Harnessing the Power of Event Apps for Post-Event Marketing
Congratulations if you just hosted your event or are about to host it! This is a massive step for your business growth. However, here’s something you must consider—the end of an event is just the beginning of a new marketing journey.
Events are rarely a one-time done-and-dusted affair. They are meant to be a part of a bigger puzzle. Just like there’s a pre-event marketing campaign, there also has to be a post-event marketing campaign. This is where you move the attendees towards the desired action.
This guide will explore the power of event apps in post-event marketing, a crucial yet often overlooked aspect. We’ll delve into innovative strategies to extend the life of your event, keeping attendees engaged and transforming them into active participants in your brand’s story. Let’s dive in!
What is Post-Event Marketing? Why is it Important?
Post-event marketing is the strategic approach taken after an event to continue engaging with attendees and leveraging the momentum generated.
It is vital because it extends the life of the event, transforming one-time interactions into ongoing conversations and relationships.
Post-event marketing is important because:
- This phase is crucial for reinforcing your message, nurturing leads, and maximizing the return on investment (ROI) from the event.
- You get to move attendees further down your user acquisition funnel.
- It helps in gathering feedback, analyzing attendee behavior, and using these insights for future improvements.
- It’s an opportunity to solidify connections and convert attendees into loyal customers or brand advocates.
- You ensure the event’s impact resonates well beyond its actual time frame, and drive sustained engagement.
What are the Benefits of Using an Event App?
Using event apps for events offers several benefits:
- Enhanced engagement: Event apps facilitate better attendee interaction and engagement. This is done through features like live polling, Q&A sessions, and networking tools.
- Real-time updates: Apps provide a platform for real-time communication. This allows organizers to update attendees about any changes/information instantly.
- Data collection and analysis: You know how huge data is for marketing. Event apps enable the collection of valuable data on attendee behavior and preferences. This can be used for future event planning and marketing strategies.
- Streamlined event management: Event apps streamline various aspects of event management, from registration to feedback collection, making the process more efficient.
- Personalized experience for attendees: Event apps can offer personalized content and recommendations, enhancing the overall attendee experience.
How to Leverage Event Apps for Post-Event Marketing?
Now that you are convinced of the importance of event apps, let’s take a look at how you can leverage them for post-event marketing:
1. Share ‘Thank You’ Notes
The first step is to express gratitude to attendees post-event. This personal touch can make a lasting impression. You can do this through your event app and combine it with a thank-you email sent within 24 hours of the event. Make sure to highlight key moments and invite continued engagement
You can take this a step further and use the event app, social media, and outbound emails to share fond memories or inside jokes. Event apps can help you personalize each message to make it even more memorable.
This approach keeps the event’s spirit alive and fosters a sense of community among attendees. It’s an effective way to maintain connection. It sets a positive tone for future interactions and events.
2. Analyze Event App Data
By the end of the event, you will have access to a large amount of data that sheds light on your attendees, leads, etc. You can gather this data from your event app by running detailed reports to measure attendee engagement, session popularity, and other key metrics.
This analysis provides invaluable insights into what worked and what can be improved. Understanding attendee behavior/preferences helps tailor future events to better meet their needs.
3. Gather Feedback From Attendees
Gathering post-event feedback is crucial as it will help you understand if the event objectives were achieved. You’ll also have a better understanding of the dos and don’ts for your next event.
So, start by sending out a survey through the app to gauge attendees’ experiences. Ask specific questions about what they enjoyed and what could be improved. Responding to this feedback shows attendees that their opinions are valued.
4. Share Follow-up Resources
You may have promised attendees some follow-up resources during the event. This may include the slide deck, images, documents, or any other relevant resources. Post the event, you need to ensure that these are readily available.
You can use the event app to distribute such relevant post-event materials. Additionally, you can employ email marketing to share these resources, broadening your reach. You can also set up AI chatbots on your website that will share the necessary resources that attendees are looking for.
This follow-up not only adds value to the attendees’ experience but also keeps the conversation going.
5. Reach Out to No-Show Attendees
You cannot leave out the no-show attendees as there may still be an opportunity to engage them. Contact them via email, expressing regret for their absence. Prompt them to start engaging on the event app to get access to all the event’s resources.
