Organizing an event is a complex task, and guaranteeing that participants remain engaged throughout the event can be an even more difficult challenge. However, participant engagement is essential for the triumph of any occasion, whether it’s a conference, trade show, or product launch. In this guide, we will offer you practical suggestions and tactics to amplify participant engagement at your upcoming event.
Engage with attendees before the event by generating excitement. Develop a specific hashtag that will serve as a hub for all content related to your event. This will provide an easy and convenient way for your fans and attendees to engage with you, the event, and fellow participants.
You can conveniently search for everything by simply clicking on the hashtag. Additionally, you can easily discover and track discussions about your event. Create a social media wall to showcase conversations from various networks all in one location.
Monitor your event hashtag and gather all the content on a social media wall.
Promote your event by actively encouraging people to share everything related to it using your designated hashtag. You can enhance the visibility of your hashtag by incorporating it across various platforms such as flyers, promotional materials, your website, and newsletter.
Generate anticipation and interest by posting pictures from past events on social media with your designated hashtag.
Enhance your ticket sales page by incorporating social sharing features. Utilize a social sharing button on your ticket sales “thank you” page, allowing those who have already purchased a ticket to effortlessly promote your event to others.
Promote your Social Wall
Utilize the existing network of your speakers or lecturers by involving them in your social media campaign. Create brief social media posts to promote your speakers, include your hashtag, and tag them. When they share your content with their own followers, it will help spread the word about your event.
Dr. Sundeep Dhillon, also known as @XtremeEverest on Twitter, has conducted medical research in various extreme environments such as deserts, jungles, and the highest mountains around the world. This information was shared by TEDxLondon on June 8, 2016, through a tweet that included a picture of Dr. Dhillon.
For this purpose, it is effective to use posts with GIFs like what TEDxLondon has done, or image posts that include a photo of the speaker and a quote related to their talk topic. Visual content provides a concise way to inform people about your event, the speaker, and the content of their talk. Generally, speakers are willing to repost such content to their own followers, but it is important to seek their permission beforehand.
Make sure to add your event hashtag to the image posts. When users click on it, they will be able to discover other speaker introductions and access additional information about your event.
Organize a competition to maximize attendee participation
Competitions are an effective method to promote your message, increase interaction, and broaden your audience. Motivate potential attendees to share something in order to have a chance to win a prize, such as a complimentary ticket, a VIP experience, or any other event-related reward.
You have the option to request them to leave a comment on your Facebook post or share a photo on Twitter or Instagram. You can include in the contest rules that participants must include your event hashtag in their posts in order to help promote your event to a wider audience.
Utilize videos
It is widely known that videos are a crucial component of the internet, especially on social media platforms. It is projected that by 2020, videos will account for 82% of all consumer internet traffic.
Videos have the ability to convey intricate ideas in a concise manner, even more effectively than images. They are attention-grabbing, easily comprehensible, and frequently shared. In fact, they are shared 1200% more often than text and images combined.
Make a captivating and concise promotional video or GIF for your event and associate it with your hashtag.
Influencer Marketing
Attracting influencers to use your hashtag can have a significant impact on your event. However, influencer marketing can be challenging and overwhelming. It is crucial to identify influencers who align with your event’s theme or brand. It’s beneficial if their followers slightly differ from your existing follower base, as this allows you to broaden your reach and target a new audience with their assistance.
After determining the appropriate influencers, extend an invitation to them for your event and negotiate an agreement. In case your event is held annually, establish and nurture a connection with your influencers. Their continuous presence at your events will significantly influence their followers. Request them to utilize your hashtag when promoting your event.
Online Pre-events
Organize online pre-events to engage potential attendees before the main event. By hosting an exciting pre-event, you can generate excitement and increase attendee engagement. This will also provide potential attendees with a preview of what they can expect at the main event, giving them more incentive to purchase a ticket. It also offers an opportunity for you and your influencers to persuade them to attend.
