Author: grupio@admin

Every savvy Event Planner or Event Company is looking at using event apps to drive some competitive advantage for their organization. The industry has shifted its focus and emphasis to ensuring event attendees have access to and understand how to use event apps.

What is and How to Use Event Apps

An event app is typically a downloadable smartphone application or a web app that can be easily accessed via most popular smartphone browsers.

Event apps are wonderful productivity tools for smartphone enabled attendees when used properly – enabling attendees to stay in constant communication with your event with detailed (updateable) information about the agenda, speakers, sponsor profiles and comprehensive info about your venue.

One of the most frequent questions we get asked by clients here at Grupio is how to use an event app prior to and after an actual event. We are going to share perspective with you in this blog post about using event apps to drive attendee engagement and more!

Using an Event App Prior to Your Event

Another great thing about event apps is they are rapidly replacing the need for paper or print based information hand outs prior to the event and/or the constant need for your attendees to check your web site; or, even worse, rely on outdated printed materials created prior to the event. Saving your organization fixed marketing costs by replacing paper based with digital information.

Once attendees have downloaded your Event App you have a “digital relationship” in place with them, which will save your organization money moving forward – you have pre-populated information in the app (speakers, attendees, times and dates, maps, logistics, venue info, etc.) coupled with promotions and discounts and you have an established relationship with them via the app that can be easily updated prior to and during the actual “live” event.

Event App Efficiencies during Your Event

Let’s face it, every event has unexpected and unanticipated actions! Speakers and presenters are going to run over their allotted times, venues can have problems with audio/visual equipment or food services and your attendees are not going to always adhere to your published schedules.

Using event apps can offset some of these challenges and the related chaos that can occur at some events when information is not quickly provided to attendees!

During the event with an event app you can instantly communicate with your attendees, keeping them abreast of changes in your event in real time and ensuring their event experience is everything it can be.

In turn driving repeat attendance for your next year’s event or others your organization is hosting. In the end, event apps help your organization to engage with your attendees, which can help to drive competitive advantage for your organization!

Event Apps drive Back End Attendee Engagement

Using an event app to gather feedback from and/or poll your attendees will impart efficiencies to your post event marketing and overall communications. Think of an event app as a productivity tool that lets you “touch” (being sensitive to permission based marketing) your attendees after an event when the event and related activities were fresh in their minds.

Most event apps including our own have built in survey functionality which lets you poll your attendees and receive critical (almost real time) feedback from them about your event, speakers, venue and much more. And, using a Grupio app you can even poll your attendees during an individual session to get real time feedback for your presenters or speakers.

You can even build in lead generation with your polling and surveys, offering a discount or some type of incentive for your next event to your attendees – pre-loading your sales funnel for your next event. Let us know if we can help you setup a custom even app for your organization and thanks for visiting our blog!

Millennials are those born between (in pure demographic terms) between 1977 and 1995. They are tech savvy, independent pride themselves on being socially connected, like gratification that comes in rapidly (not delayed) and can multi-task during any activity or event.

Any event planner that wants to attract and engage with this market. This demographic needs more attraction like social media visibility, event gamification, likes and share and everything about visibility. Be aware of the characteristics of the increasingly important market segment.

Here are our takeaways for working with millenials for your next even:

1. Market your event via social media

Make sure during the event you are providing tools and methods for millenials to stay engaged with during your event. And, make sure you have feedback mechanisms built into your marketing processes.

2. Select a facility or meeting room

It can integrate real world interaction (traditional) with more modern tools, including WiFi access, mobile readiness, engagement opportunities via all social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest). Update the location image in you event app and create curiosity.

3. Check in with your millennial demographic

Prior to the event and ask them what type of content will be meaningful for them and what services they are looking for during the event. The answers may surprise you and be open in terms of your Q&A with them.

4. Setup and create networking opportunities

That will appeal to millenials – some are more socially active (like any demographic) than others and may want you to set up networking areas for them. Your mobile event app will open the doors to hundreds of new attendees.

5. Keep it casual

Millenials like casual dress and/or environments that are not too structured – make sure your event adheres to these standards and give them plenty of time that is unstructured and afford them the opportunity to engage with speakers and presenters during or after an event. They like spontaneity as well.

