Cvent’s Revamped Event Marketing and Management Platform [Review]

What Is It?

Cvent is rolling out what it is currently referring to as a “new experience” for users of its event management platform. A comprehensive suite of new features for navigation and event execution will completely replace the current ones by December. The revamped interface is intended to provide a more simplified and streamlined way for customers to engage with Cvent products and manage events.

Main Feature Categories

Event Management. The redesigned homepage functions as a command center where organizers can manage all actions and components pertaining to a given event.

Right Sizing. Planners can add or subtract whatever elements they need to build an event, making it as simple or complex as required.

Event Creation. A simplified process for event creation enables organizers to initiate events with templates that can be customized and used for a multitude of events.

Marketing Capabilities: With a homepage that functions as a customizable data dashboard, event marketers can quickly visualize key data points such as registrations. From here they can assess how their event is going and if any action needs to be taken. Data for all products is stored in one place within the platform, which also makes it easy for marketers to evaluate event performance and glean attendee insights.

Review

Cvent’s revamped platform streamlines and simplifies the event management process giving organizers the ability to manage everything from a single interface. Its comprehensive suite of features offers a one-step-at-a-time tech solution and interface consistency throughout each product that will be helpful to even the most inexperienced planners.

As such, it’s a welcome alternative to platforms that matured through acquisitions and offer a disparate array of tools that are not well-integrated and require a steep learning curve for each one. Within the new interface Cvent provides a consistent user experience across its products, so learning one product makes it easier to learn others; mastering two products does not require double the effort.

This consistency and integration throughout the interface means that data is only entered once and becomes available in all Cvent solutions used for managing events. With a single source of event data, organizers can build one or multiple events, review performance, identify trends and take action to maximize the impact of ongoing events. For example, if registration numbers are low, a planner could increase marketing spend. Or if mobile app downloads are low, the planner can send a reminder to download the app, etc. The efficient access to event data is also a boon for marketers, enabling them to optimize marketing plans.

The standout innovation is a dashboard/command center with more functionality than the typical static dashboard found on many platforms. It enables users to not only visualize information, but to take action. From one spot on the platform, it’s possible to review success metrics and access actionable tips for each component of the event.

Event creation, which requires just a few key pieces of information to get started, is also efficient. The process is further streamlined by customizable templates that can be used for just one meeting or a multitude of recurring events, eliminating the need for planners to reinvent the wheel every time. This is potentially a great time-saver, particularly for anyone with numerous and recurring event commitments within their annual program.

Who’s it for?

While Cvent says there are many audiences that can benefit from the new experience, its primary targets are event planners and marketers. For planners, the key benefits are a simplified event creation process and the ability to manage solutions for all events from one interface. For marketers, a single data source shared among all the products within the new experience makes it easier to evaluate event performance and glean attendee insights.

Who’s it not for?

According to Cvent, the new experience is intended for anyone involved in event planning.  They say the product is designed to serve the needs of organizations of any size, irrespective of the frequency, size and number of events that are planned each year.

Features

Command Center: Cvent’s redesigned homepage functions as a veritable command center for event management. No mere static dashboard, its capabilities include tips for optimizing events, data visualizations to spot trends, at-a-glance data broken down by feature to quickly assess performance, event status management and access to the Cvent user Community and Knowledge Base.

Templates: Event templates can be created for virtual, in-person or hybrid meetings and can be customized for any type of event whether it’s a simple webinar or large hybrid convention with a trade show. Planners can start from scratch with a new template or use one from a previous event, a potential time saver when recurring events are involved.

Feature Selection. A marketplace-style features page enables users to browse and choose from an app-store like selection of components for building an event.

Navigation. Left rail navigation offers a single location for planners to find all pages pertaining to the features of each event. The navigation bar list expands or contracts as new features are added to or subtracted from the event.

Pricing and Plans

This update is provided free of charge to all Cvent “Event” Cloud customers.

Pros and Cons

IN CONCLUSION

Cvent’s revamped interface promises to make event management a more efficient and flexible process for organizers, making it simpler to create events and build in components according to the complexity level required. The products used in the interface provide a consistent user experience, thereby reducing the learning curve that is required by platforms with more disparate tools. Having the event data integrated throughout the products is a boon for marketers as well as planners, making it easy to track event progress and determine what further actions may be needed.

Disclaimer: Reviews are paid for placements. While Event Manager Blog receives a fee to extensively look at the tool and review it in detail, the content of the review is independent and by no means influenced by the company. If you have any questions please use the contact us section.