The team at Encore shares strategies for delivering increased value to participants and your organisation
Did you know 80 percent of meeting organisers say in-person events are the most effective marketing channel in their organisation?
Events are now at the forefront of driving strategic value thanks to their ability to create powerful connections and motivate change.
By creating memorable experiences that resonate deeply with customers, you’re in the power seat to boost a brand’s impact and support your organisation’s goals.
From planning to post-production, the right moves can help you:
- Demonstrate measurable ROI
- Show how your events benefit the organization in tangible ways
- Position yourself as a strategic leader to your executive team
Here are five simple steps from the experts at Encore to help you take charge and increase your event’s value.
1. Define what success looks like
First things first. To craft a successful event, you need to be clear on what success looks like. What measurable outcomes will you use to show your event’s value? Which stakeholders need to agree on this?
Depending on the type of event you plan, your success metrics will vary. Here are a few common ones:
- Leads acquired
- Registration revenue
- Sales/sponsorships
- Attendance
- Repeat business
- Satisfaction scores
- Net promoter score
Along with these hard metrics, your objectives will likely include soft data like audience engagement metrics. These could be educational sessions attended, poll and survey responses, and anecdotal feedback.
These hard and soft metrics will provide insights into what people enjoyed doing once you got them to the event — and help you maximize their enjoyment at future occasions.
2. Nurture potential participants with personalized content
Now that you’ve defined your goals, you’re ready to set the roadmap for how to achieve them. One of the most effective ways to do this is to nurture potential attendees with personalized messages.
Here are some good ideas for where to start:
- Work with your event stakeholders to define the target audience and goals for the event.
- Segment your audience into the different personas who will most likely be in attendance.
- Identify what your event offers that might appeal to each persona. What would encourage them to attend?
- Incorporate those elements into your strategic event design.
- Use those specific experiences or opportunities to personalize marketing content for each persona.
- Ensure that onsite your event will deliver on that commitment.
For example, a salesperson attending your event may measure its success by the number of business cards they collect, while a certified professional’s primary focus may be the clock hours that count toward renewing a valuable designation.
Knowing the audience for your event and what they care about will help you make design choices that maximize ROI for each segment. It will also help you communicate the value of attending to potential attendees, which plays an influential role in capturing a larger, engaged audience.
3. Craft an experience that surprises and delights
What motivates people to attend events? If you want to make an impact, they need to be memorable. One of the best ways to achieve this is through immersive experiences.
According to a recent trends report, 72 percent of consumers said they would attend an event that offered a multisensory experience. It’s no wonder then that it was one of the top three trends that influence planning decisions, according to the Encore Planner Pulse.
Whether during a general session, meal function or social event, incorporating these types of experiences entices participants’ sense to make a lasting impression.
You can use these sensory-rich sessions to enhance learning and networking, for irresistible photo opportunities that boost social media buzz, and to help drive event registrations.
In this way, you’re able to influence audience behaviour, which can maximize event ROI. Take, for example, the Miami Make-A-Wish® Ball, which transformed a ballroom into an underwater “supernature”-themed experience — not only delighting guests but generating twice as many donations as the year prior.
Elevating your event design
LED walls are the most popular backdrop for immersive events because they can act as a scenic backdrop to transform a space, communicate important messages or transport participants to different physical or emotional spaces without leaving their seats.
Need help creating video storytelling, animations or an improved visual impact? Encore would love to bring your vision to life! View how the Encore Content Studio can bring the wow to your messaging.
Looking for inspiration for ways to boost engagement? Consider incorporating:
- Topics that are relevant and address real challenges your audience faces, like trying to do more with less.
- Superstar speakers or industry thought leaders that people would pay to see speak.
- Hands-on workshops that educate event participants.
- Intimate campfires or facilitated roundtable sessions geared toward niche interests and groups.
- Tools like Chime Live from Encore that deliver interaction opportunities like polls and Q&A as well as real-time user analytics.
Greater connections, greater loyalty
Networking opportunities build business relationships, reinforce brand loyalty and build community. If you can create events that make it easy for participants to find and make valuable connections, they’ll want to return.
Some good ideas to add to your program? Social activities, like icebreakers or group challenges, help first-timers and introverts forge meaningful connections with other participants.
This fosters a sense of belonging, which can be converted into brand loyalty. The friendships formed around events tend to be as big a draw as the content itself for people who attend year after year.
Networking opportunities also foster participation and demonstratable ROI, which sponsors and exhibitors will look for. You can maximize networking opportunities by using digital tools like Chime Live, which has a matchmaking feature.
Streamline scheduling
Strategic event design can also empower event participants, sponsors and exhibitors to maximize their participation ROI. For example, integrating a scheduling tool on your event website gives sales contacts the ability to book sales calls and meetings directly with prospects.
Streamlining the process and enhancing convenience reinforces the value of investing time and resources in your event. Buyers are also more likely to engage if they have a pleasant experience.
You can save time and effort with a tool that automatically sends confirmation emails and helps participants schedule follow-up calls. Why? Speedy responses improve conversion rates.
By integrating scheduling tools into event websites, you can create a smoother, more efficient networking experience that benefits all participants — from exhibitors and sponsors seeking business opportunities to attendees looking to connect with industry leaders and peers.
4. Entice with pre-event marketing
Pre-event marketing is a must. By working closely with your marketing team, you can help ramp up excitement by recommending which stories to tell to create anticipation and how to align the content of pre-event promos to audience segment goals.
In this case, wisely leveraging FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is your friend. Show target participants what they’ll miss out on if they don’t attend.
Here are a few good ideas to try:
- Place a countdown timer on the registration page to create a sense of urgency.
- Incentivize people to register early with ‘early bird’ pricing.
- Highlight social events and the calibre of attendees to attract people who prioritize networking or sales.
- Share sneak previews or demos of products people can purchase at the event.
- Promote webinars featuring your event’s speakers to highlight the educational quality of your event.
- Share examples of representative companies and job titles already registered to attract potential exhibitors and sponsors.
- Communicate how past survey data and audience demand have shaped the creation of this year’s agenda.
5. Continue the conversation post-event
Post-event, keep people buzzing by sharing repurposed event content. This extends the event experience, keeps the conversation going and reinforces the positive sentiment generated on-site. When done with intent, this can encourage loyalty.
Trending strategies:
- Upload or rebroadcast general and breakout session content.
- Send promo or discount codes to redeem products or services.
- Use AI tools to generate blogs or recap videos from content captured onsite.
- Send personalized thank-you emails with fun takeaways, such as highlight videos, photo galleries or playlists.
- Share resources like research or insight papers developed or discussed at the event via email or on the event website.
- Provide additional ways to connect and continue the conversation with online webinars, discussion groups or social links.
Time is of the essence when it comes to follow-up communications, so keep in mind the marketing deadlines your team has set for post-event emails and offers.
Share leads and registration lists with your marketing and business development teams as soon as possible. This will assist them in generating additional conversions.
By incorporating these steps in your event planning, you can prime your sales funnel, enrich customer interactions and amplify event attendance, resulting in heightened revenues and enhanced conversion rates.
For more education and information, visit encoreglobal.com.
