Report:
Magic Quadrant for Event Technology Platforms
How does Gartner define the Event Technology Platforms market in 2024?
Gartner defines event technology platforms as tools that enable B2B marketers to execute virtual and/or in-person events for external audiences. These platforms provide native capabilities to engage and communicate with prospective attendees, registrants and sponsors, manage logistics, deliver content and enable attendees to engage with other participants. Out-of-the-box integrations with sales force automation and marketing automation platforms are provided to track engagement. Features and capabilities are provided in a self-service model, with some offering managed service support to run the technology when preferred. The event technology market does not include webinars or meeting-specific solutions. Event technology platforms help B2B event and marketing teams to create in-person and/or virtual dynamic events, tradeshows, user conferences, roundtables and field marketing events to engage prospective buyers, customers and partners.
Key Facts for Magic Quadrant for Event Technology Platforms in 2024
- Publication Date: 18 March 2024
- Document ID: G00790255
- Coverage: B2B event technology platforms for virtual and in-person events
- Authors: Christy Ferguson, Amy Jenkins
- Core Purpose: Using comprehensive event technology is a necessity for marketers to effectively reach event audiences and deliver engaging experiences. Use this research to match your business requirements for virtual and in-person events to the technology vendors to maximize event results.
Strategic Planning Assumptions
No strategic planning assumptions provided.
How was the Event Technology Platforms market evolved in 2024?
- 69% of B2B tech marketers include hosted digital events in their programs
- 63% include hosted in-person events in their programs
- 50% have a portion of the marketing technology budget dedicated to event technology
- Market experiencing tech consolidation as buyers seek unified virtual and in-person solutions
- Competition increasing from adjacent markets like meeting solution providers
- AI capabilities being rapidly adopted for content creation and insights
- Growth in smaller, regional VIP-centric events alongside large conferences
- Event technology platforms enable end-to-end event management from promotion to analytics
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- Attendee Management — to facilitate registration and check-in processes and to support pre- and postevent communication
- Attendee Experience Management — to communicate with attendees during an event, including chat and Q&A moderation, and deliver relevant content in a single dynamic experience across multiple concurrent sessions to support engagement with attendees before, during and after an event
- Reporting and Analytics — to track registration, measure event and session performance, and compare to year-over-year insights, including integrations to the marketing technology (martech) stack
What are the common features of top products in the Event Technology Platforms space?
- Agenda Management — to support call-for-papers activity, speaker management, session selection and content repository capabilities
- Mobile Applications — to provide attendees with agenda access, venue maps, networking capabilities and real-time alerts for logistical changes
- Role-Based Experiences — user and registration roles to control attendee access to content and user rights within the event design, as well as controlling user access to data and/or features/functions within the event technology platform
- Customer Service and Support — before an event to support event hosts to implement and build each event, along with live support during the event
- Martech Integrations — available APIs or prebuilt integration points to common martech tools including marketing automation platforms, CRM and additional marketing channel technologies needed for communicating with the target audience
Scope Exclusions
- Webinar-specific solutions
- Internal meeting-specific solutions
- Streaming services
- Use cases for meetings with internal stakeholders
- Point solutions such as attendee networking recommendations or payment processors
- Companies that provide event tech capabilities as add-on modules or features but do not package these as stand-alone offerings
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Proven ability to deliver event technology functionality for virtual and in-person events
- At least $30M in 2023 SaaS subscription revenue with 30 new customers, OR $10M+ with 50 new customers
- Minimum of 100 active customers using the platform
- Rank among top 22 organizations in customer interest metrics
- Support for at least 2 of 3 core use cases (in-person conferences, virtual conferences, in-person roundtables)
- Successful production deployment of must-have and standard capabilities
- Purpose-built, stand-alone platform with no prerequisite licensing dependencies
Ability to Execute — Relative Weighting
- Product or Service - High
- Overall Viability - High
- Sales Execution/Pricing - Low
- Market Responsiveness/Record - High
- Marketing Execution - Medium
- Customer Experience - Medium
- Operations - Low
Completeness of Vision — Relative Weighting
- Market Understanding - High
- Marketing Strategy - Medium
- Sales Strategy - Low
- Offering (Product) Strategy - High
- Business Model - Medium
- Vertical/Industry Strategy - Low
- Innovation - Medium
- Geographic Strategy - Low
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research covers event technology platforms that enable B2B marketers to execute virtual and/or in-person events for external audiences. It evaluates 13 vendors across three core use cases: in-person user conferences/tradeshows, virtual user conferences/tradeshows, and in-person roundtables/field marketing events. The research assesses vendors on their ability to execute and completeness of vision, examining capabilities including attendee management, attendee experience management, reporting and analytics, agenda management, mobile applications, role-based experiences, customer support, and martech integrations.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: This research should be used by B2B event and marketing teams responsible for creating in-person and/or virtual dynamic events, tradeshows, user conferences, roundtables and field marketing events. Event marketers should use this Magic Quadrant to match their specific business requirements for virtual and in-person events to technology vendors, identify vendors that align with their use cases and goals, evaluate vendor strengths and cautions, and use it in conjunction with the companion Critical Capabilities research and client inquiry to select appropriate vendors. Organizations should define specific use cases before evaluation to identify the most important features, assess integration requirements, and guide vendor demonstrations.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: Vendors must provide three must-have capabilities in production deployment: 1) Attendee Management for registration, check-in, and pre/post-event communication; 2) Attendee Experience Management for real-time engagement including chat, Q&A, and content delivery across concurrent sessions; and 3) Reporting and Analytics to track registration, measure performance, and integrate with the martech stack for year-over-year insights.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Does not meet minimum revenue thresholds ($30M+ with 30 new customers OR $10M+ with 50 new customers)
- Fewer than 100 active customers using the platform
- Does not rank in top 22 for customer interest metrics
- Supports fewer than 2 of the 3 core use cases
- Cannot demonstrate production deployment of must-have and standard capabilities
- Not a stand-alone platform (requires prerequisite licensing dependencies)
- Provides only point solutions rather than comprehensive platform
- Focuses on webinars, streaming services, or internal meetings rather than external audience events
- Offers event capabilities only as add-on modules rather than stand-alone offerings
Q: What differentiates Ability to Execute vs. Completeness of Vision?
A: Ability to Execute measures a vendor's current performance and operational capabilities - including product quality, financial viability, sales effectiveness, market responsiveness, marketing execution, customer support, and day-to-day operations. It reflects how well vendors deliver on their promises today. Completeness of Vision evaluates a vendor's strategic direction and future potential - including market understanding, strategic planning for marketing/sales/products, business model innovation, vertical specialization, and geographic expansion plans. It reflects how well vendors are positioned to meet future market needs and drive innovation.
Reference
- Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Event Technology Platforms, 18 March 2024, ID G00790255
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