Seeing is believing series part 2: Matchmaking made easy with MatchLeads
Matchmaking tools at events have become very popular these days. Probably, you’ve tried out one of them at some or the other events. But let’s face it, they don’t really work that well. If you’re reading this blog, then it can be safely assumed that you want to know about this magical solution, which I like to call “Tinder” of the events industry. To be honest, fostering successful networking at your events is one of the few things that dictates its success. A matchmaking tool has to provide customized, unique networking services that revolutionize your ability to serve people by giving them what they need.
At Eventdex, we believe in delivering the best solution that can help you bring attendees together and set up the best possible meetings between attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors.Eventdex’s MatchLeads is a mobile and cloud-based application for business to business matchmaking events. With MatchLeads, you can generate leads that are more focused and more meaningful for your business. This solution stands apart from the rest as it allows event organizers to create different types of matchmaking events, including
Open event: Attendees can pick whomever they want to meet from the list of exhibitors based on their interest and time availability.
Semi-open event: Attendees can pick whom they want to meet, but the exhibitors have the option to either accept or reject their request.
Closed event: Exhibitors can choose whomever they want to meet based on their needs by glancing at the profiles of attendees and creating an appointment.
Custom event: The event admin can pick any combination to make custom scenarios instead of open, semi-open and closed types.
With a total control over different types of matchmaking events, you’ll have the power to transform your events and give the participants an awesome networking platform. After all, 75% of the people who attend events do so to network. But this is far from the reality. Networking part of events is often limited to small talk during the event’s session breaks. Some of Eventdex’s MatchLeads features include:
- Setting one-on- one meetings
- Schedule, accept, reject, manage and reschedule appointments
- Surveys, analytics, demographics and nested Q&A
- Add comments and notes to appointments
- Custom field level settings
- Upload pictures, video and marketing material
- Export, print buyer and seller schedules along with profiles
- Manage tables/booths
- Admin, buyer and seller portals with dashboards
- Social networking
With such diverse features, MatchLeads is meant for almost everyone who is directly or indirectly related to the events industry. Whether you are a prime contractor/small business, attendee/exhibitor, buyer/seller or corporate member/MBE, MatchLeads can help you promote networking and meet your business goals.
Prime contractor and small business
You can match prime contractors and small businesses with pre-arranged meetings, allowing small businesses to showcase their products to contractors
Exhibitor and attendee
An event that has both attendee and exhibitor can benefit by MatchLeads by matching exhibitors and attendees that are looking for specific products and services
Corporate member and MBE
Help small diverse businesses meet major organization members like NMSDC or National Urban League to generate substantial business during such meetings.
Buyers and sellers
Match buyers and sellers to develop a healthy symbiotic relationship to help them meet their business goals.
Total Recap
At Eventdex, we’ve created a matchmaking solution that allows you and your attendees to register for your event, see who is attending and schedule meetings with other participants. Our matchmaking app, Matchleads, seamlessly integrates with your event and adds value for your attendees.
See it to believe it. Ask for a private demo for free!
Seeing is believing Part 1: Enhance attendee experience with Eventdex
Seeing is believing is our blog series that will talk about how Eventdex has created solutions to ease the planning needs of event organizers. The first part of this series is on the company itself. Let’s talk more about Eventdex to see how it can simplify event planning and put more time back in your day!
I’m sure if you are related to the events industry in some form or the other, then you’d know it is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. With pressures to meet deadlines, juggle a thousand tasks and word under a lot of pressure, event planning is not for everyone. But this is only half of the battle. Enhancing attendee experience, increasing attendance and proving the ROI are the key ingredients of a successful event.
