5 Ways to Improve Attendee Engagement at Events in 2018

One of the toughest jobs faced by event professionals is captivating their attendees. Between juggling venue hire, sponsor prospecting and stakeholder management, there’s a lot that goes into organizing an event. A common pitfall can be neglecting or not maintaining attendee engagement leading up to an event. With a little planning and the right event […]

One of the toughest jobs faced by event professionals is captivating their attendees. Between juggling venue hire, sponsor prospecting and stakeholder management, there’s a lot that goes into organizing an event. A common pitfall can be neglecting or not maintaining attendee engagement leading up to an event. With a little planning and the right event app, driving engagement at your next event can be as effortless and rewarding for you as it is for your attendees.

Push Notifications

Keep your attendees in the loop by sending push notifications in the lead up to your event. Advertise speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, key event app elements or new content to keep your attendees checking back and engaged. Bonus points for making use of notification links to direct attendees to relevant pages.

Plan ahead of time, set up a document of all planned push notifications and times for stakeholder approval. You’ll then be able to pre-schedule your push notifications using your event app, leaving you to focus on running the event.

Gamification

Level up your event by introducing gamification. An event app leaderboard is a great way to drive app adoption rates and engagement. Attendees are rewarded with points and achievements for completing challenges, driving them to explore the event app and engage with their fellow peers. By providing a platform for friendly competition, you’ll be opening up a whole new means of social engagement, helping to break the ice before the event has even begun. There are also a number of opportunities to further encourage your delegates by offering up prizes for those highest scoring individuals.

Phone Charging Stations

It’s obvious that pretty much everyone these days has a cell phone and it’s important that your guests and attendees are able to charge their phones. Supplying phone charging stations for event goers to charge their devices is more beneficial than you might think. With charged phones people at a events can tweet, post a status to Facebook and Snapchat your event creating a buzz.

Interactive Sessions

Collaborate with your speakers to organize exciting and engaging sessions. Gather each speaker’s desired questions or event app live polls pre-event. Advertise these sessions through event app push notifications to help build interest and attendance. Couple this with the session bookmark feature to allow your attendees to customize their personal schedule.

Promotion

Build buzz around your event app by taking advantage of already established social media channels. Work closely with your sponsors, exhibitors and invited speakers to generate engaging content leading up to the event and share it on social media and within your event app. Consider creating a hashtag to further promote the event app and event. Lastly, get creative. A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth even more.