Author: Prachee Mishra

Event-Led Upselling and Cross-Selling: Strategies for Maximizing Revenue

In the dynamic landscape of event management, upselling and cross-selling have emerged as powerful strategies for maximizing revenue. Upselling encourages attendees to purchase a more premium version of a product or service, while cross-selling promotes complementary offerings that enhance the overall event experience. Implementing these strategies not only boosts financial returns but also enriches attendee engagement, making them feel valued and understood. In this blog, we’ll explore effective strategies for leveraging upselling and cross-selling in your events, ensuring that you not only meet but exceed revenue expectations. 

Understanding Upselling and Cross-Selling 

Upselling involves encouraging attendees to opt for a higher-tier product or service, often enhancing their experience with additional features or benefits. For instance, offering VIP access or premium seating can significantly increase the perceived value of the event. 

Cross-selling, on the other hand, focuses on promoting related or complementary products and services. This might include suggesting merchandise, additional sessions, or post-event workshops that align with attendees’ interests, thereby enhancing their overall experience. 

Effective Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategies 

Implementing effective upselling and cross-selling strategies requires a thoughtful approach that engages attendees and enhances their overall experience. Here are key strategies to maximize these opportunities: 

Identify Opportunities 

To successfully upsell and cross-sell, it’s essential to analyze attendee data to pinpoint potential opportunities. This involves: 

• Demographic Analysis: Understanding the characteristics of your attendees—such as age, location, and profession—can help tailor offers. For instance, younger attendees might be more inclined to purchase add-ons like social events, while corporate attendees may prefer premium workshops. 

• Purchase History: Review past purchases and engagement levels to inform your upselling efforts. If attendees have previously purchased premium tickets or additional sessions, they might be receptive to similar offers at the next event. 

• Engagement Metrics: Monitor how attendees interact with your event materials, such as brochures, emails, and website content. High engagement with certain topics can indicate interests that you can leverage for upselling relevant products or services. 

Tailored Recommendations 

Personalization is critical in both upselling and cross-selling. Here’s how to effectively create tailored recommendations: 

• Use Data Analytics: Implement data analytics tools to track attendee behavior and preferences. This data can reveal patterns that inform personalized recommendations, such as suggesting premium sessions based on previously attended workshops. 

• Dynamic Content: Utilize dynamic content in your marketing materials that adjusts based on the recipient’s profile. For example, if an attendee has previously shown interest in sustainability, you can recommend eco-friendly products or sessions that align with that interest. 

• Personalized Emails: After registration, send personalized emails that highlight upsell opportunities tailored to their preferences. For example, “Based on your interest in our digital marketing track, you might enjoy our exclusive post-event networking session with industry leaders.” 

Create a Sense of Urgency 

Creating urgency can encourage attendees to make quicker purchasing decisions. Here are effective tactics: 

• Limited-Time Offers: Introduce time-sensitive promotions, such as “Book now and receive 20% off your VIP ticket—offer ends Friday!” This approach encourages attendees to act quickly to secure their desired upgrades. 

• Exclusive Access: Frame certain offers as exclusive, limited to a specific group or quantity. For example, “Only 50 VIP passes available!” This strategy not only creates urgency but also enhances the perceived value of the offer. 

• Countdown Timers: Use countdown timers on your website and in emails to visually emphasize the limited nature of your offers. Seeing a timer can motivate attendees to act immediately to avoid missing out. 

Effective Communication 

Clear communication about the value of upsells and cross-sells is crucial for convincing attendees. Here are strategies to improve communication: 

• Articulate Value: Clearly explain the benefits of your upsell or cross-sell options. Instead of simply stating what the offer is, detail how it enhances the attendee’s experience, such as, “Upgrade to a VIP pass for exclusive networking opportunities and priority seating.” 

• Use Persuasive Language: Incorporate storytelling techniques in your messaging. Share testimonials or case studies from past attendees who benefited from premium offerings, making the value tangible. 

• Highlight Benefits: Use visuals and bullet points to succinctly convey key benefits. For instance, listing “Exclusive content, personalized sessions, and enhanced networking” can make the upsell more appealing. 

Training Sales Teams 

Your sales teams play a crucial role in executing upselling and cross-selling strategies. Here’s how to equip them for success: 

• Role-Playing Exercises: Conduct role-playing sessions where sales team members practice their upselling techniques. This allows them to refine their pitches and become comfortable with the language and strategies they’ll use at the event. 

• Provide Resources: Equip your team with detailed information about all products and services, including features, benefits, and ideal customer profiles. This knowledge enables them to make informed recommendations during interactions. 

• Coaching and Feedback: Regularly provide coaching sessions to reinforce effective techniques and gather feedback on what strategies are working. Continuous improvement fosters a confident and capable sales team. 

By focusing on these strategies, event planners can not only boost revenue but also foster stronger connections with attendees, ultimately leading to a more satisfying and engaging event experience. 

Best Practices for Event-Led Upselling and Cross-Selling 

 Start Small: 

Initiate your upselling and cross-selling efforts with small, manageable offers that are easy for attendees to accept. This approach allows you to build confidence in your strategies while avoiding overwhelming potential customers with too many options. By starting with small upsells, you can gradually introduce attendees to the concept of purchasing additional products or services, which helps to create a comfortable buying environment. 

