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HelpEVENT MANAGEMENT EXTRA: 5 WAYS TO BOOST EVENT ATTENDEES ENGAGEMENT
The actions of your guests are an indicator of how the event is going. Are they deeply immersed in the workshops and exhibits, or are they disengaged and speaking on their phones? If you notice a lot of the latter taking place, then your event may not have the elements needed for creating full attendee networking and participation.
There are a few tricks you can implement for keeping guests engaged. The last thing you want, after all, is for them to feel like they rather be someplace else.
1. ACCOMMODATING GUEST PREFERENCES
During the event planning phase, you need to find out what attendees are looking for in an event. This can be done through a combination of surveys, polls, and social media dialogue, or even across certain event apps.
You’re going to get a diverse set of responses, and you won’t be able to accommodate everyone’s preferences, but you can get an idea of what the attendees as a whole are generally leaning towards.
Some questions you can ask include:
-What kind of booth games do they prefer?
-How likely are they to try out an interactive kiosk?
-Do they prefer paper handouts, or prefer to have all event materials delivered digitally?
-Which workshops do they plan on attending?
2. MAKE THE EVENT MOBILE-FRIENDLY
Sure, not everyone will have a mobile device, but they’re in the minority. Cater to the majority by incorporating an event app. This way, the majority of the time guests spend on their smartphones is from use of your event app and not on unrelated texting or chitter chattering. The neat thing about event apps is that users can customize their own schedules based on the exhibits and presentations they wish to attend.
With event apps, you can also send notices, such as encouraging guests to contribute to the Twitter wall or reminding them to visit your sponsor’s booth. Furthermore, you can add surveys and polls with a friendly reminder to complete the short questionnaire before leaving.
Yet another neat idea is a quick notice encouraging attendees to friend at least one other guest or staffer on social media before leaving.
3. DON’T NEGLECT SOCIAL MEDIA
Many planners heavily utilize social media to promote the event but often neglect to employ any forms of social media when the event is in progress. A Twitter wall was briefly mentioned, and this is definitely something you want to include. To encourage guests to send their own tweets and selfies (if they aren’t on your printed name badges), have staffers and sponsors send a few of their own. This will encourage a few to chime in, which in turn will get even more people to participate.
You can also make it fun by sending a notice (through your event app) encouraging guests to submit a specific type of post, such as:
-A three-word tweet summarizing the time they’re having
-A funny-face selfie
-An emoji-only tweet to describe what they’re feeling at the moment
When you get creative, attendees will be more likely to break out of their shell and jump in. Be sure to remind everyone that all posts are to be accompanied by the event hashtag.
4. GET ATTENDEES INVOLVED IN PRESENTATIONS
If there are going to be presentations, make sure the speaker has an outline that encourages attendee participation. A speaker that does nothing but speaks and shows a bunch of slides is going to lull people to sleep and increase the number of walk-outs in the middle of the presentation.
Here are the attributes a good speaker should follow:
-Ask the audience a lot of questions that require verbal answers rather than just a raise of hands
-Bring an attendee or two up on stage for a live demo
-Have attendees take a live poll and show the results on a slide
-Promising a bonus at the end of the presentation (thus requiring guests to stick around)
-Providing an intermission to allow people to use the restroom and stretch their legs
Whoever the guest speaker is, whether he is someone with the company or someone hired from a third-party company, be sure you know what that person’s planned presentation consists of. Insist that he submit an outline of what will be covered – and don’t be afraid to request tweaks.
5. MAKE TECHNOLOGY AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE EVENT
Aside from event apps and Twitter walls, there needs to be other forms of technology implementation. Consider interactive digital signage where participants can play a mini-game of sorts using touchscreen features or body sensor motion. Other ideas include old-style photo booths, 3-D printing, micro-location (custom) badges, and wall mapping. A technology-rich event increases the “wow” factor, which in turn increases positive impressions.
Also, don’t forget that technology should also be implemented internally. This means using event technology to help streamline the work and responsibilities for the staff. Most event management software contains quick check-in processes with a printer for creating customized name badges. This reduces wait times, which is crucial for preventing negative experiences. Bad impressions can easily overshadow positive experiences as people have a natural inclination to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right.
Take Your Event to the Next Level
If guests aren’t engaged, then their attention is likely elsewhere. By creating various forms of engagement, you ensure that attendees are fully immersed in the experience you provided.
When attendees are engaged, they are having a good time, and that translates to repeat customers, loyalty, and revenue.
Guest Bio: Dan McCarthy is an Event Manager at JD Parties, an event management company based in the UK. Dan has 5 years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter @DanCarthy2.
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