The Secret to Attendee Retention in Virtual & Hybrid Events [Five Quick Tips That Deliver]

Planning an event is only the first step towards an efficient relationship building strategy with your clients. First and foremost, the event needs to be engaging & interactive for the attendees to feel connected. To ensure that they keep coming back to your events, you have to build on top of your post-event success. Here are five tips for attendee retention to help you achieve more registrations at your next event.

Table of Contents

1. Make Your Event a Source of Long-term Content

2. Create an Effective Event Marketing Strategy

3. Show Your Appreciation by Offering Branded Gifts & Participation Certificates

4. Gather Direct Feedback from the Attendees

5. Send Personalized Follow-up Communication

1. Make Your Event a Source of Long-term Content

80% of attendees join an event for learning purposes. But learning doesn’t have to stop just because your live event is over! Choose an Event Management Solution that allows you to upload materials from the event for those who didn’t get to attend or would like to review them.

Keep the event platform live even after the main event is over to ensure higher attendee retention. If the platform is live, attendees can keep coming back to check the content you shared during the event. Additionally, you can send a personalized email to attendees after the event, highlighting the most interactive sessions.

This goes a long way as offering the scope of rewatching content builds a loyal attendee base around which you can market your next event. Needless to say, a portfolio of evergreen content is essential to reap the full benefit of this.

2.Create an Effective Event Marketing Strategy

One great way to ensure a higher participation rate for your next event is to start promoting it early. Ideally, give the attendees at your current event a hint about the next one you’re hosting. This not only creates a sense of urgency but also works as a reminder later on.

Once the primary announcement is done you can build the promotional strategy on top of it. Leverage social media channels to reach out to more people. You can announce early bird discounts on registration charges. Furthermore, host smaller and regional events throughout the year. This creates an attendee community who has a higher chance of attending the next big event.

3. Show Your Appreciation by Offering Branded Gifts & Participation Certificates

Celebrate a successful event and while commemorating the success don’t forget to keep your brand name at the forefront. At hybrid events, offer the physical attendees a branded swag bag. Whereas for the remote attendees, a gift card or a coupon for participating in the event is a good gesture.

You can partner with an exhibitor and offer their coupons to your attendees. It works both ways – it boosts the event engagement rate as well as increases the footfall in that particular exhibitor booth.

If you’re hosting a seminar or a webinar, a certificate (an e-certificate in case of virtual attendees) works as an incentive for higher event engagement. They are more likely to attend your next event as well.

4. Gather Direct Feedback from the Attendees

To retain attendees, as an event organizer, you need to understand what keeps the audience on their toes; what types of content are most valuable and insightful to them. The easiest and most effective way to learn about audience preference is to ask for direct feedback.

Do pre-event surveys to know what the attendees are looking forward to the most in the event. Ask for instant feedback after a session is over.

A direct communication approach makes your attendees feel valued and it fosters a personal connection between your brand and the attendees. Attendees’ feedback is crucial if you want to host interactive events in the future.

5. Send Personalized Follow-up Communication

Choose an EMS that allows a seamless integration between the event registration tool and the CRM you use. Use the registration tool to gather all the necessary details needed for a follow up communication.

An EMS that integrates with your CRM will take the process to the next step. Once the data is stored in your CRM, it becomes easier for follow up conversations. You’ll be right on track for post-event follow up before the event ends.

Summing Up…

Returning attendees are a huge asset if you are planning to host successful events throughout the year. Which is why it is essential to nurture the previous event’s attendees and build a loyal client base over the time. An all-in-one Event Management Solution makes the process much easier for you. We hope that these five tips will help you in the long run.