Test and Measure: 

Experimentation is key to finding the most effective upselling and cross-selling strategies. Implement various tactics and measure their success to identify what resonates with your audience. This may include different pricing models, promotional techniques, or product bundles. Tracking results through metrics like conversion rates and average transaction value will provide valuable insights that can refine your approach over time. 

Personalize Offers: 

Tailoring recommendations to individual attendees based on their preferences, demographics, and previous interactions can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your upselling and cross-selling efforts. Utilize data analytics to understand attendee behavior and preferences, allowing you to make personalized suggestions that feel relevant and timely. This personalized touch not only increases the likelihood of acceptance but also enhances the overall attendee experience. 

Follow Up: 

After the event, reach out to attendees with targeted follow-up communications that highlight additional products or services relevant to their interests. This could include exclusive post-event offers, personalized recommendations based on their engagement during the event, or reminders about products they showed interest in. Effective follow-up can nurture leads and convert interest into sales, further enhancing your revenue potential. 

By adopting these best practices, event organizers can create a more seamless experience that not only drives sales but also strengthens attendee relationships, ultimately leading to long-term loyalty and satisfaction. 

Building Relationships Through Events: Networking Tips for Sales Teams 

Using Events to Generate Qualified Leads

Event-based lead generation is a powerful tool, but to make it truly effective, it’s essential to not only execute a great event but also attract the right audience from the start. Targeting the right participants who are likely to convert into customers is key to event success. It involves understanding who your ideal customer is, ensuring your event content resonates with them, and creating messaging that compels them to attend. Without a well-defined target audience, even the best event can fall short in delivering quality leads. 

What is Event-Based Lead Generation? 

Event-based lead generation refers to the process of using events—whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person—to attract potential customers and convert them into qualified leads. These events provide direct access to prospects, enabling personal interaction and valuable insights that are hard to achieve through other marketing channels. Events help establish brand credibility, showcase products, and nurture relationships in a highly interactive environment. 

Benefits of Event-Based Lead Generation 

Using events to generate high-quality leads offers several benefits: 

• Personalized Engagement: Unlike digital ads or emails, events offer a chance for face-to-face interaction, allowing for real-time conversations and deeper connections. 

• Immediate Feedback: You can gain instant insights into your target audience’s preferences, pain points, and interests by observing their engagement during the event. 

• Brand Trust: Attendees who have interacted with your brand at an event are more likely to remember and trust your business when it’s time to make a purchase. 

• Nurtured Relationships: Events provide an opportunity to start building meaningful, long-term relationships with potential clients. 

Key Strategies for Effective Lead Generation Through Events 

The success of event-based lead generation hinges on a combination of understanding your audience, creating a compelling event narrative, and employing effective lead capture and follow-up strategies. 

Understanding Your Target Audience 

The foundation of effective lead generation starts with a clear understanding of your target audience. To ensure your event resonates with the right people: 

• Identify Your Ideal Customer Profile: Know who you’re targeting—whether it’s CMOs, event planners, or sales professionals—and what defines a “qualified lead” in your business. 

• Research Their Interests and Pain Points: Understand what your audience cares about. Are they looking for solutions to specific problems? Do they want to network with peers? The more you know, the more tailored your event can be. 

• Tailor Your Event to Attract Them: Design the event experience to speak directly to your target group, from the sessions you offer to the speakers and networking opportunities. 

Creating a Compelling Event Narrative 

To attract the right attendees, it’s crucial to create a narrative that resonates with them and piques their interest even before the event begins. Pre-event communication plays a big role here. 

• Develop a Unique and Engaging Event Theme: Your event needs a hook—something that stands out from the usual webinars or conferences. The theme should reflect your target audience’s goals and challenges. 

• Offer Valuable Content and Networking Opportunities: What can attendees gain that they won’t get elsewhere? Exclusive content, insider knowledge, or premium networking opportunities with industry experts can make all the difference. 

• Pre-Event Messaging: Your invitations, landing pages, and social media posts should all communicate the value your event offers. Highlight what sets it apart, why it’s relevant, and how it addresses your audience’s key pain p
  oints. 

• Create a Memorable Experience: From the moment they register to the post-event follow-up, every touchpoint should add value and be aligned with your event’s narrative. 

Effective Lead Capture Strategies 

Capturing leads effectively during the event is crucial for long-term success. Here are some strategies to ensure you’re not missing opportunities: 

• Pre-Event Registration: Use the registration process to collect relevant attendee information, which can help tailor their experience and personalize post-event follow-up. 

• On-Site Lead Capture: Utilize lead capture forms, badges with QR codes, and mobile apps to seamlessly collect attendee information during the event. 

• Networking Opportunities: Facilitate meaningful connections by organizing one-on-one meetings or speed networking sessions. Encourage attendees to share their information in exchange for valuable interactions. 

• Interactive Activities: Engage attendees with games, quizzes, or polls where they can share their contact information to participate. This not only boosts engagement but also provides you with actionable data. 

Post-Event Follow-Up 

Your event’s success depends heavily on what happens after it ends. Following up in a timely and personalized manner can turn interested attendees into loyal customers. 

• Timely Follow-Up: Reach out to leads within 24 hours of the event to keep your brand top of mind while their interest is still fresh. 

• Personalized Communication: Tailor your messaging based on attendee behavior. For instance, if someone engaged with a particular session, mention it in your follow-up and offer additional content on the same topic. 

