The UK events industry is growing at an impressive rate. Encapsulating more than 25,000 businesses – ranging from organisers and venues to marketing organisations and suppliers – the sector is now worth more than £42.3 billion.
However, the events industry is changing; spanning business and consumer events, the entire industry is in the midst of an exciting transformation at present, fuelled by changing demands, new digital trends and technological innovations. People are looking for new experiences when they attend an event – an unconventional venue, innovative food and drink options, or maybe even just the promise of some unusual activity like mini golf or retro arcade games.
So how can organisers ensure their event is a success? And what role can technology play in empowering those who are pulling the strings?
Organising a successful event
Ensure Wi-Fi is available
Access to fast, reliable Wi-Fi is integral to any event. The social pressure of staying connected and maintaining an online presence has driven up social media use to soaring levels.
Providing a reliable, fast internet connection at an event’s venue is therefore key in catering to the technological expectations of attendants. In fact, a recent survey found that 79% of event planners believe Wi-Fi availability and performance is still one of their biggest challenges.
The advantages on offer from good Wi-Fi is not just limited to those attending; the event’s organisers also stand to benefit. By sharing their experiences in real-time through social media platforms such as Twitter and lnstagram, attendees can promote the event to a wider audience – it is a simple and cost-effective way of boosting awareness of an event and enticing new customers for future events. Put another way, an investment in Wi-Fi will quickly be rewarded.
Provide an experience
A focus on providing an experience, rather than just an event, is essential in the changing climate. People nowadays are seeking memorable events that give them the opportunity to try new activities or experience new things. And enticing attendees can be as simple as offering quirky surroundings or unusual cuisines. The rise in restaurant pop-ups and food festivals, for example, reflects the growing desire to try something new.
Again, technology can help. Take virtual reality (VR) headsets, as an example. If you were attending a property exhibition, let’s say, estate agents can now provide prospective buyers with a virtual tour of the properties they are trying to sell via a VR headset, enabling them to walk through the space as if they were there. It is a fantastic way for a company that is paying large amounts of money to exhibit at the event to ensure it is enticing prospective customers – simultaneously, it delivers a new and exciting experience for those who have travelled to the exhibition.
Marketing a successful event
Take advantage of marketing technology
Hosting a great event is one thing, the other challenge is ensuring as many people as possible attend it. Unfortunately, marketing an event has traditionally been a time-consuming endeavour. Manually making individual listings on different event sites or social media pages in the hope of securing ticket sales or registrations can often be an inefficient and cumbersome process. Thankfully, a wide range of solutions exist that can help.
With most people nowadays discovering events through listing sites and social media platforms, digital innovations such as Evvnt can simplify the process of attracting attendees, making sure an event has the biggest possible reach.
Having built up a network of partner websites used for marketing events, Evvnt’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool delivers widespread awareness of events by automating the listing process. By completing a single listing, this can then be aggregated among thousands of other sites – saving organisers time and money while boosting visibility significantly.
Utilise the power of social media
Social media is also a valuable resource at every event organiser’s disposal – after all, nearly 25% of traffic to ticketing and registration pages coming from social media platforms.
Yet some social media networks might be more effective for your event than others, so choosing the right platform to focus on is important. Facebook, for instance, is a great platform for creating events, sharing updates, and engaging followers. LinkedIn, meanwhile, can be used to promote B2B events like industry networking, where explaining the professional benefits of an event is more likely to engage potential customers than well-chosen visuals. And so forth.
Ultimately, keeping up with new trends and changing expectations can be difficult for those planning an event. Nonetheless, making creative use of the technological solutions on offer allows organisers to not only host a fantastic event, but also cost-effectively market it to a specific audience.
Richard Green, CEO and founder, Evvnt