marketing

Wondering how to increase event registrations? Since the mid-1990’s ecommerce has played an ever growing role in people’s lives. It started with platforms like Ebay and Paypal, and grew with companies like Zappos and Amazon. Today, nearly 170 million people shop on e-commerce platforms in the United States (which is about every single adult-aged person). As a result, companies in the ecommerce industry have learned a thing or two about optimizing the digital experience of potential customers in order to increase revenue. Event planners using event registration software to handle their ticketing or registration needs should take a page from the ecommerce industry, by optimizing the registration experience for potential attendees. Here are three principles that have helped companies like Amazon, Nike, Walmart and Uber to dramatically increase purchases. 1. Harness The Power Of Customer Reviews Yelp, Google My Business, Yotpo, Trustpilot, these are just a few of the hugely successful companies riding the wave of customer reviews. These companies have become successful because business owners have found customer reviews to be a great way at increasing ecommerce sales. Event organizers should employ customer reviews or testimonials in the event registration process to make event attendees feel more comfortable about registering for an event. In the image below, we can see Traction Conf employs an attendee testimonial as a way of encouraging potential attendees to register. Considering that one study found that 90% of online shoppers admit that customer reviews influenced a buying decision, it makes sense for event organizers to harness the power of online reviews in order to increase event registrations. Clearly some of the most successful ecommerce companies use online reviews and testimonials to their advantage. Nearly every page on Amazon.com features some sort of customer review function, whether that’s a star rating, or featured testimonials. Nike also uses both a star rating and testimonials on their website as well. Above, customer testimonials and average ratings are available for every product sold on Nike.com. 2. Avoid Redirecting Potential Attendees Some event planners rely on an event registration service that redirects attendees to a third party website in order to complete registration. While these platforms are appealing because they are relatively easy and inexpensive to use (many have no or low up-front costs), organizers are actually losing event attendees simply because potential attendees are redirected to another website. Lost potential customers due to check out redirects is something ecommerce veterans understand all too well. The pros say that a seamless checkout experience is key. One reason it’s important to provide a seamless checkout experience is because it reduces page load times, and considering that 40% of shoppers say that they abandon websites that take more than 3 seconds to load a page, it quickly becomes clear why so many are opposed to redirecting potential customers during the checkout process. Another reason to avoid redirecting potential event attendees is because event organizers lose control over the branded experience a potential attendee will have. By sending potential attendees to a third party website, organizers will be subjecting them to the branding of another company. The most personal experience a potential attendee will have is the one where they share their most personal details, in this case it’s their contact info and payment details. It is far better to establish a strong and trusting relationship between your event brand and an attendee, than to allow your attendee to form this relationship with a third party. 3. Encourage Registrants To Share For event planners hoping to dramatically increase event registrations in a short amount of time, social media integrations can be a lifesaver. Ecommerce websites have long harnessed the viral nature of social media to increase the number of customers quickly. Both Amazon and Walmart (to name just a few) feature social media buttons close to the “check out” button for every product they carry. This subtle feature encourages customers to share information about the product with followers. Similarly, event organizers should consider incorporating social media into the event registration process. Specifically, platforms that encourage attendees to share the fact that they’ve just registered for an event with followers or over email can be a great way of increasing event brand awareness. Another way to incentivise sharing is to take a page from companies like Airbnb, Uber and Dropbox. Each one used double-sided referrals to encourage current customers to share information about the company with those who might be interested in it. To encourage sharing, some of the fastest growing companies offer both the current customer and the potential referred customer a small discount, both get the discount when the referred person makes a purchase. Above: An example of the viral sharing component Uber uses to grow quickly. Conclusion In order to increase event registrations, event planners should borrow proven tactics successfully employed in the ecommerce space to optimize the registration experience for attendees. From using compelling customer reviews in order to put potential registrants at ease, to providing a fully branded and seamless event registration experience, to employing features that encourage attendees to share your event with other prospective attendees, the most successful organizers are those who readily employ these proven strategies to create a full house.

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