As more and more brands are turning to events for digital marketing, event marketers need to find ways to improve the event experience, via an event platform. Since your consumers are, often for the first time, interacting with your brand through a virtual event or a hybrid event, it can be difficult to gauge how well your brand is being perceived and the ways your attendees are enjoying the experience. For brands with a smaller budget, or perhaps those who don’t take their event seriously, they might use a streaming service and other pieces of software to host and then promote their event. However, it’s far easier to run an event with an all-in-one event platform as it keeps everything organized for managing an event in one place. On top of that, event marketers will have streamlined access to analytics, insights, and leads. Naturally, making the jump to an all-in-one event management software might seem daunting. However, it doesn’t have to be, and it is often far easier and not much more expensive than one-off or streaming services. So, here are 16 reasons why you should choose an all-in-one virtual event software:
Simply put, an all-in-one virtual event platform keeps all of your event data in one spot. From knowing your attendee demographics to understanding revenue and managing your presenters, everything can be housed within the all-in-one event platform. This makes running your event far easier and less stressful. With a platform like Accelevents, you’ll know that your online registration and ticketing are already handled. You can easily access insights into your attendees and then collect data on popular sessions, attendee interests, potential leads, and more. By keeping all this data in one place, an event marketer or event organizer can run the event better. Whether this is making changes on the fly or collecting data for post-event, there are more possibilities here, and managing this data is far easier.
One of the best parts of event management software is that it provides event analytics. Event analytics will tell you details about your attendees, the number of sessions they attended, popular sessions, and things raised in polls, Q&As, live chats, and more. You want to collect all of this information, and sometimes it can be a full-time job if using streaming software. So, using event-planning software brings this information front and center. In reality, comprehensive event platforms provide streamlined post-event analytics, perfect for future marketing campaigns and targeted lead tracking.
The attendees that sign up for your online event are potential customers, so you want to easily plug their data into your CRM software or email marketing software. Whether you are running a virtual event, in-person event, or a hybrid event, an all-in-one-platform can be easily used for ticketing/registration and then easily integrate into your marketing software. The same goes for accounting. See your ticket sales in the clear dashboard and import financial data into your accounting software, like Quickbooks.
Ticketing and registration typically come as ingrained features of an all-in-one event platform like Accelevents. This can alleviate a lot of work ahead of the event. Event organizers do not need to integrate a streaming platform with a payment gateway or ticketing platform just to get the ball rolling. This also eliminates the chance for integration or API failures, which could cause major headaches. You don’t want to lose track of your attendees as this can reflect poorly on your brand, on the event organizers, and you can lose potential customers. With included ticketing and registration, this demographics data can be quickly imported into your CRM software too!
Event platforms are largely used for virtual events, however, they also allow event marketers the chance to host hybrid events. These platforms enable high-quality streams from 4k video cameras set up at the venue. They also allow for hybrid interactions. In-person attendees can often access the mobile event app for scheduling and event details. They can also interact with the online audience!
Because all-in-one event platforms come with analytics, they allow your brand to tap into targeted customer avatars or buyer personas. See which sessions your audience attended or if a certain demographic or buyer personas attended a unique session. From these tracking metrics, build customer avatars and then implement these avatars as unique marketing streams in your email marketing software.
Oh yes, sophisticated event platforms like Accelevents often come with a mobile event app, which allows users the ability to track the event sessions, register for event sessions, and connect with others through the online terminal. If you used a streaming service or a boutique event platform, then you might not be able to tap into the free event app that comes with all-in-one event platforms like Accelevents, and you can’t provide this perk to attendees. Event brands also have access to their own unique event website or landing page and marketing materials, like an event brand.
Lead retrieval is one of the primary reasons brands want to host virtual events in the first place.
Therefore, there needs to be an easy way to get these leads synced up through the event registration site onto the CRM or email marketing software. Luckily, lead retrieval is effortless with an all-in-one webinar platform. Keep your leads organized and categorized so that you can tap into them when you want. With lead management capabilities and integrations, event organizers won’t need to do a lot of lead management following the event.
All-in-one event platforms allow brands to stay ultra-connected to their event attendees.
If you want to keep your attendees connected following the event, you can send out dedicated invites to select attendees. Create communities following the event and sync them back up to the event platform for later, more exclusive events. There is a lot that can be done with this platform, and it doesn’t have to end when your event does. Additionally, all-in-one event platforms like Accelevents easily connect brands to their social media pages, opening new avenues for social media marketing and attendee engagement.
Because you can protect your content behind a paywall, you can better offer exclusivity in marketing. Even if your event is free, you can build the FOMO by marketing the event content, presenters, and activities that will only be available to those who register and attend the event. At the very least, you will be able to use this exclusivity to grow your registrations and lead capturing. While this is possible for one-off streaming services, it is more difficult. All-in-one event platforms allow you to do this (seamlessly) so you can easily host and provide livestreams , and scale your growth goals.
Event platforms are more than just live streams and live chats. Now they are capable of hosting virtual conferences. Event planners can design a virtual conference, and then attendees can navigate to new areas within the conference. Whether they are in the exhibitor’s section and speaking with someone at a virtual booth during a trade show or they are attending a one-on-one coffee chat with a presenter, attendees can glean new experiences through event platforms. Most comprehensive event platforms allow for gamification as well, which provides more audience engagement and increased brand approval rates. Some comprehensive event platforms allow for augmented reality (AR), so you can create navigable and impressive virtual spaces. Others incorporate virtual reality (VR), so the virtual event experience is even more immersive. VR and AR are amazing tools that can improve the attendee experience at virtual events and encourage more people to see that a virtual event is worth attending!
If you rely on sponsors to run your event, then you need effective ways to give back to them and to promote them. When using streaming services or a webinar platform, you may be limited to the main feed and only access a few badges. However, in an all-in-one event platform, you can promote sponsors in more areas. Sponsors can be represented in the trade show booths, in every session, in the social spaces, and in awards and participant badges. Offer sponsorship tiers that come with different levels of promotion and access. The highest level sponsors can be used for the keynote address, the naming of the virtual great hall, or the naming of the event itself.
Some streaming services allow for text fundraising and other integrated fundraising features; however, tracking fundraising goals and connecting with your audience might not be easy to do simultaneously, and it might take on a patchwork feel. Luckily, an all-in-one virtual event platform, like Accelevents, can improve your event success with fully integrated fundraising capabilities, including text-to-give, silent auctions, raffles, and fund-a-need. Allow your attendees to sign up through the non-profit ticketing system and then easily connect with bidders. Push notifications can be sent to guests that check-in to know when the bidding or fundraising starts.
One of the biggest challenges to online events is the ability to network. Networking is undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons why conferences, business meetings, and events are successful. Therefore, brands need intelligent ways to provide networking opportunities online, so attendees still feel inclined to participate. All-in-one virtual event platforms have features like live chat, private messages, one-on-one or “speed dating” style networking, and small break-out sessions to help facilitate this.
Online events are stressful, so an all-in-one virtual platform makes managing an event and the virtual attendees far easier. The platform provides everything you need, so you don’t have to go to another software or connect another service to get rolling. This makes managing your audience and the data that the event provides far easier. You can also focus on delivering better audience engagement and worry less about your platform requirements.
Audience engagement is number one when it comes to hosting a successful event. Without an engaged audience, you could lose potential leads. You could also turn away people from your brand if the technology is off-putting. Platforms also give attendees the opportunity to engage better with the brand, and they are less distracted by the tech or potential tech issues. Because of this, event organizers can commit to the audience better. Simply put, all-in-one event platforms provide more opportunities for brands and also ease up on managing the event technology.