6. Give them lots of options to choose

Millenials like events that are more tailored to their specific needs, which may make it important to have “mini break out” sessions that afford them the ability to follow specific topics of interest that are appealing to them. You can again address this with your front end marketing and/or questionnaire. The conference meeting app will give the opportunity to download sessions notes, interact with each other, ask questions, give feedback and other opportunities to explore.

7. Millenials like data and information

Allow attemdees to share information in short sound bites and bite sized chunks. Ask your speakers to give shorter more interactive sessions with lots of Q&A when/if it makes sense during their presentation. And, ask them to keep their sentences short and tightly focused.

8. When and if you can, use short videos:

Make web accessible after a presentation and archived for access later – these can also be very focused and help to drive engagement with millenials, especially if paired with presentations in a creative manner. Use the best event app features like gamification to keep people engaged.

9. Use presentations:

The more entertaining a presentation, the deeper your engagement will be with millenials – like any younger skewed demographic they like learning wrapped in entertainment.

10. Social media visibility

Allow them to post and share there pics and videos on your wall and page. This will help you in better engagement and share the publicity.

Millenials can be great event attendees and participants. Use your event planning app and otrganise the event around millenials. You want to structure your events in ways that will be appealing to them to drive engagement and ongoing support of all of your events. Their unique characteristics and life style make them an attractive demographic for events. Remember to cater to their needs, like any market demographic.

Much is said and written about Twitter marketing strategies in general so we have written this blog post with busy event planners in mind! Here are some practical marketing tips about marketing your event or your company on Twitter.

• Twitter has very specific Follow limits and account limitations – you can only follow so many individual per hour (estimated to be no more than several hundred but a moving target and Twitter does not publish these) and your account is strictly limited by Twitter in terms of overall Followers. This number can’t be more than 2K depending on the ratio of Followers that you have to those you are Following. As your Follower base increases then this number is adjusted by Twitter. You should not direct message with you event app link more than 25-30 individuals or business per day. Be aware if you do too much of this your account can generate complaints and get shut down.
• Your goal on Twitter is to build Followers (connections) – Followers are great but you’d rather have a smaller number of Followers that want to hear from you and are engaged with your business. Too many make Twitter a popularity contest while ignoring the importance of engagement.
• Create and share great content – great content helps to drive Followers and engagement via Twitter. By “great content” we mean news that is meaningful and targeted for your market segment, links to videos or White Papers or Ebooks, etc. Remember you are building a long term relationship – share high value content that will be appreciated by your Followers and you will generate great marketing ROI.
• Think about other platforms on Twitter –  one of the most effective Twitter marketing strategies for event planners is remembering to share your conference app link via Twitter to drive more connections. This should include links to your Pinterest, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts (personal and/or business). This is referred to as off platform Twitter marketing and should be an important part of your marketing strategy.
• Keep your promotion of your business, brand or event under 20% –  don’t clutter your “Twitter stream” with more than 10-20% self promotion – this number is a good rule of thumb. If do more you will see your Follower counts drop and you are negating the good will you are building by sharing great content that resonates with your market segment.
• Pay it forward on Twitter for rewards – if you help others on Twitter you will generate good will and long term benefits and others will reciprocate in kind.
• Engage with others via Twitter – don’t just broadcast your messages and expect others to Follow you. Many individuals and brands want to see some engagement with your Twitter activities. By “engagement” we mean sending @messages to others, ReTweeting other’s marketing messages (Tweets) and participating in Twitter chats and marketing conventions like #FF or #FollowFriday or #MeetingMonday.
• Use hashtags when/where it makes sense – Twitter is only 140 characters so your messages have to be brief. Use hashtags allow you to make a Tweet with event planning app to stand out. Be easily notice by others who may be following a hashtag that relates to a market, event or a business or marketing activity.

Twitter has a distinct community of users like any other marketing platforms and you want to learn the marketing maxims and leverage these as much as possible. Be patient with Twitter marketing activities, it can take time to build a meaningful audience of engaged Followers.

Goes without saying but the atmosphere is critical to the success of any event – enabling your attendees to relax, feel comfortable and interact with your speakers, exhibitors and one another. There isn’t any one thing that an event planner should do to build that great atmosphere at an event; it’s a number of factors.

