Whether you’re an event organizer, plan corporate conferences, or set up networking gatherings on the side, it’s been shown that event planning is one of the most stressful jobs out there. In 2014, Forbes listed Event Coordinator as the fifth most-stressful job in America, next to Airline Pilot and Firefighter.
Recent developments in event technology mean that planning professional events can actually be less stressful thanks to a suite of tools known as event management software. Today, subscription-based software companies are providing savvy event organizers with a new way of approaching event planning.
Event management platforms can help organizers do things like build a great looking event website, create an outstanding networking community for attendees and also set up event ticketing and registration. This all-in-one approach to event planning can make creating a world-class event easier, and here’s why.
- Make Data Driven Decisions Quickly
Using an event management platform means you’re using several different tools in a single place.
The alternative to this, is using separate tools to manage vital aspects of event planning, like registration, email marketing, and social media monitoring. But, using separate tools leave data siloed and hard to compare.
When the tools are in a single platform, you can see the full customer cycle, the impact of email marketing on ticket sales or registrations, the power of social media sharing on revenue for example..
This allows event organizers to access highly detailed data about the health of their event, which means they can make quick decisions on the go.
For example, some event management platforms help users to create traceable promotional links that lead those who click the link to the event registration page. Organizers can embed the link in paid ads, blog posts or on social media, and then see which marketing channels are contributing to actual revenue.
This means that if organizers are seeing a big return on Facebook posts for example, they’ll know they should double down on them.
Having complete data in one place makes it easier for event organizers to plan more profitable events in less time.
- Build A Fully-Branded Event Experience In An Hour
The old way of planning an event involves working with a web developer to build a website, then fiddling around with an email marketing platform to customize event-related emails, and then using an event registration system that re-directs attendees to another website in order to register.
Updating your branding across all of these separate platforms would take hours to do, and is a real source of frustration for event organizers.
The new way of of planning an event involves using an all-in-one platform that allows organizers to build a beautiful digital experience for attendees. From creating an event website with drag and drop tools, to quickly setting up great looking emails in a few minutes, to fully controlling the attendee registration experience, organizers can set up the vitals of an event in about an hour.
If event planners want to make a change to all of these elements, they just have to change a few settings and the changes will be instantly updated across the website, email and registration page.
All-in-one allows event organizers more freedom to quickly plan events and make changes as needed, saving them time.
- Manage Registration Data And Never Use Spreadsheets Again
Spreadsheets are a type “A” planner’s best friend, but they aren’t ideal when it comes to managing event registration data.
Want to figure out how many people are attending your event from California, who are also Investment Bankers who bought an Earlybird Ticket? Good luck filtering a spreadsheet to get that kind of granular data.
Using event management software, that sort of data can be found in a few clicks.
Filtering registrant data any way you like gives you more flexibility and insights when planning an event. With event management software, organizers have the flexibility to create specialized experiences for different types of attendees by identifying exactly who at your conference would enjoy various activities.
It’s a good bet that the Investment Bankers from California would enjoy meeting event exhibitors who are trying to get funding for their latest technology product.
With event management software, you can help the two groups meet one another. With spreadsheets, you can pay a college student $8/hour to spend a few days trying to make the same thing happen.
What To Do Next:
All-in-one event planning platforms have the power to save event organizers a lot of time while helping them to create more successful events and conferences. However, many still face the challenge of choosing the right tool for the job. To learn more about choosing the best event management software for you, click the link to learn 5 strategies organizers should keep in mind.
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