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For conference success, Mobile apps are rapidly becoming a must-have addition. But what works for conferencing apps and why? In this digital age, technology is a central aspect if you’re in the event or conference planning industry.
Conference apps provide an opportunity to offer an interactive version of your program and proceedings with a feature to connect with delegates immediately. Navigation, picking agendas and getting crucial updates from chairs, networks and attendees feedback, everything becomes easier with apps. Need a positive return on your investments? You should build an app today.But with the ever-changing technology and shifting landscape of mobile apps, how do you choose what’s important? We have curated a guide that will help you with the insights and benefits of using events app along with broader and smaller issues to keep in mind while purchasing or building a mobile conference app. Let’s dig deeper into the nitty-gritty of why you need a mobile app.
Connecting with fellow professionals is one of the main reasons for delegates to attend conferences. Messaging and profile features built into a conference app can help facilitate existing relationships between delegates as well as help then identify new ones they would like to meet. Whether it’s meeting new people or checking the RSVPed members who’ll attend the event, the benefits of a conference app are as clear as day.
Having parallel sessions in conferences is not a new thing, so one way or the other you are bound to miss something. Apart from multiple sessions, they are differentiated according to tracks, topics, time limit, as it can be a challenge for delegates to find the session they prefer. Mobile apps simplify the process of finding the session that the delegates are most interested in. It gives the users free rein to browse sessions and add them to their schedule so that they know what they are going to do and when instead of roaming around and wasting time.
Sponsorships are the backbone of any good conference that is a platform for both sponsors and delegates. Using a mobile app allows the sponsors to check the delegates directly. Sponsored surveys, pages and offers are some sponsorship methods that mobile conference apps can be used for. There is no better way to upsell your sponsorship packages than exposing delegates to the sponsors, this is a great opportunity that can not and should not be missed.
To improve the delegate experience for the next conference, feedback on your current or ongoing conference is crucial. The real-time data that you can collect from your delegates is one of the most valuable benefits of using a mobile conference app. Polls and surveys mid sessions, anytime during the event or after the completion of the event, you can try whatever suits your needs or fulfills your requirement.
Event planners now see event planning app as a part of the event rather than an add-on feature, they expect to have one at their event. For shortlisting the mobile app they are going to use, it boils down to the following factors: whether it can integrate with other software, if the cost is within a budget limit, the level of support they can get or should expect throughout the event and the visual appeal and user-friendly design of the app.
You might have an idea about your main reason why you need the conference app. However, the marketplace is filled with options for you to choose from. While you may come across a lot of fancy and extravagant features, make sure you choose and pay for the ones that are useful for you. To help you get a basic idea about the features you can get, read ahead.
Apps make networking easier, and it is the driving force behind the success of any event. Social media can complement and increase your networking on a large scale. Social media sharing and active link for the delegates social media accounts is a really good feature to add. It makes connections easier during the event along with great publicity at a low cost.
The ideal time when the delegates should be able to access the app is 2 weeks before the event. To get things done quickly, multiple editors should be given the task to access and modify the features. The authorization can vary according to the roles and responsibilities and it’ll help you keep a check on everything e.g. admin access should be restricted for the managerial posts only and the interns can work on the features for the operational aspects of the event. An app with a sub-admin feature would suffice this need.
Content personalization is a must for every business out there. The reason is engagement and a higher delegate engagement rate. This means higher the number of sponsors will get higher exposure and that means more chances of publicity for them. Make sure to check the features of user experience before you shortlist any conference apps.
With a million things to do you can’t assume that there won’t be any last-minute edit requirements. No matter where you are, keep your laptop or device handy and be ready for any last-minute crop ups. Try platforms or apps that allow any changes or edits to your conference apps right from your phone.
Your mobile app should have the ability to differentiate between early-career attendees from cohort keynote speakers. It should help you ensure that you treat them accordingly. Make sure that any app you’re shopping or building allows you to target notifications to groups of delegates. E.g. people who are attending a particular session, or even one specific delegate when he cancels a session or you might want them to know about certain sponsorships, etc. This will ensure you don’t spam everyone each time you send a message.
Some sections need to be addressed before you narrow down your options and make the final decision. It will help you get a clearer picture of the mobile app that best suits your conference’s strategy.
Before you go ahead and try to decide which app is best, you and your team should have your priorities set. Grade every aspect of your plan according to their relevance and importance. It will help you eliminate last-minute disagreements and make it easier for the provider to meet your needs.
Understand the demands of your users to narrow down your list. Think from the user perspective, different people with different requirements will be using your app. Try to prioritize and clarify which functionality is important and what you can skip.
Chatbots and Artificial intelligence are making their capabilities and presence known. Technology is still new to the industry however, mobile conference apps have embraced and adapted AI nicely. Personal assistants like Siri, Google, and Alexa, can help in identifying new contacts and can make completing monotonous tasks easier for us.
It is important to assign tasks to your team members once you finalize the app. Make sure you know who is responsible for what e.g. persuading all the exhibitors, daily logs and ask speakers to upload their information timely, etc. Involve them in shortlisting the features for your app. They will bear the day to day responsibility so getting them involved will be a good shout.
Timely support is the most important thing when choosing a company to outsource your event organizer app. If something goes wrong on the event day or close to it, instead of panicking make sure that your team is there to help you. A chatbot won’t do where human involvement is required. They can only perform preinstalled/programmed functions.
UI/UX is really important when it comes to building a mobile conference app. Your app should match the branding of your event. It should be clean and modern with fine visuals and user-friendly UI that users of all ages can easily navigate. Apart from that make sure your backend process is smooth too, it will ensure that future developers can work on it easily in case you have any changes down the line.
What if everything’s going fine but the wifi is down? Any functional app will be useless without an internet connection. What if the traffic is too much and your app hangs. Make sure you have a plan to remedy these issues. Get your service provider to guarantee you about handling last-minute issues and ask for a plan on how the app would function in circumstances like these.
You might not get the luxury of spending weeks to analyze and test the app. There’s no such thing as an ideal app, it is an ever-evolving process. From visuals, security, features, sponsorship, and marketing there are n number of things to take care of. Before your event goes live, make sure you have narrowed down the shortlist after getting a quick demo of your white label event app. Everything will be fine, just go for it.