How to build a great event atmosphere using a mobile event app:

1. Select great speakers, the right strategic partners in terms of your vendors, suppliers and location. Don’t be afraid to ask your speakers and suppliers about their recommendations. Pick their brains to understand what you can do to make sure baseline issues are addressed for your event. Invite them to download your event planning app and help them in coordination.

2. In some cases the event location is like the old saying about real estate “location, location and location……” Having said that, it’s important to choose the perfect location and venue for your event – if an awards ceremony critical to have the proper amount of space so your attendees don’t feel like they are crammed into a room. If it’s a product launch or more festive occasion go for a venue that is more contemporary and casual; if it’s a one day event then hold it at a venue close to transportation and one that is convenient for potential attendees. If it’s a week-end retreat then you can hold it at a much more exotic location. What ever the location keep all participants updated through event app map feature.

3. First impressions at events like building any relationship are critical. Make sure you have someone at the door that is greeting your guests with a warm smile and the greeter or host or hostess should also be knowledgeable about the event and venue, enabling them to respond to questions from arrivals. You typically want to have one staff member of ever 65 event attendees to ensure you are conveying hospitality and are able to respond to any requests from your attendees. Keep updating your event app and send out notifications for changes and whats going on.

4. It can be very challenging choosing food and beverages that please the varied tastes of your attendees – great caterers can really make or break your conference or event. You want to serve a meal that is tailored for your guests, that’s current with lifestyles and one that will not offend your attendees in any way. Ask for special dietary requests in advance and make sure these are ready to go and in sufficient volume. Make sure you have more servings allocated by your caterer or venue – plan for a few extra guests and review past event attendance to get a handle on this variable. seo analysis For beverages, have water at every table, select wines that are middle of the road and not too adventuresome and make sure the bar is well stocked with alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic and serve coffee and tea. Keep your menu in your conference app and let your guests plan there course.

Keep a human touch for the attendees:

5. Music can help to build a great ambiance for any event or make it impossible for your attendees to hear each other or relax. Light jazz or classical is great for most corporate events or meetings; don’t use more contemporary music that could possible offend your guests and that may also set the wrong mood or ambiance.

6. Lighting sets the tone for any event and should be coupled properly with the music. If you get both of these right you are setting the right ambiance when/as your guests walk into the event. You can use spot or LED uplighters to enhance the architecture of the room of the signage tha you want to stand out. Your event production staff should carefully choreograph the lighting effects (or lack thereof) with your speakers’ presentations.

7. Set up the room to adequately meet your event requirements. Work with your venue staff or suppliers prior to the event to make sure your equipment and furniture will work for the number of attendees. Check the room prior to the event and walk around each area to make sure everything is ready and prepared.

If it’s a casual event then cabaret seating will let your attendees mingle freely and it will make the event seem less formal and open to them. If more formal event, then a structured place setting is much better and make sure your host or hostess points guests to the right seating. Don’t assume your guest will automatically understand the seating chart.

If you follow the basic guidelines for building a great atmosphere along with mobile event app at your next event you should get some great feedback from your guests and the event should be a resounding success!

It goes without saying, but a host or master of ceremonies can make or break your event. Select a master of ceremonies that will work with your events staff in a cooperative manner, while managing the proceedings in a capable and professional manner. Introduce the master of event thorugh the best event app and try to encash the brand value they have. He or she sets the atmosphere of the event and can add brevity (or not) to the event to lighten the mood and keep your guests entertained.

Stay Current with Industry Trends

Stay abreast of what’s going on in the industry and archive or list hosts and speakers that have generated publicity or recognition. Keep a speaker’s list of great speakers archived on our Pinterest page and social media can give you good feedback for selecting a great master of ceremonies or plain vanilla host.

Also, check with your productions team to see who they would recommend and then go online.  Also see if the individual has archives of past meetings he or she has hosted. Many will have a YouTube channel with some brief clips that will give you a deeper dive into who they are and what their potential chemistry might be for your event. Use a corprate event app to stay ahead of competition.

Can be a good idea to stay plugged in to and attend industry networking events – in some cases you can get a first hand sense of the master of ceremonies or live acts form others that you may want to hire at a future date.

