[:en]The more engaged attendees are, the more likely they are to spend time — and money — at your event. Engaged attendees are also more likely to be loyal advocates who return every year.
If you want people to stay focused, you need a few solid audience engagement strategies in place.
In this guide, we’ll cover 18 tips for increasing audience engagement that you can mix and match as you please. Use all of them before, during, and after the event for maximum impact.
Ready, set, engage!
How to increase audience participation before an event
It’s important to engage with your audience before the event. It’ll help you sell more tickets. Active audience participation in the run-up to the event will be a great addition to your marketing.
1- Publish blog posts
Blog about everything that has to do with your event, including the venue, the speakers, the entertainment, the food, and so on. Link to your blog from your event landing page to boost traffic.
2- Create an event hashtag
Create an event hashtag and encourage everyone to use it when they tweet, comment, or post about your event. It will keep all social media posts in one space for everyone to see.
3- Design a table and seating plan
Look at the floor plan for the venue and think about where people will stand and sit. Design it in a way that encourages conversation, networking, and engagement with the event programme.
4- Leverage influencers online
Team up with an influencer in your industry who can help you reach more people prior to the event. Even better, invite them along to the event so they update their following live and direct.
5- Book compelling speakers or performers
All conferences need good speakers that the attendees will love. But even if your event is not traditionally set up for live performances, a few good acts can spice things up.
6- Know your audience
The more you know about your attendees, the better you’ll be able to create an engaging event programme that encourages audience participation. Don’t leave anything to chance.
7- Run a giveaway contest
Social media giveaways a great way to spread awareness and sell tickets. Not only that, but they also allow your audience to contribute user-generated media prior to your event.
8- Research audience engagement tools
There are a number of apps that will assist you with live polling, sharing media, and gaining audience insights during the event. Find out which ones could benefit you the most.
How to increase audience participation during an event
During the event, you have the attendees where you want them. Let’s look at how to engage attendees at an event to keep everyone’s eyeballs on the action.
1- Make it entertaining or informative
The number one rule in content marketing is that it has to be fun or interesting…or both. The same goes for your event content. Make sure that you grab and maintain people’s attention.
2- Run live polls
The speaking sessions will be more interactive if you integrate a live poll. Let the audience vote on things related to the talk or performance.
3- Set up a competition
In addition to the giveaway contests before the event, you can also run crowd engagement games on the day. Give out prizes to the winners and host a small award ceremony.
4- Use an event app
Event apps are industry standard, but not all apps are created equal. Make sure your event app encourages attendees to like or comment on the different aspects of the event programme.
5- Update the socials
Keep everyone in the loop by updating the social media accounts for your event. Make sure you use the hashtag and ask attendees to comment on and share your updates.
6- Host an afterparty
If your attendees have been sitting in on talks or watched performances all day, give them time to shine. Organize an afterparty or networking lunch where they can interact.
7- Host a Q&A
Question and answer sessions are a great way to engage the audience. If they’ve seen an interesting speaker, they will no doubt have questions they’d like to ask.
How to increase audience participation after an event
Audience engagement shouldn’t stop just because the event is over. Now is the time to ask for feedback, so you can plan for your next event and make it even more awesome.
1- Send out a survey
Questions always drive engagement, so make sure you send out a post-event survey. Not only will attendees feel more valued, but you’ll also gain useful insights for your next event.
2- Thank everyone
If you’ve hosted a small event, then a “thank you” email or letter might be more appropriate. A personalized note will let the attendees know that you appreciated their company.
3- Share highlights
You should’ve captured as many moments as possible on camera during the event. Share them on social media, use the event hashtag, and ask people to share their own highlights.
Engage!
You’ve now got your arsenal packed with audience engagement strategies. Make sure that anyone looking at their phone is looking at your event updates and nothing else.
Drop us a comment below to let us know how you get on—and feel free to share any tips we might’ve missed!
Use Event Management System for Managing your Events
InLogic’s Event Management System provides a wide range of features that help manage events with ease. You can use it to event registration, generate leads for your event, optimize your attendee journey, and analyze data to improve performance.
The best event management software puts everything you need in one place, making it easier for you to plan, market, and produce your event. It promotes engagement at every stage and gives you hard data along the way, helping you improve the ROI for your organization and your attendees.
[:]