bios. Instead of stressing and working late, use Cvent AI to get the task done quickly, then have your colleague review them when she’s back.

• You’re juggling multiple event projects and high up on the priority list is finding a venue for one of them. Instead of getting stressed, you use Cvent to craft your RFPs. 

💡Start using the Cvent AI Writing Assistant today

2. Synthesia

Let’s talk video. It’s a topic that event planners and marketers either love or hate because as wonderful as video is, it’s time-consuming. Synthesia AI helps event planners overcome this initial hurdle.

What it does

Use the tool to transform your text into video content, avatars, and voiceovers in over 130 languages. Synthesia also provides you with a number of video templates to choose from.

How it helps 

Traditional video production is costly (think expensive equipment, studio time, and production teams), and most of the time, you’ll be waiting weeks for a turnaround. Synthesia speeds this process along.

This tool makes video creation accessible to everyone, no matter your ability level. 

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Synthesia:

• Create personalised event invitation emails with videos. Have the voiceover say each invitee’s name and refer to specific information you know about just them. 

• Use Synthesia to create staff training videos at scale and in different languages. 

• Develop personalised tutorial and onboarding videos for clients. 

3. Cvent Video Tools

We’ve already established that creating copy and content takes a lot of time from your day. So what if you could repurpose existing content – but automatically? Enter Cvent Video Tools. 

What it does

Your events generate a ton of valuable video content. Cvent Video Tools help you amplify and extend the life of this content so that you can get as much value from it as possible. 

Use these tools to create descriptions, captions, and subtitles for all of your video content. In addition, break your videos into natural chapters so it’s easier for your viewers to navigate the content in your content hub. 

How it helps 

People have notoriously short attention spans nowadays. Cvent Video Tools helps you improve the viewer experience, increasing the chances they’ll see your videos through to the end and take action. 

These tools also make your videos more accessible by giving viewers quick access to specific content.

Smart ways to use the tools 

Here are a few use cases for Cvent Video Tools:

• Take videos from Cvent Webinar and Cvent Attendee Hub and recycle and reuse them.

• Let’s imagine you’ve got a long educational video. Give your viewers the power to jump to the section they find most interesting by chapering it.

• Make your videos accessible to all by adding captions, subtitles, and audio translations.

💡Start using Cvent Video Tools today

4. ClickUp AI

When we talk about AI, most people think about content creation. But AI can help with so much more, including project management. 

What it does

ClickUp is a productivity and project management software designed to help teams and individuals organise their work and collaborate efficiently. The tool provides multiple views to help you visualise tasks, including List, Board, Calendar, Gantt, and Timeline. It also uses an AI-powered assistant tailored to your role. 

How it helps 

This tool declutters your workload and your mind. Centralise all your tasks and projects in this one platform and there’s no need to switch between tools. Plus, ClickUp AI helps you brainstorm, outline, plan and more. 

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for ClickUp AI:

• Generate milestones suited to your event project

• Speed up the process of creating the first draft of a blog

• Outline your email campaigns 

5. Zenus

Tracking the event attendee experience is no easy feat. You create great surveys, send them out… and to your disappointment, no one responds. That’s where Zenus could help.

What it does

Zenus’s ethical facial analysis is a clever answer to this common challenge — without collecting personal data. Just set up a camera on your event venue floor and go. Use this tool to measure impressions, demographics, positive sentiment, and more. 

How it helps 

Instead of relying only on surveys, Zenus’s ethical facial analysis helps you gather masses of invaluable information about your attendees throughout your in-person or virtual event. 

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Zenus:

• Instead of using surveys or walking around your event trying to gauge the moods of your attendees, use Zenus to automatically capture the overall happiness sentiment at your event. Create ‘Happy Maps’ to visualise happiness and engagement in different areas of the venue. 

• Understand traffic flow and engagement levels with detailed analytics on attendee movements and interactions.

• Control access to different areas of an event based on attendee profiles and permissions.

6. Beautiful.ai

When you’re stretched for time and deadlines are approaching, the last thing you want is to spend hours on presentations.

What it does

Beautiful.ai makes modifying or creating slides and presentations from scratch easy. Plus, it lets you beautify, correct, and align to your brand guidelines in seconds. It’s ideal for team projects, too, as multiple users can work on the same presentation simultaneously.

How it helps 

Beautiful.ai takes the stress out of presentation creation so that you can focus on creating a fabulous attendee experience and meeting your event goals. Better-designed, consistent presentations engage and impress. 

