Events that prioritize personalization create a powerful connection with attendees. Satisfied attendees build brand loyalty, resulting in higher ticket sales, sponsorship engagement, and merchandise purchases.
Use personalized email and event app communication to keep attendees engaged before, during and after your event. Address them by name, and provide relevant content and session recommendations.
1. Personalize Your Emails
Emails can be a great way to build excitement and anticipation for your event. They can also be used to promote the value attendees will get out of attending your event. Adding personalization to your email strategy can increase open rates and click-through rates. For example, including an attendee’s name in the email subject line or greeting can help them identify it as a relevant message from someone they know.
Personalized email messages should be short and to the point. Too much information can confuse the reader and cause them to lose interest. Having the Special Events Photo Booths to capture memories for your event will be the best way to add that extra sparkle to the event!
Using data-driven personalization will lead to an experience that exceeds attendee expectations. Gathering feedback from registration forms, surveys, and in-app analytics will allow you to create a tailored event experience. For example, you can provide a customizable agenda builder that allows attendees to select the sessions and networking activities that align with their interests. You can also provide a personalized post-event survey that provides specific follow-up questions and actionable items.
2. Customize Your Website
When your audience sees their name or previous interactions on a platform that resonates with your event’s branding, it makes them feel recognized and valued. This creates a connection that’s harder to break and can drive brand loyalty for your event.
Streamline your registration process so attendees can register on their phones or tablets. Make it easier for attendees to get to the event by providing maps and directions, built-in GPS solutions, and parking guides on your website or app.
After your event, gather feedback from attendees through post-event surveys, social media interaction data, and other sources to better understand how you can improve in the future. Be sure to listen closely to the feedback you receive and act on it. Feedback is much more accurate when collected as close to the event as possible, and will provide a more comprehensive picture of your attendee experience. Taking this information into account will increase conversion rates and other KPIs related to your event’s goals.
3. Create a Mobile App
Personalized events create a powerful connection between attendees and event brands. When attendees feel genuinely valued and catered to, they develop a positive perception of the brand, increasing ticket sales, sponsorship engagement, merchandise purchases and more.
Using the information collected during registration, you can personalize your event outreach efforts and messaging with targeted emails and in-app notifications that address attendees by name. You can also share session recommendations that are based on their job title, interests or past attendance. These personalized communications are designed to build anticipation and excitement, resulting in higher ticket and merchandise sales.
Providing an event app with personalized networking opportunities also adds value for attendees and increases their likelihood of participating in sessions, activities, and networking sessions at your event. Using AI-powered matching tools, such as Braindate, to connect attendees to other people with similar interests is one way to provide an event app experience that is truly customized.
4. Send Reminders
If you don’t send event reminders, it’s easy for your attendees to forget about the event or lose interest. Adding this step can help increase the number of people who actually attend your event.
Email reminders can include personal details like your attendees’ names to make them feel known and valued. Additionally, you can include a link to your event’s FAQ page in your email reminders so that attendees don’t have to contact you directly with their questions.
Throughout the event, track engagement metrics like session attendance and app usage to gauge how well your event is meeting attendees’ expectations. This data will give you a better idea of what aspects of your event should be personalized next year. You can also gather qualitative feedback through post-event surveys and onsite conversations with attendees. Using this information in future personalization efforts can improve your overall attendee satisfaction.
5. Segment Your Audience
Getting to know your audience is the key to personalizing your event experience. When you have data on things like occupation, session interests, and even if they’re an existing customer or not, you can target them with personalized content and messaging.
One way to do this is to offer a customizable event agenda builder that allows attendees to create a schedule based on their own interests and goals. Another is to provide a wide range of session formats, learning styles, and networking opportunities to meet the diversity of your attendees’ needs.
Regardless of the methods you use to personalize your event, it’s important to keep the attendee experience front and center. This will help you measure engagement levels and ensure that your personalization efforts are resonating with your attendees. Getting to know your attendees is also the best way to gather post-event feedback that can be used for future events. Personalized follow-up is key to creating a memorable event experience.
6. Send Personalized Post-Event Surveys
It’s important to collect feedback on your event so that you can improve it for the next time. Often, this information will come from your post-event survey, but you can also get a lot of this data from the attendee and session tracking that you did onsite.
You should send out a survey within 24 hours of the end of your event, so that attendees have plenty of fresh memories to share their feedback. You should also consider offering a small incentive, like a discount on tickets for the next event, to boost response rates.
In addition to finding out what sessions were most valuable, you can use your survey results to track important metrics such as networking connections and retention and repeat attendance rates. Ultimately, personalizing your event can lead to greater satisfaction for attendees and help you achieve your goals. But, it’s essential to keep attendees front and center throughout your personalization process.
7. Make Attendees Feel Special
People attending your event have a lot on their mind. They may be there to learn about a new product or service, or they might be there to network and build relationships. Whatever their purpose, it is important to make sure that attendees can concentrate on the task at hand and feel that their efforts will be appreciated.
One way to do this is to make attendees feel special from the moment they arrive. This can be done by greeting them with their name on a monitor at your check-in station or even as they are entering your event space. It is also important to answer questions quickly and clearly as attendees will likely have a lot on their minds, especially first-time attendees.
Offering a variety of sessions and content that caters to different interests can make attendees feel like the event is specifically for them. Additionally, integrating gamification and personalized event apps can further increase attendee engagement.
8. Host Contests and Giveaways
A personalized event experience makes attendees feel genuinely valued and catered to, which builds stronger connections with them. This can result in greater brand loyalty, increased revenue generation through ticket sales and sponsorship engagement, and a positive event reputation that attracts new attendees to future events.
Start attendees’ event experiences off on the right note with a smooth and efficient check-in process using an online or mobile app. Provide a personalized itinerary and helpful tips to help attendees navigate their way around the venue, including key meeting information, sessions they’ve selected, and any other activities that they may want to participate in.
Personalize networking opportunities by providing a matchmaking platform that pairs attendees with other attendees based on their interests and industry expertise. You could even host a contest where attendees who complete specific goals within your event gamification app are awarded with prizes that align with their personas. This will not only build attendee satisfaction, but also increase the likelihood of them sharing their positive event experiences with their networks.
9. Capture Attendees’ Memories
Using personalized data and targeting emails is an effective way to engage attendees before, during, and after an event. However, you must also capitalize on the power of memories to make an impact that lasts.
Capture your attendees’ memories with visual content that captures the unique experience of your event. This could be in the form of a photo montage or video highlighting key moments. Include this in post-event emails to tap into the nostalgia factor, as well as in social media posts.
Give attendees the opportunity to create their own agendas and schedules with an online tool or mobile app. This will help them curate the sessions and activities that align with their professional interests and learning goals.
Offer virtual options to ensure your event is inclusive of everyone who wants to attend. This will boost engagement, and attendees will appreciate the flexibility of the event. Follow-up with a sincere thank-you message that includes each attendee’s name. This will help them feel known and valued, and they’ll be more likely to share the event with others.