CEO or Professional Master of Ceremonies?

If this event is for a product or service launch, you may want the CEO of the company to act as master of ceremonies or senior executive. Or, she/he may want to share these duties with a professional host or hostess in some way that makes the event more meaningful and entertaining for your guests.

If you are hosting a charity fundraiser you want an individual who is extremely knowledgeable about the charity itself and who can aggressively submit donations form the audience. You can assist the host with your event planning app and make there hosting more organised and up to date.

A Bit of Brevity Goes a Long Way at Your Event 

The most desirable skill of any host or master of ceremonies is their ability to keep the audience engaged and entertained during the event – he or she should drive participation and create an atmosphere that is light (some humor) and exciting, moving the evening along based on the pre-arranged schedule.

Humor from you master of ceremonies can be like pepper in a gourmet sauce – just the right amount can be delightful; but, too much and the evening or event can be ruined. You don’t want the event to come across as a comic roast, especially if its’ a corporate event. Some light humor goes a long way to liven up the day or evening.

But, to much and your host can ruin the flavor of the event. Make sure you talk with them about this beforehand and that he or she is attuned to the type of events and the demographics of the attendees.

So, select a master of ceremonies that is well suited for your event – you want a professional who has some experience hosting similar events in most cases, who is aware of the event needs, demographics of your attendees and one who is culturally attuned to the industry or type of business. A CEO may not always be the right choice – or, it may be better to ask she/he to co-host the event. Whenever you organise a conference or a corporate event, it is always best to co-host with professional as its always good to brush up the crowd with a bit of spice. And make sure your cnference is supported by a mobile conference app that can enable the users to stay connected and give you social media vsisbility you need for the Buzz!

It’s no secret social media has made a lasting imprint on the events industry – it’s become one of the dominant marketing methodologies for any event or meeting planner as an individual or as part of a bigger firm. Here are five tips for marketing events via social media and/or to improve the perceived value of your event with your attendees.

5 tips for marketing events via social media:

1. Let Freedom Ring at your Event:

Embrace social media as your attendees certainly have – don’t try and fight the momentum by corralling your attendees too much. Build in social sharing for and with your attendees and enable this by making sure your event is “social ready”. With a Twitter video screen in the front of the room (if large event) coupled with specific hashtags for the actual event. Also encourage attendees to and let them post on your Faceobook wall from your event app to drive more meaningful engagement. Don’t restrict social media “attendance” at your event, promote it!

2. Staff for Social Media During an Event:

One of the challenges for your firm or you as an individual event planner is social media marketing. Make sure you have sufficient time or staffing to manage your social media marketing needed during an event. This need of course is accelerated greatly by the actual size of your event and attendance. Getting a mobile conference app can help your efforts coordinated. Along with that you or your staff should be managing an active Twitter feed during and event. Make sure you respond to questions or comments via your Facebook page. Along with that upload images and videos to your Pinterest page on a daily basis. And, the more dynamic your attendees the greater are the chance to make your event a sure success.

3. Leverage Facebook as an Marketing Platform

Facebook is a powerful marketing platform for advertising an event (great built in targeting by location, demographics and much more), as a two way communications platform (comments, likes and shares) during an actual event. Don’t forget to include a share function for your attendees after they pay for your event. It can be use as a gentle reminder to help to drive incremental visibility via their network of friends and connections. Don’t muck up your sharing an event with prizes or other inducements. Keep it light in terms of a share request: “thanks for supporting our event – please share if you want to underscore your enthusiasm….”

4. Social media engagament:

Great Event Marketing with Social Media is about Engagement not Broadcasting. Use a event planning app and assign teams to marketing activities. How many Twitter accounts have we all seen that are just an endless promotion of a brand or event? Too many in most cases. Remember that effective event marketing via social media is not marketing per sea unless it’s “educational” – the best marketing is no marketing!. Meaning, engage with your attendees and offer resources that they will share via their own connections. By, engagement, we mean responding back to Tweets or comments via your Facebook page and building rapport with your audience by doing so.