Here’s how it works: Add a prompt or upload an outline to the platform and the tool will create a deck. Alternatively, upload an existing deck and it will create smart layouts of your content.

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Beautiful.ai:

• Create a polished presentation for an important client meeting or sales pitch, aligned to your brand guidelines.

• Use the tool to help you prove ROI. Visualise data and insights from your event clearly and attractively for stakeholders. 

7. Vendeleux

According to a recent report by Forrester, 55% of B2B marketers do not maximise the value of the data they collect at events. This is a key challenge this tool aims to solve. 

What it does

Vendeleux uses data to predict attendee decision-making and better measure the impact of your events on your ROI. It provides insights from its database of 20,000 global conferences to help event marketers and planners better target their audiences. 

How it helps 

Use Vendeleux’s proprietary database of over 200,000 global B2B events and their attendees to find the best events to sponsor and attend. Get the best sponsorship deals by comparing attendee insights and packages and save time.

The tool also helps you evaluate the potential ROI of events so that you can commit to the right ones for your business. Plan your events calendar based on this information.

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Vendeleux:

• Be notified whenever a client or competitor signs up for your events so you can prepare.  

• Find out the top industry events for your particular target persona, such as hotel sales and marketing teams. 

8. Cvent Recommendations

In an ideal world, each attendee would sit down with your agenda before the event and plan out the sessions they’d like to attend. The reality is that many will turn up during a stressful week, not having even glanced at the agenda. Cvent Recommendations ensure attendees have a blast from start to end.

What it does

Cvent Attendee Hub uses machine learning algorithms to recommend sessions for your attendees to attend based on their interests. It also recommends other attendees with whom they may like to network. 

How it helps 

Cvent Recommendations creates higher attendee engagement and satisfaction by curating a fulfilling event experience for each attendee. 

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Cvent Recommendations:

• Let’s say an attendee isn’t sure what they want to do on the first day of your conference. They open their mobile app and see that a session on AI – a topic they love – is happening next. 

• The same attendee has been to a lot of sessions and they’ve drunk a lot of coffee but now they’re starting to feel a bit lonely. They open their app to find networking suggestions. Thirty minutes later they’re chatting away to someone who’s just as interested in AI as they are. 

💡Start using Cvent Recommendations today

9. Canva

If the thought of tackling Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign scares you, Canva is for you. 

What it does

Canva helps you create visual content, including presentations, social media graphics, posters, documents, and other marketing materials. But its new AI features take the tool a step further. Use its AI features to create attractive designs, images, and illustrations, create video avatars and voiceovers, and create new music. 

How it helps 

Canva’s AI tools save you time when it comes to graphic design with a user-friendly interface. They give you the option to collaborate with team members which makes the review process easy. 

Use Canva AI to remove the background of your speaker bios or create original, copyright-free background music for your event videos.

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases for Canva:

• Use Canva’s AI tools to generate an attractive graphic for social media to advertise an upcoming webinar using your brand guidelines. 

• You’re planning an exclusive dinner for top clients. Use Canva to create beautiful, on-brand invitations, ready to be sent to the printers with bleed marks. 

10. Cvent Venue and Vendor Sourcing

The sourcing part of event planning is never as simple as it first seems. With multiple stakeholders and their visions to consider and RFPs to write, you may feel like your productivity is flagging.

What it does

The Cvent Vendor Marketplace's AI matching technology pairs you with the best-fit vendors based on geography, group size, event dates, target audience, and other user preferences. You can also automatically narrow down venue options with the Cvent Supplier Network’s AI search engine.

How it helps 

This tech takes away the manual effort typically required to source and finetune a curated vendor list.

Smart ways to use the tool 

Here are a few use cases:

• Imagine you’re hosting a networking event in Lisbon for the first time. You need to find a venue, transportation vendors, production assistance, and more. Instead of handling it all on your own, you input your needs into the Cvent Vendor Marketplace, and it matches you with the best vendors for your event. 

• You’re hosting an event in your city, but you just don’t have enough time to reach out to production or swag companies. Instead, you use the Cvent Vendor Marketplace to generate custom RFPs detailing each of your requirements. 

💡Did you know Cvent just acquired Reposite? Find out more.

Give AI a try

AI is all about making the planning process easier so that you can work fewer hours and spend more time creating great event experiences. Give these tools a try and see how they improve your planning process (and stress levels!).

AI can seem like a big, complicated subject. Download our guide, Mastering AI for Events, for a crash course.