Planning a successful live event takes monumental effort. There are so many tasks and details to manage that when done right will have your attendees excited to come back for the next one.
But how do you boost live event attendance in the first place?
With careful planning, attention to all the important details, and the right tools including event management software, you’ll set record attendance numbers.
Before the Event: Wise Planning
Not surprisingly, bolstering attendee numbers begins before the start of your event. To attract guests, you’ll first need to get word out about your next live event.
Step 1: Examine Past Data
Before marketing gets started on your next event, you’ll need to determine what your audience is looking for. Examining the data from past events will help you understand what went well and what can be changed.
Which past sessions had high attendance? Which speakers were a hit? This information helps you plan future line ups. Add keynote speakers who add value and engage your audience, schedule sessions that allow opportunities for networking, etc.
Step 2: Tailor Marketing Efforts
Once the event is planned it’s time to spread the word. Use social media platforms to spread awareness, and make sure your messaging is tailored to your ideal audience. If you have an email newsletter this is also a great time to reach out to subscribers.
Step 3: Send Reminders and Updates
Have you ever skipped out on an event because you lost interest or simply forgot about it? Don’t let that happen with your registrants. Once you collect contact information remember to send regular event reminders and any exciting updates on the line-up to get people pumped to attend.
Keep attendees engaged with sneak peeks, behind the scenes, bio profiles of keynote speakers, surveys about the types of sessions they’re most interested in, and more. The key is to keep your live event at the top of your registrants’ minds.
During the Event: Bring the Wow Factor
You might think your work to secure attendees is done once you open the doors for your event. However, to keep guest numbers up, there is more work to do.
Step 5: Streamline the Check-In Process
You’d be surprised to learn that there are registrants who walk in the doors to a live event and decide to leave. If your check-in process is a mess this can lower your actual attendance numbers before the event has even started.
Luckily, there are easy fixes for this. Streamline your event’s check-in process with event attendance software to ensure that all lines move quickly and smoothly and your guests are done within minutes.
Step 6: Track Guest Attendance
This step might seem obvious—of course you should keep track of how many guests attend your event, but there are actual other data points to track and consider.
To begin with, keep track of the guest count at each individual talk or session. You’ll also want to look at session drop-off rates to better understand which sessions were most engaging and which left more to be desired. The best way to do all of this is with powerful attendance tracking software.
Step 7: Enable Social Media Sharing
Once your live event starts, encouraging social media sharing is an excellent way to keep guests engaged. Create a custom hashtag, display a live slideshow of social media posts from your event, and offer incentives for shares. This may not boost attendance at the current event, but can help increase guest engagement in the future.
After Your Event: Retain Interest
Once the event is over it’s important to keep past guests’ interest piqued to help encourage repeat attendance.
Step 8: Gauge Reactions with Post-Event Surveys
Most event managers think of post-event surveys as generic questionnaires to send to guests, asking them what they liked and didn’t like. This approach misses out on the full potential of the form.
Your post-event survey should be custom to the specific event and even the guest’s involvement. With the right event attendance tracker software you will be able to ask guest opinions of each specific session they attended.
You should also reach out to those who registered but didn’t end up attending. When you understand why guests may not have attended you will be able to adjust your marketing strategies moving forward.
Maximizing Your Potential for Attendance
Boosting live event attendance numbers should be one of the primary goals for any event planner. By bringing in a larger audience, this will help you to reach all of the other goals you have for your event. With careful planning, attention to details and guest satisfaction, and an understanding of the ways that event software and tools help to maximize your potential, you’ll see your attendance numbers soar higher every time.