Online event registration is an essential part of the planning process, but it’s easy to think that having a simple registration form on your website is enough. In reality, there are many additional features and benefits you can offer to make the process easier for attendees and more profitable for you. Here are five innovative features that every online event registration should have.
Pre-Registration
Pre-registration is a great way to encourage people to register early. However, there are some things you can do to make sure registration goes smoothly and everyone gets their tickets in the right place.
Make sure your event doesn’t have more than one registration form. If it does, ask yourself why. Is there really a need for two different ways of registering? If not, then merge them into one form that covers all bases (e.g., payment options).
Also make sure that your event has no duplicate registrations or multiple registrations with different information – this is especially important if you’re running an open house where people can walk through at any time without registering first! This type of activity can cause problems later on when distributing tickets because some people may think they’ve already paid when they haven’t actually done so yet due to double/triple bookings or simply forgetting about making an initial payment altogether.
Email Reminders
In addition to your online event registration, you can also send email reminders to attendees. The best time to send these reminders is before the registration deadline or when it’s likely that they will be interested in registering.
Reminders are an effective way of encouraging people who haven’t yet registered, or those who are close to the registration deadline, to complete their registrations as soon as possible. You can also use this feature when someone has not paid their fees (and may therefore not be able to attend), or if you suspect someone might have forgotten about your event altogether!
Social Media Integration
Social media integration is a must-have feature for any event website. If you’re planning to promote your event on social media, it’s important that your registration platform has the ability to integrate with those channels.
You can use this feature to gather information about attendees and create a community around your event. For example, if someone registers for your event on Facebook or Twitter, they’ll be prompted with an option asking them what their interests are so that they can join relevant groups or receive notifications from other users who share similar interests (such as fellow photographers).
Mobile App Support
Mobile apps are a great way to increase engagement and provide an additional layer of service for your attendees. They can be used to collect data, send reminders, check in attendees and share information about the event.
- Collect Data: Use mobile apps to collect information from your audience during an event. This could include surveys or contact information for future communications with attendees (e-newsletters).
- Send Reminders: If you have an app that allows users to sign up for reminders before the event begins, make sure you are sending those out! This will help ensure that all of your guests know what time they need to arrive at the venue, so they don’t miss out on anything important like speakers or breakouts sessions.
- Share Information: Event planners often want tools available during events, so they can easily share live updates with other staff members back at headquarters who may not be able to create these posts themselves (i.e., social media managers).
Event Day Check-In
The most important thing to do on event day is to check in attendees. You can use a check-in system that allows you to print badges, name tags, and lanyards for each attendee. This will ensure that all your guests have the correct badge and lanyard for the event–and it will also help you track who came when they said they would (or didn’t).
You’ll want to provide an updated list of attendees to your event staff, so they know who is there on time versus who may have come late or left early due to an emergency situation or other reason.
You can also check in your guests by using a sign-in sheet. This is especially useful for events that are free and open to the public, such as concerts or comedy shows. You’ll want to have someone keep track of who comes in, so you know how many people have arrived and when they will be arriving later on during the event (if there are any latecomers).
Online Registration Software Can Help You Run a Smooth and Successful Event
Here are some of the innovative features that online event registration platforms offer:
- Pre-registration helps with planning. You can collect information about attendees before they arrive at your event, which is useful for planning purposes. This includes their names, contact information and dietary restrictions.
- Email reminders help with attendance. If people forget that they signed up for an event or get busy with other things in their lives, they might not show up! Email reminders are sent out to remind them that it’s time for them to attend (and hopefully bring along friends).
- Social media integration helps with promotion – don’t forget about this powerful tool! Integrating social media into your registration system means you can promote upcoming events on Facebook or Twitter without having to spend extra time doing so manually yourself; this also gives attendees another way of finding out about new opportunities from you in addition to email notifications from inside the platform itself.”
Conclusion
We hope that this post has given you some helpful ideas on how to use online registration software to make your next event a success. The best part about this type of software is that it can be tailored to fit any type of event and budget. So whether you’re planning an intimate dinner party or an elaborate wedding reception, there will always be something here for everyone!