Include a summary of the event’s highlights to give them a sense of what they missed. This could be in the form of presentation slides or a written overview. Or upload the event recordings on a video hosting solution.
By doing this, you keep them in the loop and maintain their interest in your brand. It’s a thoughtful gesture that acknowledges their interest in your event. It opens the door for future interactions and engagement opportunities.
6. Continue the Buzz on Social Media
Social media plays a huge role when it comes to keeping the post-event engagement alive. Share exclusive content from the event such as highlight videos, quotes, and images on social media. You can schedule content on social media in order to maintain consistency with posting.
You can also encourage attendees to share their experiences and insights on social media, using the event’s hashtag. Integrating the event app with social media amplifies the post-event buzz, reaching a wider audience.
Another idea is to set up retargeting ad campaigns for event attendees on social media channels like Meta. LinkedIn, and X. This will help you reach and target the right people through your campaigns. And the chances of conversions with retargeting campaigns will be higher.
7. Urge Attendees to Take Further Action
You get the most out of your event when you move the attendees further down your funnel, eventually converting them into loyal customers. And post-event engagement plays a key role in this.
You can encourage attendees to take further action through the event app. Do a subtle soft sell where you talk about the benefits of signing up for your actual product/offer. Include call-to-actions like a link to a landing page, an email autoresponder sequence, or a Video Sales Letter (VSL).
You can personalize follow-up emails, making them relevant and clear, to guide attendees through their next steps. Whether it’s inviting them to another event, offering a demo, consultation, or trial, the goal is to progress them along the buyer’s or partner’s journey.
8. Segment your Audience
Audience segmentation is a powerful tool in post-event marketing. You can utilize your event app data to segment attendees based on their behavior, interests, and preferences. This approach allows for tailored communication, increasing engagement and conversion rates.
For instance, you can segment attendees using different event metrics like attendance rate, engagement rate, feedback score, etc. You can use your event management app to automate and streamline this process.
Personalized communication based on audience segmentation ensures that your follow-up messages are relevant and impactful. This helps cater to the specific interests and interactions of different attendee groups.
9. Set up a Post-Event Trickle
Continuing engagement after the event is key. But make sure that the engagement and buzz lasts for a long time. This is because it may take a few weeks or even months for attendees to convert into your customers. And this requires you to keep the engagement alive until then.
Utilize the event app to share content that keeps the event’s memory alive. You can share quotes, expert tips, short clips from the event, etc. You can also share video testimonials from attendees who have seen some success since the event.
10. Build a Community
Building trust and rapport with attendees post-event is essential. And you can do this by offering the attendees a sense of belonging through a community. This can include an online community inside your event app. At the end of the day, humans crave a sense of belonging.
You can encourage attendees to interact with each other inside the community—group attendees with similar interests or goals in smaller groups to motivate them even further.
Set up accountability groups and gamify the entire experience to make it more engaging. You can set up challenges and offer rewards for accomplishing them. Ultimately the idea is to make the attendees feel supported and inspired. The added bonus of doing this will be additional brand loyalty, elevated user experience, and higher conversions down your funnel.
11. Nurture Leads with Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool for nurturing leads post-event. You can use emails as a bridge between the attendees and your event app. For example, you can send reminder emails to notify attendees about the content you have shared on the event app.
Or, you can also set up an email automation sequence to talk about your core product/offer post-event and urge the attendees to convert.
To make this more effective, you can segment your email list based on attendees’ levels of participation during the event. This segmentation allows for more personalized and effective communication.
You can create dedicated email campaigns for different attendee groups, distributing content that caters to their specific interests and interactions. This will be a thoughtful and memorable gesture from your end.
Conclusion
Post-event marketing is a crucial part of hosting an event. It lets you squeeze the most juice out of your investment and helps you build a loyal fan base.
The post-event marketing tips and tricks shared in this post will help you harness the power of event apps to generate the most ROI from the event.
Author bio
Eduard Klein is an International Digital Growth Marketer, Blogger, and Online Business Coach with a global mindset. He guides his audience through starting and growing a digital business and riding the wave of digital technology and marketing without getting swept away.
