Mobile Strategies to Increase Event Sales & Engagement

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Presenters

Alan Blank Director of Marketing Guidebook ablank@guidebook.com

Allen Wo Mobile Product Manager Eventbrite allen@eventbrite.com

Easy tools for managing

registrations

Mobile guides for events

Agenda !   Why mobile? ‣ Helpful facts and statistics ‣ Benefits and challenges

!   Mobile strategies for before, during & after the event ‣ Best practices and techniques ‣ Measuring success

!   Wrap up

Why Mobile?

46% of Americans own smartphones

(Nielsen)

2011 smartphone sales exceeded PC sales (Gartner/IDC)

657 Million new smartphones will be

sold in 2012 (JPMorgan)

Smartphone Adoption is Growing

Pew Research Center 2011

Young and middle-aged professionals use smartphones

There are 2 main situations in which people turn to mobile...

Understand Mobile Behaviors

!   Idle Time !   Read news !   Check emails !   Play games !   Facebook/Twitter

!   Task Based !   Send an email !   Take & share a picture !   Look for a place to eat !   Get directions

People switch between these two contexts seamlessly. Keep this in mind when incorporating mobile into your event.

Simplicity is Key

Users have short attention spans. Mobile is a small form factor.

Ways to Use Mobile Before your Event

!   Why ‣ More people registering through mobile - mobile

retail sales up >2x since 2009 (KPCB 2011) ‣ Mobile is the ultimate social tool

!   Take advantage of mobile methods like... ‣ Simplify event content ‣ Incentivize user to share ‣ Optimize marketing collateral

Promote your event to increase registration sales and engagement

Mobile at the Event

Create a Mobile Event Guide Benefits...

!   Convenience for attendees

!   Extra revenue from sponsorships

!   More visits for presenters

!   Added interactivity

What can be in the guide?

!   Schedule !   Presenter Listings !   Social Media

!   Maps !   News !   Feedback

Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will

come

Promote your Guide!

!   Emails !   Posters !   Website Ads !   Landing Pages

Social Media Guidelines Attendees will use mobile and social

anyway, so harness it!

Leverage Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. o  Engage attendees o  Real time feedback o  Attendee interaction o  Extend event experience to attendees’ networks

Caution o  Mobile can be distracting o  Be cognizant of the tradeoffs to design

Mobile Guest List Tools

!   Utilize mobile tools to scan people at the door ‣ Speedy Entry Management ‣ Reporting all in one place ‣ Avoid manual check-in

The event doesn’t end when people go home

After the Event

Learn from your event ‣ Surveys - Email or SMS ‣ Promote next event ‣ Analyze arrival time

Analytics ‣ Which promos worked ‣ Who downloaded your guide and what

feedback did they give you

Quick Notes on Devices

iPhone and Android Take the Cake

Together, iOS and Android account

for almost 80% of smartphone users!

Native vs. Web-based Apps !   Internet connectivity can be essential to some mobile

solutions !   Native apps vs mobile web apps

Characteristic Native Apps Mobile Web Apps

Requires Constant Internet No Yes

Cost Higher Lower

Interactive Yes No

Personalizable Yes No

Usable with all devices No Yes

Key Takeaways !   Everyone is using mobile ‣  Usage rates are especially high at events.

!   Before the event ‣  Increase ticket sales with mobile promotions ‣  Optimize your registration flow for mobile users by keeping it simple

!   During the event ‣  Increase engagement and create extra revenue opportunities with a

mobile guide ‣  Use social media in a way that is engaging without being distracting ‣  Mobile entry management simplifies the registration process and gives

you extra data !   After the event ‣  Use your data to improve your mobile offerings for next year

Alan Blank Guidebook

(650) 319-7233 ablank@guidebook.com

Thank you for watching!

Allen Wo Eventbrite

(888) 541-9753 allen@eventbrite.com