Utilize Google Hangouts to arrange a conversation between influential individuals or organize a webinar if it aligns with the theme of your event. Conduct a Twitter chat to actively interact with your audience regarding the subject matter, allowing them to ask questions and receive answers. Optimize your reach by live streaming interviews with your speakers through platforms like Periscope or Facebook Live, as live videos tend to perform three times better than pre-recorded ones.
Updated Social Profiles
It is important to regularly update your social profiles as they serve as the initial impression for your audience. When people come across your tweet or post shared by someone else, they will likely visit your profile to learn more about you. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that your profiles are always up to date.
Make sure to have a link to your website and event hashtag in your profile. Additionally, take advantage of the pinning feature on Twitter and Facebook. Pin the most important post related to your event, such as the link to purchase tickets, the latest promotion for a speaker, or the call for audience participation in a contest, and make sure to keep it updated.
When people visit your profile on Social Spider, the first thing they will see is your profile information and your pinned post or tweet. It is important to regularly update this information to ensure it is always up to date.
Tips for maintaining attendee engagement throughout the event
Engage in live-tweeting during your event to enhance its value for both onsite attendees and those remotely following the event. Share notable quotes from the talks in real-time and post pictures capturing various aspects of the event, such as on-stage moments, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and overall atmosphere, including the audience.
For a successful online attendee experience, it is crucial to not only share your own posts but also engage with others who are posting about your event. By actively interacting with their posts, you can keep your attendees satisfied and motivate them to continue sharing their own content.
Creating a hashtag for your event will simplify the process of keeping track of posts related to it. However, it is recommended to continuously search for your event on Twitter in case someone tweets about it without using the designated hashtag.
Monitor your own hashtag on Social Spider, engage with user-generated content by liking, reposting, and replying to it. This will help keep people motivated and make them feel valued for their contributions.
Gather user-generated content and simplify participation by utilizing QR codes. QR codes offer an affordable and captivating solution for activating events. They enable event planners to provide attendees with an interactive experience, while also gathering data and monitoring attendance. Here are some suggestions for utilizing QR codes for event activation:
Generate entertaining polls on your event screen and allow attendees to easily and instantly participate by scanning a QR code.
Social Spider offers QR codes that can be used to direct attendees to a conversation platform where they can contribute by posting messages or photos on your social wall display. This interactive method provides a simple and enjoyable way to gather user-generated content from the event participants.
Using QR codes to gather feedback is important for streamlining the feedback process for your event participants. By utilizing QR codes, you can make the process efficient and easy for attendees by directing them straight to a poll on your social media platform. This will result in feedback that is more precise, timely, and beneficial.
Using social media is crucial for engaging attendees, so make sure to prioritize it. Create a social media wall at a central spot during your event and inform participants about it and the designated hashtag. Highlight the event hashtag and social wall in your program or event app, if applicable.
Include the designated hashtag on the slides displayed during the event and make sure the MC mentions it, encouraging attendees to share their posts. To enhance audience interaction, allow them to ask questions through social media, which the MC can then ask the speakers on stage.
Place the hashtag on banners at the venue of your event or if you prefer a more affordable option, display printed materials featuring the hashtag and the link to your social wall. Additionally, it would be helpful to have a couple of signs directing people to the actual location of the social wall.
Create a tangible social wall by accessing your Social Spider URL and projecting your wall onto a TV screen or through a projector. Set up a few standing tables in front of the screen to encourage people to gather and interact with each other. The social wall will serve as an effective way to break the ice among attendees.
Increase attendee engagement at your event by live-streaming it. Live-streaming video is highly appealing to audiences, so you might want to consider using platforms like Periscope or Facebook Live to stream your event. Even if you want to keep the main event and stage activities exclusive to ticket holders, you can still create and stream interesting content from other areas of the event. Utilize breaks to interview attendees and speakers about their experience at the event or showcase additional exhibition spaces you have at the venue.
Observing the impressive nature of your event will stimulate people’s interest in attending your future events. Additionally, attendees can make the most of the supplementary content by accessing it on their smartphones or tablets during breaks.