• Nurture Leads: Use a mix of email marketing, social media retargeting, and personalized outreach to nurture leads over time. Providing ongoing value will keep your brand in front of potential customers and help move them down the sales funnel. 

Measuring Lead Quality and Conversion Rates 

After the event, it’s essential to measure the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts. Here’s how you can track success: 

• Define Lead Quality Criteria: Not all leads are created equal. Develop criteria for what makes a lead “qualified”—such as company size, job title, or engagement level. 

• Track Conversion Rates: Monitor how many leads convert into paying customers, and analyze what steps were taken to move them from lead to deal. 

• Analyze Lead Data: Use data gathered during the event to identify trends and improve your lead generation strategy for future events. 

Best Practices for Event-Based Lead Generation 

Implementing effective best practices for event-based lead generation can enhance your marketing efforts and drive business growth. Here are key strategies to consider:  

1. Set Clear Goals

Establish specific objectives for your event, such as generating a certain number of leads or increasing brand awareness within a target audience. Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with these goals helps guide your planning and execution. Clear goals ensure that all team members work toward a unified objective, making the event more focused and effective. 

2. Measure and Analyze

Tracking essential metrics like registration numbers, engagement rates, and lead conversions is crucial for evaluating your event’s success. Use event management software for real-time data tracking and analysis. After the event, compare actual outcomes against your initial goals to identify trends and areas for improvement. This data-driven approach enables you to refine strategies for future events. 

3. Continuously Improve

Post-event evaluations are essential for optimizing future lead generation efforts. Collect feedback from attendees and team members to understand what worked well and what didn’t. Utilize surveys and interviews to gather insights, focusing on common themes. Use this feedback to make informed adjustments to your event planning and execution processes. 

4. Integrate Events into Your Sales Funnel

Ensure that the data collected during events is seamlessly integrated into your CRM system. This integration allows for better tracking and management of leads, supporting your overall sales efforts. By aligning events with your sales funnel, you can effectively nurture leads and maximize the impact of your marketing initiatives. 

By implementing these best practices, you can transform your events into powerful lead generation tools that drive growth and engagement for your business.  

Conclusion 

Using events as a strategy for generating qualified leads can offer immense value to businesses, providing direct access to potential customers and fostering deeper relationships. By targeting the right audience, creating a compelling event experience, capturing leads effectively, and following up with personalized communication, you can maximize the success of your event-based lead generation efforts. 

Want to see how Samaaro can help you streamline your lead generation process through events? Book a demo and start your free trial today!

Post-Event Evaluation: Learning from Your Successes (and Failures)

Reflecting on an event should be an integral part of your project, for each project involves successes and challenges. Often, in the scramble to complete the current project and rush into the next project we overlook the evaluation stage. Then, it becomes a missed opportunity. The evaluation stage provides opportunities to recognize important learning which will make better decisions and sharper strategies for the next event. Evaluation of an event can provide improvements for long term results and to develop more impactful experiences for attendees.  

The evaluation stage provides the opportunity to convert feedback and data into actionable insights. The four areas to evaluate are the satisfaction of attendees, networking, event logistics, and return-on-investment. This approach allows for continuous improvement and evolution with each event. Post-event evaluation also allows event organizers to learn from experiences and not simply repeat mistakes, while also ensuring events are each progressively more successful than the last.   

Key Areas for Evaluation

Attendee Satisfaction:

One of the most important measures for any event is the satisfaction of the attendees. Assessing attendee satisfaction can be done through reviewing surveys and feedback forms. Even informal conversations recorded during and after the event are useful to identify which attendees were satisfied and which had less than a desirable experience. The feedback provided by attendees provides direct insights into what attendees liked and disliked about their experience and what could have made the event more enjoyable.  

 Event Goals & Objectives: 

 Each event is made with specific goals to pursue–whether that’s to raise brand awareness or launching a product, or to generate leads. After the event you will want to evaluate if you attained these goals. Did the event accomplish its objectives?  

It is important to make a clear comparison of what you set out to do and what you achieved. When it came to engagement of attendees through interactive sessions, how many people really participated? Assessing where your event exceeded expectations and where it fell short in relation to the original goals offers the clearest picture of how successful it really was.  

Return on Investment (ROI): 

Calculating return on investment as part of any post-event evaluation is critical. While traditional ROI refers specifically to financial, and involve measuring revenue generated against event costs, we must also consider the number of intangible benefits. Events represent real value in terms of brand awareness, networking, and relationships…even if it doesn’t always get recorded on sheet.  

Write down and calculate event costs–venue, technology, marketing. To compare direct event revenue to revenue from ticket sales and sponsorships and closed business because of the there are additional non-monetary improvements you to assess too, such as increased customer satisfaction, better brand reputation, and relationship development that could results in revenue in the future.  

Lead Generation and Conversion: 

Lead generation is typically one of the highest priorities of any event, especially in a B2B environment. So in addition to measuring leg numbers it is also important to assess lead quality, as are these leads aligned with the intended audience for the event?  

It is also valuable to assess how effectively the event assisted in converting leads into potential clients or customers. How effective was your follow up and how many of the leads converted to business? Following up on lead conversions is essential to help access the overall value of the event in terms of business development.  

Networking and Engagement: 

Networking is one of the most valuable aspects of an event, and you want to look at the effectiveness of your events ability to provide networking opportunities. Were the attendees connecting with each other, engaging with the speakers or with the exhibitors? Did your event create purposeful, engaging dialogue?  