The evolution of event technology in recent years has helped alleviate some of the stress experienced by event planners. It has helped them automate and streamline processes and save tons of man-hours and cost. Not only that, it has also helped them deliver an improved attendee experience. However, this is not the end of the road. There is a long way to go before clunky, outdate software can make way for more sophisticated, easy-on- pocket solutions. Today, event managing solutions are expensive and can eat a large part of the event budget without engaging attendees or increasing attendance. At Eventdex, we work tirelessly to deliver event management technologies that makes your job simpler and easier, while delivering a seamless, out-of- the world attendee experience that can be optimised for any device. Eventdex is your one-stop shop for all event management needs. Our mobile apps for events make planning and organizing simple and stress-free events, and take the attendee experience to another level. With Eventdex you can,
- Provide agenda and seminar info
- Provide speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors Info
- Update profile and customize your own schedule
- Connect with fellow attendees and a lot more
We are the only ‘app first’ innovative cloud based platform that offers a suite of mobile apps for events. We cater to different aspects of the event life-cycle and enhance the value of your events. And that’s not all! Our integrations and API platform creates an end-to- end event technology solution that saves you time, while allowing you to deliver a best-in- class attendee experience that uses the latest event technology. With our event management app, you can streamline both online and onsite registration processes. It enables event organizers to easily collect event fees through secured credit card processing functionality. With our platform, you can instantly process and print badges, collect attendance data and other analytical information. With a solution that caters to the needs of event managers, exhibition organizers, trade show organizers and event directors, you can even keep track of potential leads and follow up on them whenever required. Event management platforms like Eventdex assist event organizers to increase attendance of the event, decrease the cost associated with it and increase staff productivity while realizing ROI.
Features of Eventdex
Best-in- class event apps, with all the event related information in the palm of your attendees Engage attendees with numerous networking opportunities Attendance tracking in real-time to manage, report, and monitor Matchmaking apps that links exhibitors and sponsors with the right audience An app to create touch screen kiosks for self-serve onsite check in
To know more about our solutions, schedule a free private demo or leave a comment in the section below. You really have to see it to believe it!!
6 Things Even the Most Seasoned Event Planners Get Wrong
Events are a big deal for all organizations. With companies allocating a major chunk of their marketing budget for live events, events are a great way to increase brand awareness and fuel the sales pipeline. That said, organizing events is no cake walk; becoming an event manager takes a lot of time, practice, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. Even the most seasoned event pros have made a lot of mistakes during their career. What differentiates them from the rest is that they don’t make the same mistake the next time.
As an event planner myself, I have had the opportunity to work with several accidental and experienced event managers over the years. The one thing that cuts across the board: the mistakes they make. And don’t get me wrong – making mistakes is an important step in
learning, but these mistakes are often overlooked or considered “normal” while planning events. Following are six mistakes that even event veterans make while planning events.
Events for the sake of events
Events are an important marketing channel. However, even if you have a great event idea, it is not necessary that you’ll have an enthusiastic, receptive audience who will be interested in your events. Even if your events are free, do you think your audience will have the cash and decision making power to buy your product or services?
The biggest mistake I think here is that event planners think that having a great event idea is worth executing. My advice is to do some pre-event market research to ascertain a demand and trend that supports the idea of your event. In other words, do complete financial feasibility tests. The bigger your event, the more research you got to do and seek opinions and analyze previous event sales data. Establishing your target audience, their demand and budget will help you determine if your events are worth the time you invest.
Getting carried away at the planning stage
After assessing the viability of your events, it now comes to the planning stage. It is a crucial stage where you decide the look and feel, design and theme of your event. You’ll also be interested in creating the ‘take away memories’ to make your event memorable for your attendees.
What planners generally miss here is that they keep their preferences above their guests while designing the event. Great events are created when planners set aside their personal preference and think like their attendees. This will create an audience-centric program to address the attendees’ needs.
Procrastination and no responsibility
Event planners are generally good time managers. Every hour counts and every meeting has to be purposeful and productive. The biggest problem during event planning meetings is when the team doesn’t like taking decision and responsibility for it. Failing to make timely and smart decisions can virtually destroy your events. Too much discussion, procrastination and lack of responsibility can jeopardize your chances of delivering a successful event.
