Many event planners say that events are critical for reaching key business objectives. Fortunately, technological advances have streamlined the event planning process, saving time and making it easier for organizers to keep track of moving parts to ensure that events run smoothly. In fact, an event management solution can have a positive impact on an event's return on investment.
Given the importance of events to achieving business objectives, planners should take advantage of these solutions to optimize their planning. To get the most out of event management software, you should understand its full suite of features.
From registration to lead logistics planning, an event management platform can help you cut costs, increase engagement, and assess the success of your event. Let's look at how to best leverage an event management solution at your next event.
Master the Features of Your Event Management Solution
You may not know where to start when you first use an event management solution. Event planning software is an integral part of your event management strategy and provides your organization with a central hub for organizing all aspects of an event.
Asking questions is the quickest way to ensure that you are taking full advantage of what the software offers. Don't hesitate to contact your account manager if something isn't working as expected or if you're curious about features that you haven't used. They can give you the information that you need or put you in touch with someone who can help.
Even after you've mastered the basics, training on how to use your event management solution should be ongoing. Vendors often update their platforms and add new features, making it crucial for event planners to capitalize on demos, webinars, and other content to learn as much as possible.
You can check to see if your software provider can help you tailor the software experience to your organization's specific needs. Also, be sure to confirm that you're using any integrations available, like mobile apps, to streamline your event-planning efforts.
Use Tools to Maximize Attendee Engagement
Attendee engagement, or lack thereof, can make or break your event, so take advantage of the tools at your disposal to influence engagement positively. The right event management solution will have everything that you need to maximize engagement with your audience before, during, and after your event.
Before an event, use your event management platform to send emails confirming registration and providing details on meetings and other activities to maintain excitement among attendees about the event. Once the event is underway, you can use it for printing badges, session scanning, and lead retrieval. You can also get attendees involved by allowing them to use the app to submit questions and respond to speakers in real time.
An event management solution with an app enables organizers to display all the information that attendees need in a central location. They can also use the software to build websites and conduct surveys, evaluations, and polls to boost engagement.
Track Key Metrics to Measure Event Success
When the event is over, planners can use the software's reporting features to analyze post-event engagement and determine how they can improve the next event. Using available data to track attendance rates, including pre-registration numbers vs how many people attended, is one way to measure an event's success.
If the numbers are close to even or if you had a large number of attendees register on-site the day of the event, that's a positive sign and shows that your engagement and outreach strategies are working. However, there's always room for improvement, and your event management software can help you take a deep dive into the data.
For example, it's a good idea to compile data on attendees to tailor your outreach to improve the chances that they'll attend future events. You can also use post-event surveys and evaluations to gather feedback from attendees.
Finally, offering post-event online courses and quizzes to determine how much attendees have learned is an excellent way to keep them engaged after the event.
Automate Event Logistics
From tracking equipment to managing all the people involved, a great deal of work goes into planning an event. While an event's logistics are always complex, there are ways to ensure that things go smoothly.
Using technology to automate these processes allows you to streamline planning, including using an event management solution to manage room setup, scheduling, resources, and team members. This will go a long way toward ensuring that your event exceeds attendees' expectations.
Create a Website or Landing Page
Leveraging your event management software to create an impactful website or landing page is one of the best things that you can do to ensure the success of your event.
A website serves as a one-stop shop for everything related to your event, so attendees can quickly find the information that they need. Event planning software enables you to integrate registration and build, manage, and update the website while generating excitement about your event.
Final Thoughts
From event registration to post-event engagement, event management software can help ensure that your event runs smoothly from beginning to end. Leveraging all the tools within your event management solution will make your event easier to organize, save time, reduce costs, and increase interest.
Here at Cadmium, we make it easy for event organizers to deliver seamless, memorable event experiences to attendees and manage speakers, exhibitors, and all their associated assets. To see how we can help you simplify your event organization, reach out to our expert team today!
