Boost audience engagement with these 5 tools

Audience engagement is a crucial part of promotion. When you organise an event, you want guests to be intrigued enough to buy tickets and interested enough in what’s going on when they’re at the event.

You’ll have happier attendees, which leads to more ticket sales. Better still, those delighted attendees could tell their friends, which means more conversions for your next event. 

But like most things in the world of promoting, achieving audience engagement isn’t always easy. Nor is it guaranteed. We’re sure you’ve experienced it: you sell tickets to an event – physical or virtual – and the atmosphere isn’t the best. People are engaging, but only to a point. 

It can lead to stagnation. When you don’t hit ticket sales targets or find that people aren’t engaging fully with your event, you might experience less income. This leads to an inability to grow your brand, and you and your team could suffer burnout. You certainly wouldn’t be alone. 

There are tools out there that can assist you. So, are you ready to boost your audience engagement? Scroll down to find out how. 

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Whova

Are you looking for software that assists you with virtual and hybrid events?

Whova can do that. 

With Whova, you can create name badges, monitor attendance and gather attendee information through forms. There’s also the leaderboard feature, which allows you to give out points to attendees for completing challenges. You can make the scores visible at your event. 

With light-hearted competition, you can get your guests to engage with what’s happening at your event. For example, you might ask your guests to record five facts they found interesting from the day. Then, ask them to share those facts with as many people as possible. 

Give out a small prize to the winner. Now, your attendees have a reason to interact, and the challenges you’ve set are designed to enhance their event experience. It’s more than sitting through talk after talk for a whole day. 

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Fotor

Remember our AI article from a few weeks ago? If not, view it here. 

In that article, we spoke about Fotor. It’s a website where you can create event flyers and enhance photos through AI.

We’re going to look at the event flyer feature today, though, as flyers are a crucial element of marketing. 

With an eye-catching poster, you’re showing the vibe of your event to potential attendees. If the flyer looks great, people could be enticed to pick up tickets. 

What do more ticket sales lead to? A boost in audience engagement. People are more likely to attend an event if they think an element of it looks exciting; or if they like the people who are going to make an appearance. 

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Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an email marketing software. With this tool, you can send newsletters to your attendees, track the results via open rates and send personalised emails to improve conversions. It provides your audience with a one-stop shop for information.

For example, you’ve got an exciting calendar of events lined up with some huge names set to play. With a newsletter, you can shout about them to your audience. They’ll be getting the information directly to their inbox without having to go scouring the internet for details. 

Because you’ve made it easier to engage with your event, you’re more likely to get people responding positively. Let’s face it: no one wants to spend hours out of the day searching and searching for something. 

Delivering crucial information to people in a concise manner will get them on board with what you’re doing. 

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WhatsApp Marketing

WhatsApp is associated with group chats between your friends. But did you know it’s a powerful audience engagement tool?

Firstly, over two million people use WhatsApp. Secondly, according to SimilarBlog, it’s the number one messaging app in the U.K. There’s also an average 98% open rate on messages.

There’s a lot of scope to connect with potential and existing attendees. 

WhatsApp is a form of SMS marketing. So, like email marketing, you can use it as an information hub to connect directly with people interested in what you’re doing. 

That personalised element can be powerful. People are much more likely to engage if they feel part of something, and building a community around your event brand can increase this feeling. You could offer discounts and deals exclusively through WhatsApp, helping audience engagement for your event brand. 

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Skiddle Discount Codes

As we mentioned earlier, discounts can create a feeling of exclusivity for your brand. 

Everyone loves a bit of money off. Even more so when it’s for an event we think looks exciting or for a performer we really want to see. 

You may remember that we recently rolled out discount codes for promoters in our Promotion Centre. So, you now have the power to offer discounts on random dates or pencilling them in for special occasions like bank holidays. 

Consistently offering discounts at the right time could help boost your engagement. If you do it for long enough and shout enough about it, attendees could come to see your event brand as a place where they can have a great time on a budget. 

That will go a long way to get people engaged. If they know you will always give them a great deal and your events are always a hit, you’ll have an advantage over your competitors and be able to attract bodies through the door. 

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Got a question you need an answer to? Give us a call on 03333010301 or ask us a question over on the Skiddle Promoter Twitter account by clicking or tapping on the button below. Alternatively, you can also find a list of our most frequently asked questions over at https://help.promotioncentre.co.uk/