In measuring success for networking, determine the number of one-on-one meetings, the number of attendees that participated in any networked session, as well as participant comments about their networking experience. Consider what factors allowed for the positive networking experience, was it the event, the environment or perhaps the use of a tool like matchmaking technology? An important part of evaluating networking is determining the factors that created success in your event design; it can help you create more effective networking experiences for future events. 

Event Logistics and Execution: 

As a reminder, the operational aspect of the event is of equal importance as the content. Reflect on logistical components, were they all well-managed? This includes from registration and setting your sessions , to venue lay-out and managing the tech. After the event, reflect and consider how the operational phase was managed. Did you experience registration challenges? Did sessions start and finish as planned? Were there logistics or delays which exposed weaknesses in operational planning? 

Social Media Engagement 

 Social media engagement is an ever-important measure in today’s digital society, it acts as an important barometer for measuring event success. Social media engagement will be useful in giving an indication of overall success. Did attendees engage with social media, and share their event and brand experience, and participate in content online?  

Social media engagement reporting will allow you to measure mentions, shares, and likes and comments on you engagement’s, however, sentiment analysis is just as important. Are the comments or sentiment positive or critiquing? Analyzing this discourse, will highlight trends, perceptions, and influencers who positively responded to your event and shared the word.By critically assessing these key areas, you will not only be able to celebrate the success of your event, but also gather valuable learnings that will help you deliver even more successful events in the future.   

Data Collection and Analysis Tools   

 When it comes to conducting a post-event analysis, the right data collection tools and analysis is incredibly important. They will help track all the key performance indicators (KPI’s) and provide information to help shape your future logistical and strategic events. Below we provide some of the common tools for collecting and in valuating the data after an event., and how it can be used in a post-event analysis.  

 Event Management Software:  

 Event management software, such as Samaaro, is an essential tool for monitoring the success of any event. Event management platforms like Samaaro have features for monitoring attendance, engagement, and lead generation.  

With Samaaro, you can track your attendee’s behaviour in real-time, all the way from registration, check-in through to participation in the sessions. Samaaro’s platform can yield detailed data on which sessions attendees joined, including duration of engagement and which content was most viewed. Samaaro also allows you to capture leads at all data capture touch points throughout the event, whether its attendees downloading a brochure, completing polls or booking a one-on-one meeting with a presenter.  

From an engagement perspective, Samaaro’s event management software can also integrate directly with tools such as CRM application to help you with lead generation and streamlining conversions to different brands. Furthermore, Samaaro’s software is automatic, so you can generate reports of things like session popularity, traffic flows, and your networking opportunities in a seamless manner. This not only makes your post-event assessment easier – but it allows you to take valuable information from all your collected data to help influence how you can improve future events even further.  

Survey Tools:    

Surveys provide direct feedback of the event experience from the attendees point of view. Tools such as Google Forms or SurveyMonkey can be useful for collecting the responses of several different areas of the overall event (such as the content being presented, satisfaction, etc.) Since feedback from survey tools provides you with attendee experiential data, with survey tools you can gather both what event elements were successful while also identifying areas that required strict improvements to enhance the overall experience of the event in the future.  

Social Media Analytics:  

Social media platforms can show you how involved engaged attendees were in online discussions before, during and after the event. Now you can mine any publicly available data where your event was mentioned directly by attendees, but also consider mentions using the event hashtag, as well as any likes or shares of event related content. Using tools such as Hootsuite or native analytics can assist you in this process and give you an overall impression of your event’s digital impact based on your attendees engagement. Specifically, feedback from social media often will highlight popular aspects of the event as well as ways that improvements can still be made based on the reaction from attendees of those aspects.  

 CRM Software:   

CRM software such as Salesforce or HubSpot, can track any leads that were generated during the event. Depending on your event planning software, you may be able to integrate your event management software with the CRM application which will make it easier to follow-up with leads and track conversions. You will gain insights about your event from both lead generation and the effectiveness of your efforts to nurture those leads post-event. 

 The primary reason for all of these tools is you can use them together to get a detailed evaluation of your event performance. Event management tools, like Samaaro, let you track attendee activities in real-time while survey tools provide you with direct feedback from attendees. Social media analytics allow you to access audience sentiment and the overall digital presence of your event. Customer relationship management (CRM) software keeps you honest about lead generation and even conversions with activities tracked. Every one of these tools will facilitate a data-driven approach when evaluating your event post-execution, and combined, will help you become more strategic about planning the next one.  

Best Practices for Post-Event Evaluation

Identify Clear Goals : 

When it comes to defining your event goals, ask what you hope to learn from the event. Do you want to measure overall attendee satisfaction, or how many leads were generated, or better yet if attendees enjoyed networking. Whatever it may be, determine your areas of focus during the evaluation upfront, while sticking to your specific goals in identifying your data.  

Access Data from Various Sources : 

To get a more comprehensive view of your event, you will need to combine various data points as sources. Surveys allow you to drill into their overall feedback directly from attendees, while social media sites provide a measurable public persona detailing sentiment and engagement from those posts; Event management tools like Samaaro can provide metrics related to attendance, session attendance, even lead generation to contribute to making a more complete picture of an event’s success.  

Analyze metrics in greater detail : 

Utilize more than just surface level metrics. Look at your overall attendance numbers and engagement of attendees e.g. did they come and go, attend the whole event, or even participate in every session? There are other details that could reveal themselves, but you will only find them if you review those details fully.  

