In a world where people are increasingly using smart phones to communicate on the go, event apps are big business. As an event planner, you might be tempted to launch your own app. It’s a convenient and innovative way to engage with your audience in the run-up to your event and at the conference venue itself. It also shows that you’re up to date with technology. But what else can an app do for you?

Let’s take a look at the main benefits of using an event app.

Go paperless

The amount of paper involved in event organisation can quickly get out of hand (and out of date!). From brochures and venue maps to schedules and agendas, speaker bios, exhibitor information and a whole lot more, having up-to-date hardcopies ready for your delegates is a massive print job and administrative headache. Wouldn’t it be much quicker, cheaper and more convenient for your attendees to download a mobile app with easy access to all event related information?

Real-time updates

Even the best laid plans can go awry. Last minute changes may mean a session gets rescheduled, moved to a different room or there’s a change of guest speaker. Whatever short notice alterations are having to be made to the programme, an event app offers a flexible solution to deal with this quickly and conveniently, keeping your audience fully informed with instant updates. For urgent information, you can send push notifications to alert your participant of any changes.

Secure event networking

Meeting new industry contacts and widening your professional network is one of the key benefits of any business event. Your event app can include a list of attendee profiles that you can save onto your phone, and a private social media platform where attendees can share images and posts with comments and likes, and private messaging functionality so that attendees can network together and share their event experience with other contacts.

Marketing opportunities

From a commercial viewpoint, a mobile event app is a lucrative platform for sponsors and exhibitors to promote their services to a defined target audience, while allowing the event organiser to monetise the app. Depending on the exact app, there will be different types of sponsor and advertising platforms available that are, ideally, integrated naturally with the content to provide a natural experience to your delegates.

Surveys and feedback

Feedback is an important channel for your attendees to be able to share their experience. However, as a way to collect and manage the data efficiently, paper surveys and feedback forms are notoriously unreliable. A mobile app, on the other hand, offers a much more convenient opportunity for delegates to rate the event, while the information can be easily stored and used by the organisers to refine future programmes, finetune corporate venue choices  and improve future experiences.

Analytics and metrics

Finally, every good app should have an analytics section that allows you to review what works and what doesn’t, so you can tweak the functionality accordingly. Your dashboard will show how many downloads, profiles created, engagement with posts, poll results and ratings. Make sure you collect the right data to learn how to create more impactful, engaging content and know how to engage with your audience across key touch points.

At Best Venues London, you’ll find a friendly team of event industry experts keen to help with all your event needs. From sourcing the best networking venue to recommending event branding tips and tricks, professional advice is only a phone call away. Call us on 020 7186 8687 today.