Few things are as frustrating as launching an exciting new tool only to see it fall flat on its face because nobody uses it. Just building an app doesn’t mean that people are going to jump right in and engage. In fact, creating your app is the easy part, ensuring event app adoption by attendees can be the real challenge.
Fortunately there are steps that you can take to increase your event app adoption and encourage usage both before and during your event.
Here are five tips to increase your event app adoption to help you, your speakers, your sponsors and your attendees get the most out of your event.
Promote the daylights out of it
Congratulations, you’ve taken the first step and built your mobile event app. Now it’s time to get the word out – next step, promotion. To help drive your event app adoption, promote your app early and often.
How early? For the best bang for your buck, try having your event app built by the time you begin to promote your event. Include it in your website, on the registration page, in marketing materials and emails. Even if your event is still evolving, you can start promoting your app. You can also promote the app for each point of contact. New speaker or sponsor to announce? Provide a link to the app in the email.
Your post-registration confirmation email and thank you page are exceptionally good places to encourage attendees to install your app. They are in the right mind-set to take care of logistics.
Don’t forget your social channels, too. In a world of social media, reminding people about the event app every few days through your Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook accounts is a good idea.
In a nutshell, think about every potential communication channel you have open with your attendees, and use each one to promote app adoption early and frequently.
Engage sponsors and speakers
Now you’ve built your app and promoted it like crazy. You’re off to a good start! Next, enlist your speakers and sponsors to help get the word out. The reality is, attendees are coming to your event in large part for the speakers – and your speakers reach is often huge. Speakers and sponsors both want to get as much exposure from your event as possible, so encourage them to promote the event and the event app. Try providing each speaker and sponsor with a landing page or links to their profiles that they can share with their followers.
By providing sponsors and speakers with concrete examples and assets to share, you can make it easier for them to share your event and app with their followers and helps you to leverage their social reach to promote your event.
Educate your attendees
Depending on your industry, the tech savviness and knowledge level of attendees can vary greatly. In many cases they will need some help and gentle encouragement.
A few ideas to help educate your attendees:
- Send an email providing steps on how to find, download and use the app.
- Create a blog post with tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your app.
- Provide a webinar or video to walk attendees through the app.
Remember, people are busy and all learn in different ways, so providing content in different formats and channels will help educate your attendees so they’ll adopt and engage with your app.
Don’t stop talking about it
Event day is finally here! Time to sit back and watch everyone using your mobile event app, right? Not so fast. If you’ve promoted your app early and often, engaged your speakers and sponsors, and helped to educate attendees, you’re doing great. But now is not the time to rest on your laurels, you won’t have reached everyone just yet.
Keep the pressure on during the event and don’t stop talking about the app. Mention it at the registration desk, during your event opening, in the keynote introduction, during speaker and panel introductions and before breaks.
Chances are you’ve developed an event hashtag as well, so don’t forget to leverage your social channels to increase event app adoption during your event.
Every event staffer or volunteer should receive instructions to mention the app in each conversation with attendees and be trained on how to help someone install the app. This means everyone from the welcome committee to the registration desk staff to panel moderators to the information desk should make sure the people they are talking to have the app and know how to use it.
Provide onsite support
Don’t assume that everyone walking through the door on opening day has downloaded and used the app. Depending on how your pre-event promotion went, many may not have yet. With that in mind, the next thing to focus on is to promote your app to everyone walking through the door.
A hands-on approach helps here. People completing registration should be greeted by an app support team who can help stragglers to download and start using the app.
Set-up a table at registration and a booth in the exhibit hall if you have one, each with support staff to continue to provide app support, walk-throughs and provide tips on how to get the most out of your event app. Watch this desk closely during registration and send reinforcements if you need to — you don’t want to end up with people not stopping for help because the line is too long. Make it as inviting and easy as possible for people to engage with your team and your app.
Increasing mobile app adoption isn’t easy, but if you follow some of these simple tips you’re sure to see more people at your next event engrossed with your app.
To learn more about how to increase your event app adoption with Yapp, book a demo or schedule a time to chat with us.