Determine positives and negatives : 

Using your data allows you to discover patterns relating to strengths or areas of development. By noting positive feedback, this can help you direct similar successes in your room when evaluating challenges for future events. Look for common feedback patterns or details from engagement that may help you establish systemic answers to areas to attack for improvement.  

Communicate to the team : 

Communicating your data and analysis of that data to your event team gradually with the rest of your stakeholders will help you communicate the success or challenges. Making all the accomplishments and areas of development is essential for everyone to be on the same page and collaborates for the best possible outcomes for performing the next event better.  

Conclusion  

Post-Event evaluation is an essential stage of event planning to gain knowledge from improvements and challenges. Identifying clear goals, collecting data from multiple sources and taking time to analyse your data, can not only provide value for decision-making and development, but for all future events as well. The desire to maximize the attendee experience, logistical manoeuvres, lead generations will only come with time, through an iterative process of thorough evaluations of each event to the next.  

Are you ready to elevate your events? Book a demo of Samaaro and start your free trial to see how our platform can help leverage this. 

Event Apps: More Than Just Registration and Networking

Let’s be honest, if you’re planning a smaller, curated event with less than 50 people in attendance, an event app may feel overkill. However, with a larger event with 150 to 200 attendees or more, an event app is a modern must. It’s no longer just registration or networking; it’s creating a high-quality experience for participants and organizers alike with a smooth experience.  

 Event apps have become far more sophisticated than basic registration and offer several features that will deliver on a positive participant experience while improving an event organizer experience. If you manage large events, you will find, an event app is not just a tool, it can be your best event partner.  

More than Registration and Networking: Familiarize Yourself with the Robust Features of an Event App  

Beyond Registration and Networking: Key Features of Event Apps

Personalized Attendee Experiences

 An event app is no longer a one-size-fits-all, ‘you could get lucky’ experience. Now you can add a layer of personalization by curating individual agendas for participants, based on preferences, who attends what session, or even who they want to network with for example. The app can deliver personalized notifications and updates to everyone, managing the busy schedule with event reminders that matter to them.  

Create itineraries for each attendee, and detail everything from when and where the sessions will take place, hotel room numbers, and even flight numbers. The increase in personalization is astounding; it brings a high-end luxury event experience to a whole new level.  

Interactive Content

 With an event app you can go beyond passive content. You can create polls, quizzes, and interactive words in your sessions to engage participants, whether you’re trying to be informative, or collecting valuable insights. Add some gamification, leaderboards, badges, or even prizes, and you instantly have a conference, an engaging, interactive experience. It’s a fun way to increase engagement and ensure people want to participate.  

Networking and Matchmaking

We all understand networking is one of the primary reasons individuals attend events. With an event app, networking doesn’t have to mean awkward introductions; it can be structured networking based on AI recommendations. For example, the app can suggest individuals to network with based on shared interests, similar backgrounds, or industries. The more structured the experience, the more it feels like natural engagement. You could even use 1:1 meeting features or group chat features to facilitate engagement, regardless of being in person or digital.  

Meeting Planners and Lead Generation

The capabilities of event apps come out in spades for the organizers. The app does not only support registration, it also tracks everything. It tracks everything digitally when the attendees engage in various sessions, download brochures, and view product videos. It builds a digital footprint of interests and intents, allowing the event organizers to gain a clear understanding of what leads are interested in.  

Even better, many event apps can integrate to your CRM and automation tools, making it super easy to follow up with leads, and continue the conversation long after the event is over.  

Payment Processing

Need to sell conference tickets; sell merch; or collect donations as part of your event. No problem. Event apps can have built-in payment gateways to make this process simple for both the organizers and event attendees. There’s no more having to balance any third-party systems nor having to be concerned about monetary transactions being conducted manually.  

Analytics and Reporting

We all want to know how you can tell if your event was successful? Event apps will give you real time analytics (yes, real time), so you can track metrics such as attendee statistics, sessions, as well as attendees socializing about your event. And then at the end of the event, you can produce an actual report that analyses every detail of what was good or bad about the event for actionable data to provide an overall better event next time.  

How Event Apps Can Enhance the Event Experience

Improved Attendee Satisfaction: Attendees will be satisfied through personalized experiences, interactive access, and reduced time spent waiting in queues.  

Increased Engagement: Gamification, interactive content, tools to network, etc., keeps people engaged during the whole event.  

Improved Lead Generation: Once you convert your information digitally, you will likely receive higher quality leads and have an informative basis for proper follow up.  

Cost Cutting: Digital events increase efficiencies and improve budgeting as well, while reducing printing costs to virtually nothing.  

Choosing the Best Event App: Things To Think About  

Features/Functionality: Will the app allow you to carry out the event successfully through advanced functionality of features?  

User Experience: You don’t want people getting frustrated with the event app, If it’s useless, people will hate it.  

Scalability: Can it grow with your event? Will it handle the success of your event, If this was the case?  

Cost: Whether to pay for an event app and waste time on thinking about the value it provides compared to estimated usage of the features, etc…  

Conclusion

Event apps have come a long way from general registration or networking features – there is more to an event app. Event apps help to provide personalization of an event, lead generation and engagement of your audience. What you get from an event app provides benefits to improve an event aim to maximize when an event app is used properly.  

