More than 4 in 10 small businesses host events, with 71% of those believing that they’re important to their organization’s success, according to new data released by EventSpot by Constant Contact. On average, these businesses are hosting 13-14 events per year, with the most common types being workshops/seminars/lecturs (63% B2B; 56% B2C) and classes (52% B2B; 48% B2C). Somewhat intuitively, the results show that conferences are more popular among B2B than B2C businesses (44% vs. 23%), while the opposite is true for social gatherings (36% vs. 47%).
Events aren’t just about attracting new customers. In fact, the top reason for hosting an event, according to the data, is to provide education or training (26%), followed by generating more sales/revenue (19%) and attracting new customers (18%). (One might imagine that all 3 feed into each other in one way or another.)
Small business events appear to be a DIY affair – with just 3% of small businesses responding to a recent survey saying they hired an external event planner.
In order to promote their events, 78% of B2B and 68% of B2C companies are using email email invitations. While the use of social media by B2C companies increased 7% between 2010 and 2012, phone calls and mailed invitations have become less popular among small businesses.
About the Data: The study was fielded in November and December 2012. 336 CTCT EMM customers participated, as did 753 members of the ResearchNow Panel.
All respondents screened to include:
- Small businesses and nonprofits;
- Organizations must have 100 or fewer employees;
- Organization must hold events;
- Respondent must have role in decision-making for organization events; and
- Respondents must be age 18 or older.
Significance testing was performed at the 95% confidence level to identify significant differences by business type (B2B, B2C, NP).
