Different ways to incorporate smartphones into your event
When running an event, smartphones can be used in several ways to boost publicity and ease some aspects of the planning process. The ubiquity of smartphones these days means that word-of-mouth marketing is on the rise. Fostering the use of smartphones at your event can ensure that you get the most out of it.
Here are a few ways smartphones can be incorporated into your event:
Ticket buying
Using a ticket vendor or maintaining your own ticket purchasing site which is mobile-friendly is becoming more and more important for the success of event ticket sales. More people have been accessing information via mobile than desktop since 2014, and the internet usage figures between desktop and mobile are steadily becoming more disparate. With more people accessing the internet on their smartphones than ever before, the availability of event ticket buying via mobile is increasingly important for ticketed events. When choosing a ticket vendor or developing your own ticket purchasing site, it’s important to ensure that the mobile site is easy to use and the transaction path is straightforward.
Photo sharing
Today, more people are taking photos on smartphones than on any other device. The presence of smartphones amongst your event attendees means that people are likely to take photos during the event to share on social media. This is a highly effective means of word-of-mouth marketing for your event. Depending on the style of your event, a great way to encourage photo taking and sharing, while at the same time promoting your brand, is to provide branded selfie sticks for your event guests.
Hashtags
Creating a hashtag for your event is a great way to ignite conversation amongst your event attendees and your industry at large. The development of a unique hashtag specific to your event will encourage your event attendees to engage with each other and your business.
The use of a hashtag is not only a great way to boost communication between people in your industry, it’s a great tool for building brand awareness. Hashtags can create an air of excitement around your event. Hashtags can be promoted leading up to your event to build awareness and create a buzz around the event.
Live tweeting
Live tweeting has become an important tool for event promotion and for sparking conversation amongst event attendees. Live tweeting is a great way to promote your event in real time. Real time event tweeting means that updates throughout the course of your event can reach people immediately, assisting in the creation of conversation amongst people engaging with your brand.
Networking
Even if your event is not specifically intended for networking, socialising and contact building is likely to occur amongst your guests. During all types of events it’s important for attendees to have a channel in which they can record details like names, phone numbers and company details of fellow attendees. Relying on business cards is not always wise. The development of apps like Bump, which allows users to bump phones with other users to instantly exchange details, is proof that smartphones are increasingly important for building professional and nonprofessional relationships, while business cards are quickly becoming obsolete. A quick add on Linkedin can mean the start of a lifetime professional relationship, whilst a business card, once exchanged, can often be lost or forgotten.
In events it’s important to foster the use of smartphones while treating them as source of event promotion and as a channel in which event planning can be made easier.
If you need some help incorporating smartphones into your next event, contact us today!
