Event marketers are facing a more selective audience than ever, according to a new trends report from mdg, which analysed paid media data across thousands of global campaigns in 2025.
The report – covering international attendance, social media, registration, AI and paid media – draws on a dataset of 2.7bn impressions, 25 million clicks and over one million conversions. Its central finding: events are no longer judged by scale, but by value.
International attendance
The IMF projects global economic growth of around 3.1% in 2026, with advanced economies growing at 1.5-1.6% and emerging markets outperforming at 4%+. In that climate, the report argues, attendance has become an intentional decision rather than a default. Events must demonstrate clear ROI and business relevance to justify the investment.
“Attendees are looking for guidance. Events that provide macro context, data and scenario-based insights make themselves essential.”
Social and influencer
Social platforms are now the first point of discovery for event audiences – and where audiences decide whether to engage at all.
41% of Gen Z start their search on social media (Sprout Social, 2025)
58.5% of searches now end without a click, as platforms suppress external links to retain users (SparkToro, 2024). Influencer-led paid content has delivered 15-20% higher conversion rates than traditional promotion across mdg campaigns. As has been said many times across the marketing industry as a whole, influencers will play an increasingly important role in the future of marketing. Brand messaging, on the other hand, may not always yield the same results.
Registration
Registration is no longer a volume game. Audiences are more intentional, with attendance driven by perceived value and expected outcomes rather than event size.
95% of attendees report greater confidence in brands after an in-person event (Freeman Trust Report, 2025)
The challenge is timing. Only 5% of audiences are actively “in market” at any given time (B2B Institute, LinkedIn), making always-on engagement essential. According to the report, a year-two return rate is the strongest signal of long-term event value.
AI
AI has moved from experimentation to everyday use – but maturity in how event marketers use AI is lagging behind adoption.
80% of organisers use AI for routine tasks. That drops to around 40% for event planning and execution.
The primary barrier is knowledge and training, not scepticism. The report highlights AI-driven matchmaking as an emerging ROI lever, increasing both the volume and quality of attendee meetings. With Claude now fast overtaking ChatGPT as a the LLM of choice for businesses, the AI world has proven that it changes quickly, and companies have to adapt in order to make maximum use of it.
Paid media benchmarks
CPA varies significantly by campaign objective. Brand awareness campaigns carry the highest cost at $43.02 per acquisition, followed by exhibitor promotion ($31.08), paid delegate ($24.17) and free registration ($10.73-$12.58).
CPA by industry ranges from $2.55 in electronics to $58.09 in healthcare – but the report cautions against treating CPA as a standalone benchmark.
On CPM, programmatic display offers the lowest cost at $1.59, while LinkedIn sits at the high end at $9.56, reflecting the value of its professional audience. As targeting becomes more automated, the report notes that two things are becoming increasingly important: the quality of your creative and how clearly defined your message is.