5. Be Event Apps ready:

Make sure you are using a mobile event app for your next event – your attendees are starting to expect this capability, driven in part by smartphone usage at and during events, the increased time pressures on event attendees to be more efficient before, during and after an event and the increased reliance on social media as an “always on” communications channel for sharing and engaging. Also, many of your peer firms and individuals are now relying on an event app to drive a competitive advantage in the marketplace – don’t be left out of the mix.

There are so many trends that are coming hard and fast at us all in the events industry but we thought it would be beneficial to underscore six significant trends that are impacting event professionals.

Content and Context:

Events and meetings are morphing quickly to becoming places where content (presentations, interactions, Q&A sessions, break out sessions, etc.) is presented in the right context. Meaning, your speakers and presenters are sharing content in a meaningful way via a modern mobile event app that adds significant value for your attendees. Most attendees now see content as being free on the internet and they don’t want to pay for it unless there is value added somewhere in the event food chain.

Events and Meetings are Becoming Social Driven:

Whether you like it or not social media platforms are here to stay – your attendees are “live posting” on Facebook and sharing on Twitter during your event and uploading pictures and videos to their social accounts (Instagram, Vine, etc.) faster than you can say “social.” So, embrace social media and integrate it with your overall event when and where you can. This adds value to your event, lets your attendees know your firm is in tune with the times and if done right (hashtag your events as an example and invite attendees to share their thoughts) will drive value for your event.

Your Web Site is Still One of Your Most Valuable Assets:

It’s important to think about your web site and conference app as a strategic marketing asset that should be improved and updated on a regular basis. Yes, social profiles are important but the one constant component of just about every event marketing strategy is a web site. PR, advertising, registration, comments from your attendees, connections with your vendors speakers and presenter all take place via your web site. And, your web sit blog gives real meaningful voice to your business.

Mobile will Continue to Mushroom:

We admit it we are mobile focused with our event applications like an event planning app for event planners. But, look at the significant growth in mobile usage the last 2-3 years – approximately 30% of your web site visitors and social media engagement is now generated via mobile or smartphone users and the experts think this number will be over 50% in the 12-18 months. Your event firm needs to think about how to drive deeper and more meaningful engagement with mobile phone users across all of your marketing initiatives. Make sure you mobilize your event – giving your attendees a much more immersive experience.

Marketing is an Essential Skill for Your Business:

Whether you handle 3-5 events a quarter or more, marketing skills are increasingly much more strategic and important for an event company. It helps to differentiate your firm, drives long term benefits: repeat business, incremental attendees for events, drives competitive advantage, etc. And, the knowledge base for effective marketing is now much more sophisticated in years past; our industry is no longer about advertising and event via a targeted publication (local or national). To be successful today, an event planning firm must be knowledgeable about know now to leverage a content marketing strategy, web site design (basic), direct and opt in email marketing, social media marketing, video, pay per click advertising, public relations and much more.

Event App is now an essential part of your marketing mix. Your attendees are not only sitting in the audience during your event and watching and learning, they are now using Event Apps to engage with your Even: speaker info, agenda, registration and more.  As above, smartphone usage is mushrooming and probably a third or more of your attendees are now using Event Apps to participate in your event in a digital context. Make sure you can leverage this trend.

Blogging is critical for driving traffic and engagement via your web site and the very heart of any social media marketing campaign. Here are ten reasons why you want to include blogging as part of you event marketing mix that will in turn help you find more business.

Reasons to blog for event marketing:

1. Blogging drives brand value for your event company and helps you to promote your company as a thought leader in our industry. Your clients want to know you are knowledgeable about events and a blog lets you communicate with and build rapport with potential customers. The belogs also help you drive people to download your mobile event app.

2. Blogging is so critical to a successful social media marketing campaign. Enabling you to share your content with your social connections via Twitter, Facebook and even Pinterest (via images, pictures or videos) – think of a blog as core content to be shared with your connections.

3. Build in a keyword strategy with your blogging which will in turn help you to show up in search engine rankings for targeted keywords (use local or GEO targeted terms when you can) that your potential customers may use to find an event professional.

4. Involve your team with a blog – your customer service and/or sales managers (or staff) can all take turns doing guest posts via your company blog that will let them ‘talk about” a topic that they have an in-depth understanding of the best event app features.