Would you like to try your next event in an event app? Samaaro’s event app can do everything which is mentioned above. Book if to book a demo and start a free trial for you have all the content delivered currently, then you can experience how an event app can lift your experience! 

Data-Driven Event Marketing: How to Measure What Matters

Harnessing Event Marketing: A New Era for PR Success

The Ultimate Event Marketing Checklist: Your Guide to a Smashing Success Story 

Did you know that events that have a clearly defined marketing plan see a 30% uptick in attendance and 20% more leads? Event marketing strategy doesn’t just create noise; it measures impact. This checklist is your master plan! The list can take you from start to finish on every aspect of event marketing while ensuring your event is ultimately successful!

Why use a checklist?

Consider this checklist as your checklist to combat chaos through marketing!  

This will be of big value because:   

Well Organized: Once you create the plan of time, you don’t have to waste time trying to figure it out at the last minute.  

Efficient Workflow: You will have broken down your marketing into tasks, so you can have a good plan without worrying if you are missing anything important.  

Mitigate Risks: By having the checklist created ahead of time, you have lowered your risk of not completing an important step. 

Pre-event marketing: setting the table

Okay the excitement is growing for your event, but before you step on the gas in the promotional work in the next 6 months, it’s important to build the foundation. The next 6 months is the time to build a narrative, figure out who your target audience is, and decide which channels are most effective to reach your target audience. Pre-event marketing is your time to build evidence for a successful and attended event:

SMART Goals & target audience: Establish the reasons for your event (brand awareness, lead generation) and develop an ideal customer persona by knowing their target audience (age, interests, pain points).

Brand Image & Messaging:   

You should create a brand presence and messaging consistent with the audience and to put that through your marketing materials.   

Channel Selection:   

 Choose the channels to reach your audience. Social media, e-mail marketing, paid advertising, and trade publications should all be assessed in regard to your target audience’s awareness.   

Event Website and the Use of Landing Pages:   

You should create a website experience that communicates all the necessary data about your event (speakers, agenda, etc.) and make it simple for attendees to register, learn about the program, and be sure your event comes off seamless. This is also the time to create landing pages for lead captures and make sure those leads convert.   

Content Marketing Calendar:   

You will want to plan and create valuable content (blogs, videos, infographics) educate your audience, develop the maximum amount of anticipation for your event, and further your positioning as a thought leader in the industry.   

Speakers/Sponsors:   

In your event planning process, get speakers who can speak to the theme of your event, but also think about if you can find brand partners who can provide some value to your offering and extend your reach respectively.   

Pre-Event Marketing: Build Engagement

You’ve done the heavy lifting for your event plan, now it’s time to ramp up the excitement. As you enter June, you are at the three-month out countdown. Your success will now depend on excitement and awareness, so this pre-event marketing phase is built to develop social media campaigns and conduct email outreach to convert registrations and ensure the potential for your event is fulfilled:

Social Media Stage:

Set the stage for your social media campaign to start with engaging content, thumbnails, teasers for the event including paid advertising with promotion to widen your audience potential.

Email Marketing Stage:

Create segmented email marketing campaigns with specific audience segments, develop educational emails about the event to go to past attendees (if have one) and contents focused to nurture leads and shared valuable content.

PR Outreach:

Develop strategic press releases and media pitches that get media coverage and create hype for your event.

Registration Process:

Create a registration process on your event website that is easy to use, ensuring that it is efficient and effortless for the attendees.

Promotional Materials:

Create digital and print promotional materials (email banners, social media graphics, flyers) that showcase your brand identity and communicate the event’s value effectively.

Pre-Event Marketing:  The Final Push

With one month to go until your event, it is time to re-evaluate where you are with your pre-event marketing and make a big final push so you can maximize attendance and ensure an incredible experience. Here are ways to make your push for pre-event marketing actionable:

Social Media Phase:

In this phase, you Schedule your social media campaign to begin with highly engaging content, captivating thumbnails, teaser content for the event, including paid promotion for paid advertising to help expand your potential audience.

Email Marketing Phase:

In this stage, you can segment your target audience, create email campaigns from segmented audience, you can also develop educational email regarding the event to send out to past attendees (if you have one), and the content can nurture leads and valuable content to share.

Publicity Outreach: You can create media releases and press pitches that will gain media placement and excitement for your event.     

Registration Route:  You can develop a registration route on your event website that is easy for the user and provides an easy experience for your attendees.    

Promotional Materials: You can develop online and print marketing materials (email banners, social media graphics, flyers) that represent your brand identity as well as the value of the event.    

Event Marketing: Fuel the Fire

The months of planning will finally take shape into an unforgettable learning experience at event time, but you still have some managing to do. During event marketing is to keep it going, reconnecting with your audience and getting some good feedback. Let us consider some ways to fuel the fire and make your event experience unforgettable:

Pre-Event Social Media:

Make sure the hype on social media continues, w/ countdowns that include high energy graphics or attention-grabbing images, behind the scenes event prep shots, and of course the official hashtag. Hopefully, you have engaged your audience by asking the questions or polls around your theme.

On-Site Registration:

Make the on-site registration process as easy as possible. Utilize friendly personable staff, signs, registration materials, etc., to set a friendly and inviting atmosphere from the moment your attendees walk into your venue.

Live Social Media:

Keep engaging your audience w/ live social media updates throughout your event. You can engage your entire audience by sharing images from presentations, videos from speaker highlights, and quotes. You can also ask attendees to join the social media fun. It would be a win-win to foster connection and brand relationships and also create a meaningful experience in which the attendee values more than simply the intended content of the event.

