Event tech plays a significant role in shaping how events are planned and executed. But with so many options available, it can be hard to choose the right tools that help you deliver an engaging experience, understand your attendees, and most importantly, get the ROI you need.
Fortunately, during Crafting the Event Experience Part 6, Ryan Costello, Event Farm co-founder, and Chief Strategy Officer at MemberSuite discussed the world of event tech including what event planners need to consider and pay attention to.
Here are the top 6 event tech tools you need (at minimum) to execute engaging event experiences this year.
Missed Crafting the Event Experience PT 6?
#1: Registration Software
It’s pretty common knowledge that you need a way for attendees to register for your event and to track that information to ensure you have enough resources to accommodate all your guests. To nail down which registration tool you should use, you must first understand your event use case and goals.
For ticketed events, it’s important to sell your audience on why they should attend and provide a frictionless way to share the event with their network. Leaning in on branding and customizability to build hype—for everything from the event registration site to the follow-up emails—need to be at the top of the decision ladder.
For internal or corporate events where you don’t have to “sell” the ticket, but just account for who is coming, your registration system needs to allow for the event to be invitation only assuring that only the people you invite can RSVP to the event.
For marketing-based events, your registration tool needs to look and feel like an extension of your brand, have features that allow you to spin up the event quickly, connect to your CRM, and so on.
Most event registration platforms can accommodate these use cases to varying degrees, but their ability to provide full brandability out of the gate and various feature sets differ.
However, there are some baseline features that have become quite the nonnegotiable in our industry, such as:
- Custom registration questions, with basic, if/then logic
- White-labeled event site
- Guest List Segmentation
- Personalization for email communications
- The ability to use your brand voice from ticket/registration access names to confirmation messages, waitlists, and beyond
- A way to check-in guests whether it’s on the web or via a Check-In App (we dive more into this later)
Ultimately, registration technology can dramatically enhance the attendee’s perception of the event and pre-event experience when you choose the right tool, and capture the right data to leverage at your events.
#2: Texting
It’s 2023, right? And everywhere you go sends text messages…except events?
Think about it: You get text messages from restaurants regarding your reservation, your dentist confirming your appointment, airlines letting you know flight status/gate changes, and Uber when your car is about to arrive. We can go on forever because everything you do is via texting, which is why open rates are currently around 99%.
Plus, texting doesn’t have the same deliverability challenges as emails. And, with today’s automation capabilities, it’s an easy way to welcome people personally or provide them with important updates without adding a ton of extra work, so get on it!
#3: A Check-in Solution
Another event tech must-have is an intuitive check-in solution that not only keeps the flow of guests moving but also provides pertinent information such as guest table numbers and unlocks potential for engagement. For example, we shared how texting is one of the easiest, low-lying options for event communications and attendee engagement, and it starts at check-in with an automated text message welcoming your attendees to the event.
If your event is using experiential elements to engage attendees such as any sort of credential or wristband using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology or QR codes, your check-in process has to be able to activate those assets quickly and seamlessly. People don’t like waiting in lines so be sure to run through your check-in and asset activation process to ensure it’s flawless—as this is your attendees’ first impression of your event.
Ideally, your check-in solution would be an offering of your registration tool so that registration data automatically syncs between them. This saves you time from exporting and importing your registration list to your check-in solution.
#4: Exhibitor Solutions
Any event planners that mainly plan conferences need to go beyond lead retrieval and think about what we call the exhibitor experience. Determine what your exhibitors want (more leads, more brand exposure, more data insights on leads, a way to schedule an appointment to meet with attendees on the expo floor, etc.,) and give them that. When you work with your exhibitors to understand their goals and help them achieve those goals, you’ll have no problem upselling them for future events or even your current event’s data, which can provide a slew of behavioral data depending on the event tech tools you implement. Exhibitors and sponsors will pay for good, solid data, so make sure you’re not leaving money on the table.
#5: Attendee Apps
While attendee apps aren’t necessarily a must-have for every event (especially since so much can be done to keep people moving and informed simply by texting them), there is a space where it can be leveraged for creating a community. Use the app as a place for attendees to meet pre-event and set up times to engage during the show, or as a place to connect, chat, and share images of their favorite sessions (or event happenings) with fellow attendees. In a hybrid scenario, the app is a great tool for connecting virtual attendees with in-person attendees.
All in all, humans want to interact with other humans, so if you can help facilitate that, you’ll enhance the user experience, leading to higher engagement.
#6: Health Verification Tools
While the world is consistently moving forward from the pandemic, health verification in the event industry should be part of your duty of care as an event planner. When implemented as a part of the check-in process, health verification can be a smooth operation that validates test results or vaccinations for event entry. So, whether you see this happening at events or not, it is still a great tool to have in your back pocket, should a spike in cases occur or for attendee peace of mind.
Event tech tools are easy to come by, but the key is to find the one that can help you accomplish most of your event goals and desired outcomes. For more information on how Event Farm’s suite of tools can help you create engaging event experiences that provide invaluable attendee insights and boost event ROI, download the brochure or request a demo now.