Providing the best experience for your attendees as an organizer is something you can’t take lightly. Marketers can convert attendees of events into active participants by introducing techniques such as games, polls, and ideas that make them feel included. Here are a few ideas.

In-Person Events

In-person events are eye-catching to your attendees because there’s a lot of glitz and glamour involved, starting from the brand mascots to the gamification of carnival stalls. We’ll break these down in detail.

Dreamforce’s Unique Venue Installations

Creating out-of-the-box installations in your venue, conducting interactive games across the venue and offering prizes for the games will increase engagement and create a memorable experience for your attendees. 

Interactive demos, using engaging visuals are also some strategies that can create memorable experiences for your attendees at your SaaS events!

Brand Mascots (Dreamforce)

Brand mascots have become the norm at modern day conferences, and rightfully so. When you give face to a brand, your attendees won’t forget it. Dreamforce went one step further in 2022 by having the first 7-year-old, Huxley, attend Dreamforce.

Here’s a snippet of Huxley interviewing attendees: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cj8R05GJNpD/

Gamification of sponsor booths 

Encourage sponsors to provide the kind of entertainment that attendees need by using visually pleasing props and stalls to intrigue them. This is Uiflow’s booth at SaaStr. This creates a memorable experience among attendees as compared to having the regularbooths that every conference has.  

Networking Games

There are a lot of networking games you can play at your event to engage your attendees and get them to interact. This will give them a chance to make memories and create experiences that go beyond just conversations. From scavenger hunts to speed dates, these create an unforgettable experience for your attendees.

Live Entertainment (Adobe Summit EMEA 2023)

EventHQ’s suggestions:

• Theme-based Gamification: You could have scavenger hunts that align with the theme of your conference. 

• Local cuisine with a twist: Pick a cuisine from your event venue city and serve it with a twist. Add an extra ingredient, mix a few flavours together, turn a sweet into a savoury dish or vice versa.

• Create experiences that are memorable: Let your attendees have the whole experience of playing with furry friends and take them home if they’d like. For instance, you could have an  “Adopt a Puppy” corner for your next events.

Virtual Events

It goes without saying that webinars require more gamification to keep your attendees entertained as compared to offline events. There are various platforms these days that help you these type of events. Some of them are listed below.

1. Slido - Use Slido and engage your participants with live polls, Q&A, quizzes and word clouds.

2. Zoom Whiteboards - Use these to enhance collaboration among your attendees.

3. Kahoot! - This platform allows you to create interactive quizzes, surveys, and polls.

4. Mentimeter - Gain valuable insights from your attendees with Word Clouds, Polls, and Quizzes.

5. AhaSlides - Add Polls & Quizzes to your Live Presentations.

Chat Rooms

Imagine engaging in real-time conversations with speakers or other attendees during an online conference. These chat rooms create a dynamic, interactive environment, replicating in-person networking opportunities. 

For instance, if participants could join specific topic-based chat rooms, it would foster meaningful connections and knowledge sharing.

Virtual Swag Bags

Now, think about virtual swag bags—digital goody bags containing eBooks, discounts, coupons, gift cards, downloadable Slack stickers, virtual fitness classes, app subscriptions, and online courses. The options are limitless. Such thoughtful touches not only enhance the value of your event but also leave a lasting impression.

Virtual Photo Booth

Photo booths have long been a popular engagement tool at in-person events, and they have evolved to fit the virtual event landscape. Create branded backgrounds, icons, and text blurbs to encourage attendees to be creative and share their ideas. To sum up, the field of event marketing is changing. Be it an online or offline event, there are various techniques to create a memorable and captivating experience for your audience. With the right blend of these strategies, you can transform your events into dynamic engagements. 

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Angelin Bershiya Y - Marketing Intern