Collecting Feedback:

Utilize feedback surveys or polls in-session or after to capture the experiences of the participants. This is critical as it is vital to get a sense of what the audience resonated with and areas for future improvement. Be sure to take your time before you write even the surveys and think about ease + accessibility to ensure strong participation and quality data to help next time!

Post Event Marketing: Impact:

The hype might be over but the relationships you’ve created and value you provided have lasting impact.

Post-event marketing is now about extending impact, creating relationships, and positioning attendees into brand advocates. Here’s how to keep the conversation going!

Surveying Participants post event:  

Surveys/polls (e.g., via email or a dedicated landing page) can be used to get feedback about their experience while also inquiring about the content, speaker/engagement, and overall satisfaction with the event. It is helpful to know what you did well and what you could still improve on for future iterations.

Promoting the Events:   

Consider writing some engaging blog posts, social media posts, or email newsletters to promote the best parts of the meeting! Incorporate some excellent pictures from the event, include quotes from the presenters, and also a few testimonials from attendees. This will help, as it will be a great reminder to your attendees what value they received, as well as get new attendees engaged!   

Nurturing Leads:   

After each meeting, send a follow email to attendees you were able to connect with personally. Go through each lead, read the comments about what they are interested in, and reach out to them individually. Share them relevant information related to what was talked about at the meeting, and some special deals for their feedback or for access for the next meeting. By following through, you show that you not only connected with them, but you also raised your brand awareness in a positive way.  

6. Post-Event Marketing: Measuring the Success (1 Month After)

The applause has stopped, but learning should not end there. One month after your event, you want to go back in and assess the data and determine how successful or unsuccessful your marketing actions were. This post event analysis should be a way for you to assess your data, their feedback, and ROI to assess what can be improved on for you to create and plan better events in the future.

Hybrid event data evaluation:

This means you should be evaluating the data you received about web traffic, registration details and survey information. You will want to delve into what metrics you are measuring especially ROI, attendee demographics, and attendee engagement. Data evaluation will give you feedback about the event you put on, areas to work on, and important information for use with your next events, this data will also start to establish a base for your plan.

Engaging post-event:

Send your attendees a personalized email thanking them for attending and then engage them in the post-event communication by sharing information in your industry, upcoming events, or added content that is exclusive to their attendance; you want to keep these contacts top of mind, and you can build a longer-term relationship with Your Event Marketing Tool Kit 

Now that you have your checklist of items to execute your event marketing strategy, let’s look at some tools that will make things easy for you and your participants!  

Event Management Tools

Many platforms exist like Samaaro, that relieve the burden of event management by providing tools that can help you handle registration, marketing automation and attendance tracking. These tools offer massive efficiencies, relieving the burden on you and giving you more time to focus on your event strategy and guest engagement.

Content Marketing Tools

Content marketing and creation is important relating to pre-event promotion. For example, tools like Canva, Adobe Spark, and Lumen5 are user-friendly at helping you create attention-grabbing graphics, infographics, and short videos, you can then promote your event across many channels.

Social Media Management Tools

Social media management tools can help you streamline and control your social media posts. For example, Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social provide features that allow you to schedule all your posts at a later date and track tracking metrics to measure your engagement and post performance. In addition, being able to engage with your audience on numerous social media platforms, likely means that you’re spending less time worrying about your posting schedule, and can feel more reassured that your brand has a consistent identity across each channel.

Analytics & Reporting Tools

Analytics tools are powerful and can hopefully give you valuable insights regarding your event marketing strategy. Google analytics, and social media platform analytics provide powerful data around website traffic, social interactions and engagement, registrant conversion rates, and campaign success. In turn, there is something to discuss after you examine the posts, user-analytics which will provide you with things to contemplate when understanding where you are excelling but also understanding where you can adjust or pivot your marketing strategy going forward, in advance of other future events.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, effective events can emerge from careful planning and execution, along a road map or marketing plan. You will use this checklist and tools available today to create a very effective event marketing plan specifically designed for increasing guest engagement, establishing marketing effectiveness, and achieving your event objectives.

And don’t stop here! Sign up for our newsletter for additional event marketing tips and industry changes, and downloadable resources and strategies that will help make your events impactful. Also, please share this checklist with your event planner and marketer colleagues so we can work to deliver the best event experience we can together!

Are you ready to elevate your events?! Book a demo and start your free trial today!

How Event Apps Boost Engagement and Attendee Experience 

Event apps have come to be an important digital tool for fostering attendee interaction and enhancing the experience of events in today’s digital age. Event apps can enhance the event experience, providing commonality for accessing information and engaging in activities that were not previously possible with documentation and email updates, as well as enabling networking opportunities for attendees. 

Attendee Interaction  

Finally, we need to create a memorable and engaging experience for attendees in a world of competition, after all, it is important we make it worth their time to attend. Here, we will discuss a few strategies for creating an engaged audience, which resulting in a memorable experience.  

Tailored Content and Recommendations  

Event apps can capture attendee data: registration data, last point of attendance, session preferences (i.e. topics of interest) and create discoveries and recommendations based on the attendee’s experience. In turn, attendees then receive valid and meaningful content and information based on their information. A good example would be an app creating recommendations for sessions based on attendees’ job title, industry, or previous attendance at events.  