5. Use guest blogging to help promote and or cement your relationship with vendors who you work with – guest posts will also help to give you blog a broader “voice” and broaden the topics that are being referenced. Thes can very crucial when you do conferences and show that you you can manage a wide set of audience.

6. Think about blogging as being more than a one way conversation for your event firm – comments and social sharing impart a broader reach for your blog and make your web site much more dynamic. Blogs are also very effective in promoting your conference app acceptance by the user.

How to write blogs for your event:

7. A blog is an essential part of your overall content marketing strategy – driving traffic to your site, giving you a greater “voice” for your business that will be amplified via social media as others in your industry refer back to your blog and web site.

8. Blogging can be more than text – whip our your smartphone (it’s done every day by many of your peers) and do a “VBlog” that will just be a short interview or Q&A session about a specific topic that you think customers will find interesting. Share how you benefir form the event planning app and how it makes you make your client events a success. Then, just upload into your WordPress blog or web site and don’t forget to share it via a YouTube account.

9. Use WordPress for blogging (we do) – it’s a free platform and can be easily integrated with your web site design or you can use WordPress for your web site. And, there a tens of thousands of plugins that extend the functionality of WordPress.

10. Use social media to “ask” your customers what they would like you to blog about – this will help to drive better engagement with your social media accounts and give you fresh topics to use for Blogging.

11. Remember Event App usage will be one of the ways attendees access your blog – make sure it is mobile ready and can be accessed via top tier smartphones.

A blog should again be an important component of your overall marketing strategy and tactics for your event company – it does so many positive things for your business and again, positions your firm as thought leaders and experts in your field!
You can hire the best event app development company and control your event app cost with Grupio.

Every event planner worth his or her salt knows attendees at any and all events love to network with each other. It’s a great benefit to many, affording opportunities to learn from their peers, find and make new contacts for potential business and/or just cement new or existing relationships with execs in the event industry.

How you actually structure your event or conference has a significant impact on the networking that you attendees are able to do. Remember many attendees get bored watching yet another powerpoint presentation. They welcome an opportunity to interact with others, which in turn breaks up some of the potential monotony. So you might need to upgrade your event app for better engagement.

Here are ten ideas that should help you keep your attendees engaged at your next event.

1. Setup your table seating so those who are in similar industries or organizations can sit together – it’s great to encourage groups of people that come together to break up and sit with some new faces, which in turn fosters more networking.

2. Make sure your attendees are aware of the allocated time during or after an event that will enable them to network with each others. Keep them posted with you mobile conference app.

3. Think about using Facebook and Twitter as virtual water coolers for your attendees. Assign hashtags to your event ahead of time. Enable attendees to easily connect with and engage via social media with others. This will also help to drive greater visibility for your event.

4. Set up group break out sessions or chats during your event that are tailored for specific types of attendees that are attending your event. This helps to foster discussion and engagement and a lot more focused networking opportunities for your attendees. Use the best event app features like notifications and games to keep the ettandees engagaed.

5. Build in R&R time and breaks in your events on a regular basis – these help to keep your attendees interested in the event and some “down time” that lets them network with others, or not, depending on their interests and objectives for your event. Some may just want to take a break and off time helps to keep them refreshed and engaged with the event.

6. Use Q&A Sessions during your conferenc that will also help to drive deeper engagement with your attendees and let them get some sense of others around them (depending on the size of your event). Remember some peer to peer interaction amongst your attendees is a good thing. You event planning app will help you maintaining the database and give people share contacts.

7. Build in social time into your event – with refreshments served on a regular basis. Allow an informal meal or sit down dinner that has no fixed agenda for it and no speaker presentations during the meal.

8. Be aware of the type of space you have selected for your event – if you have a large conference or event set up some informal break out areas that let your attendees gather in smaller groups, which in turn drives networking opportunities.

9. Mix up your presentations and speakers so the event is at a varied pace, giving attendees the opportunity to listen and learn, with frequent breaks that let them relax and again network with others.

10. Have a meaningful mobile device strategy so that attendees with mobile event app. Update then to know when to use their mobile devices and when not to. You want them paying attention to your presentations and networking when/wherever possible.

If you follow these ten basic steps is should help to foster more networking for your attendees and also improve the overall value of your event – keeping your attendees refreshed, engaged and ready to come back to your next scheduled event.