How To Improve The Effectiveness Of Your Event Management Software?
5 Ways to Improve the Effectiveness of Your Event Management Software
Whether you’re running an event management firm or tasked by your corporate head honchos to handle events for your business, having an event management software is a must. It automates a variety of tasks and processes, such as event creation, marketing, and event registration. It also gives you a full view of your calendar and lets you communicate with your clients and your peers from a single, unified environment.
Powerful tools and automation capabilities, not to mention the time and money you save, makes an event management system a worthwhile investment for event organizers and professional marketers. But not all event management solutions are built complete and equal. Some platforms lack awesome features you will definitely find useful and give your events that extra oomph.
The good news is that with a few tweaks, you can boost your software’s effectiveness and fully maximize its use.
5 tried-and-tested ways on how to improve event management software that you are currently using
Integrate With Ticketing Apps
Ticketing tools are a staple of the most recent breed of event management platforms. Tickets are one of the effective ways to measure attendance, monitor and evaluate performance, as well as a great source for analytics.
However, if you are using an online event management system that doesn’t carry such a feature, it is prudent that you get new software that does. Or you can incorporate a ticketing app to your existing event management system via integration or API.
The latter is the better option. According to the Event Marketing 2019: Benchmarks and Trends report, companies using two separate event management systems find it twice as difficult to demonstrate event ROI as opposed to those that have an integrated event software system.
Integrating with ticketing apps like StubHub, SeatGeek, and TicketMaster helps you sell tickets via platforms that are already established and familiar to your target consumers. This is ideal if you are headlining sporting events, concerts, festivals, and conventions.
In addition, more and more consumers across the United States purchase tickets online via email and mobile apps because these channels are more convenient than having to buy tickets from a booth. Ticketing apps are built to facilitate payment and supports multiple payment options an gateways. That means you also get paid faster via secure channels.
Add A Venue Finder Tool
Ask any professional event manager or organizer for successful event planning tips and most of them, if not all, will explain in detail the value of a good venue. Variables such as location, the venue’s capacity, accessibility, surroundings, zoning laws, and security and risks factors are crucial in finding the perfect venue for your event.
Holding your event at the perfect venue will also impact your B2B (business to business) marketing efforts. Sixty-eight percent of B2B marketers attend events to establish their identity and generate leads, according to the 2017 Demand Generation Benchmark Survey Report.
Most event management systems are built with an integrated venue search tool but most of them are limited to hotels and primarily purposed for guest booking and reservation. Creating a bespoke venue finder feature that is integrated with GPS will certainly upgrade your event booking software.
You can enter your specifics like the event type, the potential number of attendees, and proximity to features and establishments, among others. In a quick search, the tool will provide you with a list of venues that matches your criteria. Finding the perfect venue for your event is critical. But it shouldn’t be difficult.
Streamline Event Entry With QR Codes
People come to your events giddy with excitement and expectations. But nothing kills their buzz quickly than having to stand in line for hours, waiting to be ushered in by event staff armed with paper registration lists.
Missing names, misspelled names, missing lists, fake tickets, and more can further delay the entry of your attendees and totally ruin their experience. One or two disgruntled people may have little impact on your credibility as an event organizer. But imagine what serious damage a horde can do to your reputation?
The entry of QR code technology is changing all that, as highlighted in a list of QR code benefits. It totally eliminates the need for spreadsheets and lists. It definitely speeds up the entry process, adding more value to your attendees’ experience. One specific app is capable of scanning 1,000 tickets with QR codes within a minute.
The best part is that you can install QR code scanners on mobile devices for just a few dollars. That means you are able to add extra entry lanes without having to invest in scanning equipment. QR code scanners is really one of the best ways to enhance your event ticketing app.
Share Real-Time Images and Videos
Want to give your event a huge boost? You can give your attendees the option to go social and stream your events live (for a limited time) or post photos through social media networks, websites, and blogs.
You can require/ask your attendees to include specific hashtags with their posts to further spread the word about your event and generate interest among their circles. The use of hashtags has been proven effective in enabling name recall and brand association.
You can also save their videos and photos for marketing and promotional purposes in the future. That’s a ton of free materials to fuel your next campaign and. hopefully, another successful event.
It’s a great way to keep everyone updated on what’s going on as well as compel other people to come and participate. In fact, 93% of 700 executives said they prioritize event marketing in a 2018 marketing trends survey by the Harvard Business Review.
Leverage Data Analytics
Your event is a mountain of information, and hidden underneath all that data are insights and takeaways that you can use to ensure the success of your future events.
An event management software should come with data analytics tools to help you go deep into your information and discover opportunities that will help you perform better. The benefits of data analytics for event management include the sale of more tickets, better planning and budgeting, and the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
It helps you identify the different factors that encourage attendees to come and join. It gives you a deeper look into the different types of demographics, allowing you to gain a better understanding of their motivations.
Deliver A Memorable Experience
An event management software certainly has its benefits for any and every event organizer or marketer. It simplifies the whole task of creating and managing events, from the initial phase of conceptualization to planning to realization and all the processes in between.
It’s easy to see how event management is a business in itself and that gaining profits is a priority. That said, event organizers know that while generating an income is paramount, their job is to create a promise and make good on that promise — a memorable experience for participants.
Event management software doesn’t just provide you a picture of why your event is successful or not. It equips you with the tools you need so that you can deliver a better event and a better experience next time around.
If you still are not using an Event Management Software, try using Townscript! It is free until you sell a ticket online. :)
