Event registration and marketing are tough. There are tons of small details in the event registration process that you have to work out and get right. Plus, the event registration data you collect from prospective attendees can get overwhelming really quickly.
The good news is that, with the right event registration tool, you can make the entire process much less complex. You just need to make sure you’re investing in the right tools for the job.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the features you should look for in an event registration tool.
Article Outline
Event Registration Tools
Let’s start with features that help people register for the event. These can be broken down into three main features:
Registration forms
Event registration forms provide a way for attendees to register for your events online. This helps you speed up and automate the event registration process.
Event Espresso lets you create custom event registration forms that enable you to collect all the data you need from attendees. You can make your registration forms as simple or as complex as you’d like. The best part is that the questions you create for one event registration form can be reused for a separate event, as well. This is possible with question groups.
Without collecting the right event registration data from your attendees, it can be harder to host your event.
Event Ticketing
If you plan on organizing paid events, you’ll need a way to create and sell tickets. This is an easy way to charge for your event.
Event Espresso lets you create multiple ticket types for your events. You can set prices and ticket quantity limits for each ticket you create. In addition to this, you can also set a minimum and maximum quantity for each ticket. Once you create the tickets, Event Espresso displays them in a neat table layout on the front-end so customers can purchase as many tickets as they’d like.
Event Registration Analytics
Once you’ve registered attendees for an event, it’s important to go back and review the data you collected. This can help you glean valuable insights into important event marketing metrics like registration trends, RSVP-to-attended conversion rate percentage, and cost per attendee.
Event Espresso gives you full control of the data you collect from attendees. This means that you can collect and export all attendee information including their name, time of registration, the amount paid, answers to custom questions asked, and much more.
Event Marketing Tools
No one will discover your events if you don’t effectively promote them. Good event registration tools have built-in event marketing features that help you get the word out about your event.
Email marketing
Email marketing is essential for properly promoting your event. People on your email lists are interested in finding out when the next event will take place, what you’ll cover, and how they can register for it. So, it’s absolutely essential that the event registration tool you decide to go with offers email marketing features.
You can link Mailchimp with Event Espresso so your attendees are automatically transferred to a list in Mailchimp after they register for an event through your website. From there, you can add attendees to a group within a list and transfer custom registration information from your attendees to Mailchimp. This way, you can stay on top of attendee details and keep them in the loop by sending them information about upcoming events.
Over time you can build an audience list and an attendee list to market or re-market your events to.
Event blog
An event blog on your website is a great way to put out content related to your event. For example, you can introduce speakers, share content about the event topics, and even create a resource hub for visitors to check out. In addition to this, you can invite event speakers to publish content related to the upcoming event to generate buzz.
Event Espresso is a WordPress plugin which means you’ll be able to publish as much content as you’d like on your event blog. The best part is that WordPress is SEO-optimized out of the box. This means that you’ll be able to reach out to a wider audience by blogging about your event.
Social media
Promoting your event on social media channels is important. It helps you connect with existing followers and reach out to more people who might be interested in registering for your event.
Using Event Espresso, you can share upcoming events on social media websites like Facebook. You can use social sharing buttons to make it easy for attendees to spread the word about your upcoming event.
Discounts and promo codes
Offering discounts and creating promo codes is a great way to encourage people to register for your events. For example, you can offer attendees a 15% discount if they purchase a ticket in the first 15 days. Or, you can set up a $10 flat amount discount for new subscribers.
Event Espresso lets you set up both percentage-based and flat amount-based discounts for your events. Attendees simply need to enter the discount code when they buy tickets or register for your events.
Discount codes can also be used to get vendors, sponsors, speakers, and staff, ect. Into the event for free.
Event Operation Tools
Did you know event registration tools can help you during the actual event? That’s right. A good event registration tool can be used for event check-in and analytics to help you improve event operations.
Event check-in
When attendees arrive at the event venue, they’ll need to check-in. Ideally, you want to offer a seamless event check-in process that’s automated and paperless.
The Event Espresso mobile app lets you check-in attendees by scanning event tickets or you can look them up in the app and check them in manually. This way, event managers can handle check-ins at the door of your events. In addition to this, it lets event managers view attendee information and event details.
Event analytics
It’s no secret that events run on analytics. As an event manager, you need an event registration tool that gives you access to event analytics. This way, you can track event metrics to see what’s working and what isn’t.
With Event Espresso, you can download event attendee reports for your events for record-keeping. In addition to this, you can collect and export all attendee information including their name, time of registration, the amount paid, answers to custom questions asked, and much more into a CSV. From there you can build any reports that are meaningful for your business or organization.
Bonus: Attendee Engagement Tools
If you want your event to be successful, you need different ways to engage attendees. An event registration tool can help you do that.
Event app
Event Espresso’s event app helps you speed up registration at the door. You can use it to scan attendee tickets instead of using a barcode scanner. In addition to this, it lets you view attendee registration information.
You can use these features to deliver a better user experience to event attendees. Plus, the Event Espresso app supports multiple check-in stations which means you can use multiple smartphones to log into the same attendee list. The best part is that this is an environmentally friendly ticketing solution.
Event surveys and feedback
Creating event surveys and feedback forms is a great way to engage attendees. It gives them a platform to share their thoughts and opinions about the entire event with you.
With Event Espresso, you can create surveys and feedback forms using SurveyMonkey. Check out our step-by-step tutorial on How to Use Surveys to Plan Better Events for more information.
Conclusion
The right event registration tool can impact just about every aspect of the event registration and marketing process in a positive way. Now you know the most important features to look for in an event registration tool for your business.
Ready to start organizing successful events? Try the Event Espresso demo today!