Case Study: How to Encourage Users to Download Your Mobile Event App

As mobile devices and messaging apps become ubiquitous, mobile apps at conferences and events goes up, as well.

It’s extremely rare nowadays to attend an event that does not use an event app — from the most basic to the most sophisticated versions. Considering that mobile apps can cost upwards of $20,000, making sure that your event attendees download your app is a priority to get the best ROI.

Mobile event apps to the online community

The number of mobile users worldwide is expected to reach 7.26 billion in 2020. With (nearly) the entire human population walking around with a mobile device in their pocket, it should come as no surprise that people expect a certain level of connectivity in their experiences. Businesses can tap into this potential with a mobile app for their events.

Meeting and conference attendees increasingly expect ways to engage organizers, presenters, and each other – from the moment they register until months after the event. Mobile event apps can be integrated with an online community platform to drive engagement prior to and following an event. This can help demonstrate value to attendees and improve their overall experience.

An audience is more than just ticket sales. They are the very heart and soul of any event, in-person or virtual. Without an engaged audience, there would be no great concerts, no life-changing conferences, and no business-expanding seminars.

But where do you find these engaged audience members? And how do you get them to attend your event?

As mentioned above, when you develop and promote an event app, the point is to attract attendees before the conference or event. Let’s see how you can promote the event app.


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Tackle early adoption

We know that inviting people to your app is easier if they have some familiarity with the process. We don’t suggest you share an unfinished product, but instead, give them a guide and make changes as needed before launching it for real.

Get the word out early about your event to avoid disappointment. Share all information with attendees so that they can find their app on time, including special offers ONLY available through participating businesses’ Apps.

Adequately communicate With Users

Some people will absorb the information you’re trying to give them, and some may need a little extra persuasion. Persist! Keep talking until they finally understand what it is that makes your event app unique in this crowd.

Include your app’s details in your mails, articles, blog posts and also discuss it on social media. Message app details to all the participants and try to engage them with your story.

When it comes to promotion, the right channel is needed for different people. For example, early app adopters may become ambassadors and share your details on social media – doing all of this work themselves.

The best way to get people excited about your app is by using a proven strategy that has been successful in the past. Create an engaging message, plan for long-term marketing campaigns, and you’ll be happy with how things turn out.

Start early with your app promotion strategy

You can make your new event app more appealing by introducing it to potential users ahead of time. By doing this, you’ll ensure that they use the product and receive desired results. There are many channels where developers present their apps, including conferences or trade shows.

And you’re allowed in all these places as well with proper planning on what type of event might work best for them. The best way to get your app in front of potential users is with a website.

You can start by inviting people that visit the site and adding links for when they browse online stores so that you can capture their email address too! It’s also perfect as an initial step because then there will be less time spent on unpopular platforms.

It’s time to get your app in front of as many people as possible. You’ll find that the best way is by connecting with them on their most popular social networks while offering interesting insights about it.

Start by creating a plan for what you’re going to cover at the event, just like Meeting Application does before they even start hosting events themselves. This helps create more anticipation from attendees.

Always take care of users and attendees

Inviting others to an event is the same as inviting someone to dinner parties at your place, and you just ask your loved ones to come over. In some cases, you need to ensure that attendees have a solution for transportation, then they will enjoy the atmosphere truly.

Let them know that they will get something valuable during the meeting. There are many things and activities you can do to attract and engage users, such as adding gamification elements to make the whole process more exciting.

Furthermore, you can show them bonus points for using your event app or show them a symbolic reward to engage users. But before you follow any of these advice, you need to guide users about how your new event app works.

If possible, make a simple and short video and share it across multiple platforms and on the event’s landing page and even on your app store official page.

Next, we suggest you provide users with valuable and relevant content that helps them understand how beneficial your event will be. As an example, look at CrowdCompass AttendeeHub if you want to know what information needs to be displayed by your event app.

Involve all participants in the event

When presenting at an event, one of the most important aspects to remember is your audience. They must speak about what makes YOUR event app so great and how they can incorporate it into their lives.

All guests and speakers should do this by mentioning how useful the app’s features are so that others who might not have heard about the app yet or want more information before downloading it can know about the app.

Furthermore, you can also seek help from sponsors. They can easily form a connection between your app and the sponsor’s products. Besides, allow the attendees to share moments and highlights of an event with their friends through your app.

Similarly, try to observe how they use your event app for sending messages. As an example, you can analyze the features of Attendify.

Try to develop the community after the event

This event is not over. You need to keep connecting with your users after the great evening, maybe answer a few questions they might have or let others know about specific topics. During the process, you can also promote your event app.

Moreover, don’t forget to take users’ feedback and remain available for them after the event. If you want to go a step ahead, send them to thank you messages for their time and presence.

This way, you can also discuss upcoming events with your target audience. And while doing so, you can also discuss your event app. If you win your consumer’s trust and faith, they will soon become your loyal users for your upcoming projects. Furthermore, you can develop a single app for all your events and allow users to view the videos of past events and meetings in one place.

For example, Cvent Event is a perfect example that markets all the conferences organized by the company.

Think about what your target users value in the first place

Responsive websites are ideal for promoting any event but don’t underestimate the power of event apps. These apps offer additional value that you won’t get from websites. Event planners and organizers must consider what suits their audience most. Ask these questions to make things easier:

Do you want to offer your users networking and matchmaking functionalities? An event app can be seamlessly integrated with your calendar, and you can also use it with other popular mobile applications and various social media applications.

To ensure that your target audience will be interested in using the app, you need to understand what they want from it. One way of doing this is by speaking and listening to them closely and picking out which features they demand the most. Then make sure those are available on all levels of development with ease.

Let the world know your event app is out there!

You’ve decided to offer your app, and now it’s time for the essential details. One of these is communicating with customers via email – but don’t just send out newsletters or confirmations. You need a more engaging tone if you want people coming back again in future purchases (or even downloading).

Then make use of your official website and dedicated landing pages to promote your event app. You can also use traditional but effective print advertising, along with your social channels. Let the world know about your app’s launch. Share the news wherever possible.

In this regard, we will advise you to use all the popular channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Slideshare, and LinkedIn in combination so that you reach out to more users. You can also create a deck of screenshots along with a short and straightforward app description on Slideshare.

On-site branding and promotion

Do you know some events have adoption rates of 100% of delegates? However, this is not so common, but it is a fact. That’s why you cannot overlook the on-site promotion and branding of your new mobile app.

Corporate events mostly have high adoption rates, such as Sapphire (by SAP) or strong brands like SXSW, so keep trying, and you can promote your app on such events.

Similarly, always use your on-site communication channels to advertise and market your event apps, such as roll-ups, break-slides, QR codes, flyers, and more. Many users will perhaps not get your message before the start of the event, so ensure that they get the message on site.

Analyze the user journey after the event

Event apps should be designed and promoted with an understanding of user and their limitations. The insights you gain from knowing popular functionalities can help optimize your event app for success in future rounds.

What do we mean? Statistics about user activity tracked across different devices (smartphones/tablets) can provide details about what participants liked the most about these events. It will also help you design your next campaign.

Developing an appealing and user-friendly event app is half part of the battle. Promoting the new app is just as vital, and the process begins with the services it offers to your users. Ensure that your app meets user’s needs and expectations.