Create a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) among people who didn’t attend the event by motivating attendees and speakers to share their experiences and thoughts about your event using the designated hashtag. This way, their posts will reach not only their own followers but also those who are following your event through the official hashtag.
If you are planning a recurring event series, whether it happens monthly or annually, it is advisable to maintain the same hashtag. By doing so, individuals interested in attending your event in 2023, can easily review what took place during the 2022 event. This will provide them with an understanding of what to anticipate and potentially motivate them to purchase a ticket.
Encourage sharing to occur
Sharing doesn’t typically happen by chance. In most cases, you need to facilitate it and proactively generate opportunities for attendees to share at your event. This is the key to engaging your attendees and making sharing effortless.
Having a photo booth that automatically shares photos on Twitter and includes your event hashtag in the posts can be an effective strategy to increase your event’s presence on social media. Additionally, incorporating social media voting and giveaways during the event can encourage attendees to share on social media platforms. Utilizing items like lanyards, badges, goodie bags, and team t-shirts can also help promote your event.
Craft a blog entry
Compose a blog post that provides an insightful overview of your event, highlighting its main aspects. Incorporate a slideshow containing photos to give readers a glimpse of the event’s atmosphere, as well as the most noteworthy social media content shared by other attendees. Additionally, consider creating individual blog posts for each presentation or talk.
When you post your blog articles on social media, make sure to use your event hashtag and mention the individuals whose social media posts you have featured. This will notify them about it and they will likely be pleased to see their tweets included in a collection. As a result, they are more likely to share the blog post with their own followers.
Take a look
Social Spider creates some great blog posts that summarize the discussions in #bufferchat!
Utilize the Social Spider to showcase your event on social media. After your event, take the opportunity to carefully select and highlight the best content on the wall. Then, you can use the social wall as a way to display and promote your event. You can include a link to it in press releases, future promotional materials, or when discussing potential sponsorships for your upcoming event.
Engage with your audience even after your event is over to maintain their interest. Request feedback from them and make an effort to address any issues raised. Instead of disregarding negative feedback, respond to it and make an attempt to resolve the problem in order to ensure the satisfaction of your audience.
FAQs on attendee engagement
What does it mean to have attendee engagement?
Attendee engagement is the measure of how involved, active, and interactive attendees are during an event. When attendees are engaged, they are more likely to participate in sessions, connect with other attendees, and leave the event feeling satisfied.
Why is it crucial to have engaged attendees?
Having engaged attendees is essential for the success of any event. When attendees are actively involved and interested, they are more likely to have a positive experience, which can result in greater brand recognition, customer loyalty, and ultimately, the growth of the business.
What can I do to increase participant involvement at my event?
There are numerous strategies to enhance participant involvement at your event, such as tailoring the experience to individuals, organizing interactive sessions, utilizing social media platforms, incorporating gamification elements, facilitating networking opportunities, and providing readily accessible content.
What are some instances of interactive sessions?
Interactive sessions can come in various formats, like roundtable conversations, hands-on workshops, real-time polling, and question and answer sessions. These sessions enable participants to actively take part and interact with the material.
How can I utilize social media to enhance attendee participation?
By incorporating social media, you can generate anticipation leading up to the event, interact with attendees during the event, and sustain the conversation even after the event concludes. To achieve this, establish hashtags specifically for the event, motivate attendees to share their experiences on social media, and utilize social media platforms to deliver immediate updates and pertinent details.
What is Social Spider?
Social Spider is the integration of game-like elements into non-game settings, like events. By introducing challenges, rewards, and competition, Social Spider can enhance the participation and drive of attendees.
How can I offer content whenever it is needed?
You have the option to offer on-demand content by recording sessions and keynote speeches and making them accessible on your website or via a mobile application. This enables attendees to catch up on any sessions they might have missed or rewatch their preferred sessions at a time that suits them.
How crucial is networking for engaging attendees?
Networking is a major incentive for attendees to participate in events. By offering organized networking occasions like speed networking, roundtables, and meet-and-greets, you can facilitate connections between attendees and enhance their involvement in the event.
