From Pandemic Peak To Practical Reality: The New Virtual Event Landscape

2026-02-12 · Source: Featured Blogs - Forrester · Field: Technology & Digital — Data Science & Analytics, Marketing Technology · Depth: Intermediate, quick

Summary

Virtual events are evolving from multi-day, multi-session formats to simpler, sub-60-minute webinars, with 43% of marketers planning to increase their use of these shorter events. This shift emphasizes extending event life through content repurposing and data insights, driving recent market consolidation, such as Cvent's proposed acquisitions of ON24 and Goldcast. The virtual event technology market is maturing, with core platform functionalities becoming commoditized. Differentiation now centers on data integration, marketing value, and the ability to capture first-party data. A new Forrester report, "The Virtual Event Management Platforms Landscape, Q1 2026," evaluates this market, offering guidance on vendor selection and future trends.

Key takeaway

For marketers evaluating virtual event platforms, you should prioritize solutions that offer robust data integration with your existing martech stack and strong content repurposing capabilities. Focus on platforms that can extend event value beyond the live session and provide clear insights from attendee data, rather than just basic event hosting features. This approach will maximize your return on investment and support long-term engagement strategies.

Key insights

Virtual events are simplifying and focusing on content repurposing and data integration in a maturing market.

Principles

• Prioritize data and integration over basic features.
• Extend event value beyond the live moment.
• Vendor stability and roadmap alignment are crucial.

Method

When evaluating virtual event platforms, assess flexibility across event formats, integration with your martech stack, strategic use of event data, content repurposing capabilities, audience experience, vendor partnership potential, and total cost of ownership.

In practice

• Consolidate point solutions with a flexible platform.
• Verify certified, bidirectional CRM integrations.
• Track attendee behaviors for actionable insights.

Topics

• Virtual Event Technology
• Event Management Platforms
• Marketing Technology
• Content Repurposing
• Data Integration

Best for: Investor, Entrepreneur, Marketing Professional, Product Manager, Business Analyst

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Featured Blogs - Forrester.