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How Enshittification is Quietly Suffocating Event Marketing – And What You Can Do About It

Updated: Feb 6

When I was younger, my dad often described me as a bit "dramatic." I can hear him saying that as I write the title of this blog. But I genuinely believe—dramatic or not—that the recent changes in how digital platforms operate are going to silently suffocate many event marketing campaigns.


If you've noticed that your event marketing isn't performing as well as it used to – even though you're spending more – you're not imagining things. Welcome to enshittification: the slow but deliberate decline of online platforms as they prioritise profits over user experience, leaving businesses and marketers paying more for worse results.


What is Enshittification – And Why Should Event Marketers Care?


Coined by Cory Doctorow, enshittification describes how once-useful platforms like Facebook, X (previously Twitter), Instagram, and even Google degrade over time. Initially, they attract users with great experiences, then they make money from businesses by forcing them to pay for reach, and finally, they extract as much profit as possible before collapsing into irrelevance or becoming unusable.


For event professionals, this is more than just a social media problem—it’s an existential threat to how we promote, sell, and run events.


If we don’t adapt now, we risk losing our audiences, overspending on ineffective ads, and becoming trapped in an endless cycle of declining returns. This blog will break down how enshittification is directly impacting event marketing, and what we can do to fight back.


The Key Risks for Event Marketers


1. Diminishing Organic Reach = Higher Costs

  • Remember when posting about your event on Facebook would actually reach your audience? Those days are gone. Social media platforms prioritise paid content, forcing event marketers to spend more on ads just to maintain visibility.

  • Organic reach for business pages on Facebook is now below 2%, meaning unless you pay, your event posts won’t be seen.


2. Unreliable Ad Performance = Wasted Budgets

  • Paid social ads are getting more expensive and less effective. Rising competition and algorithm changes mean that the same budget that worked last year may now deliver half the results.

  • In 2023, Meta’s ad prices increased by 20%, and Google’s cost-per-click (CPC) rose by 19% year-over-year.


3. AI-Powered Suppression of Event Content

  • Social platforms bury content that isn’t designed for viral engagement. Announcements, registration CTAs, and event promotions simply don’t get the same push as viral trends and memes.

  • If your content doesn’t drive immediate engagement, it’s deprioritised, forcing you to rely even more on ads.


4. Platform Instability = Unpredictable Results

  • The decline of Twitter/X, the rise of TikTok, and ongoing algorithm shifts mean that no single platform is reliable long-term.

  • TikTok’s 12-hour ban in the US earlier this month (January 2025) shows again how regulatory actions can suddenly and unpredictably disrupt marketing strategies.

  • If your event relies too heavily on one platform, a sudden policy change (like LinkedIn throttling event invites) can wreck your marketing strategy overnight.


5. Data Lockdowns = Losing Audience Control

  • Platforms are phasing out third-party tracking (Meta privacy updates, Google phasing out cookies), making it harder to retarget event attendees.

  • Privacy-first search engines like DuckDuckGo and Brave Search are gaining traction, limiting traditional tracking methods further.

  • This limits marketers' ability to track conversions, prove ROI to sponsors, and run effective remarketing campaigns.


6. Consumer Fatigue = Harder to Cut Through the Noise

  • Attendees are bombarded with low-quality ads and algorithmically-boosted junk content. This has led to ad blindness, making traditional event marketing less effective than ever.

  • Consumers now trust peer recommendations more than brand promotions, requiring event marketers to rethink how they engage potential attendees.


What Event Marketers Need to Do Now


1. Own the Audience – Don’t Rent It

  • Stop relying on social media algorithms to reach attendees. Build email lists, private communities, and direct engagement channels where you control the communication.

  • Use event apps, opt-in lists, and attendee data to maintain relationships outside of social media.


2. Go Beyond Paid Ads – Adapt to AI-Powered Search on Multiple Platforms

  • Shift focus to SEO, thought leadership, and valuable content marketing to generate organic traffic and registrations.

  • AI-driven search is rapidly changing how people find content online. The rise of zero-click searches, where Google, Bing (Copilot AI), and TikTok Search provide instant answers, means event marketers need to rethink optimisation strategies.

  • To compete, event websites must focus on structured data, long-form content that answers specific queries, and high-quality backlinks to maintain visibility across search engines.

  • Optimise for TikTok and YouTube Search, as Gen Z increasingly searches for events and recommendations there instead of Google.

  • Create behind-the-scenes videos, speaker interviews, and Q&A sessions that provide value beyond just selling tickets.


3. Use Dark Social & Alternative Platforms

  • Join and build LinkedIn Groups, WhatsApp communities, and industry forums where engagement is real and not dependent on an algorithm.

  • Explore niche platforms like Swapcard, Hopin, and Bizzabo that support event marketing without social media limitations.


4. Leverage Influencers & Peer-to-Peer Marketing

  • Instead of relying solely on paid ads, work with speakers, sponsors, and past attendees to promote your event.

  • Create referral programs and ambassador incentives to drive word-of-mouth marketing.


5. Diversify Paid Marketing Channels

  • If Facebook and Instagram stop working for you, shift to Google, YouTube, Reddit, Quora, newsletters, and podcast sponsorships.

  • Test native advertising and sponsored content instead of just running traditional PPC campaigns.


Final Thoughts: The Events Industry Can’t Afford to Ignore Enshittification


If you’re still marketing your event the same way you did three years ago, you’re already behind.


Platforms are squeezing businesses for profits, making it harder, riskier, and more expensive to promote events.

The winners will be those who:

  1. Build and control their own audience instead of relying on social media reach

  2. Use innovative, high-value content to drive organic engagement

  3. Adapt to AI-driven search and optimise event websites for the future across Google, Bing, TikTok, and alternative search engines

  4. Diversify their marketing efforts before platform degradation worsens


This isn’t a trend—it’s a slow-motion crisis. The event industry needs to act now before enshittification makes traditional marketing completely ineffective.


Take Control of Your Event Marketing


If you're feeling the squeeze of platform restrictions, rising ad costs, and declining reach, you're not alone—but you don’t have to navigate this alone either. At [Your Company Name], we help event professionals future-proof their marketing strategies with data-driven insights, innovative content strategies, and alternative marketing channels.


Book a Complimentary 30-Minute Strategy Call today and discover how to:

  • Maximize your event’s visibility without relying solely on paid ads

  • Adapt to AI-driven search and zero-click results

  • Build an audience you own—without platform dependency


Schedule Your Free Consultation Now or Get in Touch and let’s future-proof your event marketing together!


Book a free 30-minute consultation with CDM - CDonaldson Marketing!
Book Your Free 30-Minute Consultation with CDM Today!

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