Networking and Connection  

Event apps have functions to connect attendees to one another, and foster relationships. Attendees can build profiles that include information about their interests, their expertise, and their company. Each attendee profiles allow the attendees to search for other attendees with similar interests or attendees that plan to attend specific sessions. With access to an event app, attendees can start conversations, schedule meetings, and participate in group chats that will assist in networking and forming meaningful relationships. 

Providing Time sensitive Updates and Information 

An event app can provide time sensitive updates to help keep attendees informed with everything from the event schedule and information about the speakers and sessions changes to important instructions about the event. Just for the convenience of having the most up-to-date and current information, attendees can use an app to maximize their time. An event app can also provide more than time sensitive updates. An event app could also facilitate push notifications to allow for important information or announcements to reach attendees in real time. Another way to maximize the time to keep the attendees focused on the event is for an event app to provide session reminders so attendees can remember when sessions are and plan their time accordingly. 

2. Improving Event Logistics 

Improving the event logistics will aid in allowing for a seamless event experience and maintaining attendee engagement, happiness and positive overall event atmosphere. When you appropriately plan and make improvements with event logistics like registration, attendee check-in, and managing on-site logistics, lead to decreased stress, creating efficiencies, and contribute to the overall vibe of the event experience for the attendees. In this section, we discuss how optimal event apps can help you improve logistics and more so in a complimentary way to the attendee experience. 

Improving Registration/Check-In Process: 

Events apps can help maximize efficiencies and provide time savings during the check-in and registration process for attendees, ultimately minimizing wait times for attendees and improving the overall event experience. Instead of attendees registering in person at the event, they could register online with an event app and receive digital badges upon checked-in, confirming they registered properly. This eliminates paperwork and gets the attendees checked in. This enables savings for both attendees and staff while minimizing errors and maximizing efficiency.  

Providing Simple Access to Event Schedules and Agendas: 

Event apps can provide attendees with clear visibility to schedules, agendas, and even speaker information available in advance. This allows attendees to plan out their time, identify sessions they want to attend and make sure they do not miss events they would prefer to attend. Moreover, event apps can utilize features like interactive maps to assist attendees in finding their way around the venue, and to assist with finding where sessions are occurring. 

Providing Contactless Payment and Ticketing: 

By providing contactless payment via mobile app functions and ticketing digitally, organizations can not only assist staff and vendors with processing transactions and reducing lines, but it makes it a much more convenient and efficient experience for the attendee, especially in crowded environments. Contactless payments also help to eliminate fraud and improve security. 

3. Enhancing Attendee Experience 

Attendee experience is a crucial aspect of any event’s success, and event apps can maintain attendee satisfaction by providing additional experiences and value in terms of personalized features; they can assist in organizing and providing access to resources and valuable information. By providing services and stakeholder resources, and emphasizing these key themes, we would help to improve overall attendee experience and even yield disciplines of high engagement or long-term re-engagement. 

Providing Invaluable Content and Resources: 

To improve the experience of attendees, event organizers should consider providing attendees with a resource portal or content that is relevant and unique, in addition to the basic event information. The potential material may include slide presentations and speaker presentations, handouts and additional material, recordings of major sessions, and unique materials which include interviews with speakers and behind-the-scenes content. 

Providing a Streamlined and User-Friendly Experience:  

A well-designed event app needs to ensure that attending members can access and use it without confusion. Considerations of navigation, branding consistency, mobile optimization, and accessibility are important. A well-developed event app needs to improve the event experience by enabling attending members to quickly find information, easily navigate from section to section in the app, and use the features of the app without hitting obstacles.  

Providing Target Layers of Support and Help: 

To enhance the overall experience for your attending members and demonstrate good customer service, you can also provide support and help features in your app that can assist attendees, if they have inquiries and/or are experiencing issues while using the app. Use live chat in your app that provides users with immediate help, develop a FAQ that incorporate questions or concerns that came up in previous events, and have accessible contact information for personnel and/or organizers to clarify any questions. 

4. Measuring App Effectiveness  

If you want to assess your event app effectiveness, or identify areas for improvement, it is important to capture key metrics and assess usage data. This section covers key metrics to track and offers suggestions for evaluating your app data to ensure you’re on track with event app strategy. 

Key Metrics to Track: 

To determine the effectiveness of your event app, you should track key metrics that provide data on app usage and event attendee engagement. Metrics help you assess ways that attendees are using the app, areas of improvement, and determine the impact of the app on event outcomes. Examples of some key metrics are app downloads, usage frequency, amount of time spent in the app, user feedback, usage of app features, rate of session attendance, and the amount of networking activity. 

Evaluating Data to Optimize App Features: 

Using the key metrics you have identified, you can derive insights from them to determine app performance and recognize areas for improvement. Data may help you recommend what content better fits attendees, improve ease of use by fixing difficulty and minimizing navigation, identify impact from usage data to prioritize feature development, and determine the return on investment (ROI) for your app. 

Conclusion

Event apps are an integral part of providing engaging attendee experiences and improving attendee experiences overall. Giving personalized content, improving logistics and providing great features are some of the ways an event app can help you provide memorable and successful events. If you follow the best practices suggested in this guide, you can use event apps to successfully enhance your events and develop attendee satisfaction. 

Are you ready to enhance your events? Book a demo and start your free trial! 

Why You Should Tell Stories in Event Marketing