Insufficient time spent on searching venues
Your event venue is the most important part of your event. Selecting the right venue is an important task. Choosing the perfect venue requires a lot of time and effort, and if you don’t spend enough time searching, you may have to settle for the second best. Because of this compromise, you’ll have to make your event fit the venue when it should ideally be the other way round. And yes, you’ll always be blamed for contracting the venue which you yourself never preferred.
To avoid this situation, plot your event calendar in advance, and wherever possible, always buy yourself more time. That way you are more likely to get the perfect venue!
Chaotically organized event programs
The event program is one of the key reasons why attendees come to events. It can many times be a determining factor in establishing what they think about your events. A great event program comprises, what attendees will do, listen, and learn. However, if you haphazardly plan the event agenda then your events may just go for a toss. This can often happen if you quickly accept offers to help you, or delegate your work to someone with lesser experience. You should decide who and what goes into the event agenda rather than delegating it to someone else.
Promotion is not required…really?
There are several event planners (I am not saying all) who believe that their events are too good and it’ll sell itself. Even if your event is great, if it is not promoted well, it is bound to fail. You need to promote your event with belief, dedication, creativity and positive energy.
Another important aspect is the lack of proper event promotional plan that lists down your objectives, goals, audience type, key messages, promotional channel to be used, and sequence of activities. What is also often missing is a system to measure your campaign success.Several event planners know the campaigns they run, but they don’t really know which ones deliver.
Conclusion
So there you have it, six mistakes that you may have overlooked at some point or the other in your event planning career.
Things to consider when choosing lead retrieval solutions
As lead retrieval solutions continue to evolve, it can become overwhelming to choose the right one for your trade shows. Lead retrieval solutions still continue to be the most reliable way to capture and track leads. With the help of a lead retrieval scanner or badge reader, exhibitors can easily capture and retain registrant’s information to follow up on them once the show is over.
Lead retrieval scanners and badge printers are generally provided by a show management approved contractor. However, their rental price can leave a hole in your pocket as the price normally starts from $500 per unit. Some mobile lead retrieval devices have the capability to capture leads on the floor, breakout sessions, during intermissions, on the bus…literally anywhere! But these apps are not one size fits all and won’t work at every trade show. Before you choose a lead retrieval solution, make sure you consider the following things –
Size and layout out of your booth
The size and layout of your booth are very important when deciding the type and number of lead capture devices you require. Make sure you choose the right solution so that your staff doesn’t end up capturing leads by walking around your booth.
Number of leads you plan to capture
This one can be tricky. The number of leads you capture is by no way linked to the lead capturing stations you need. However, if you expect more than 1,000 leads at a two-day event, then make sure you have all the resources and bandwidth to manage that influx.
Number of booth staff and their experience
You don’t want your staff to crowd lead-capturing devices rather than engaging prospects at your booth. There is no magical number, and you need to make a decision on how many people you need to engage prospect and capture leads. You also need to consider their experience at engaging and qualifying prospects at the busy booth. By no means, a more experienced staff will automatically be good at these things. To make sure your staff is efficient at capturing and tracking leads, make sure the app is simple and easy to use.
The event type
The type of event you plan to attend should determine your lead retrieval need. For instance, if the event has many networking breaks, then the normal lead retrieval app may not be the best bet. Opt for a solution that works when and where you need it.
Post event resources
Your lead retrieval app should help you even after the show is over. Once you’ve collected the data, you need to sort them and follow up on them. Your lead retrieval app should be able to help you with all this and much more. Some apps also help you score leads so that you know which one to follow up on and which one to nurture further. According to industry reports, less than 25% of leads collected at trade shows are not followed up after the event is over.
Due to a continuous demand to prove higher ROI, you need to justify the cost of attending any trade show. Today, organizations demand metrics and data that goes beyond your visitor’s name, title, email address, and telephone number. Because of a shift in the way we perceive events, the traditional model of renting scanners may not suffice. The difference between what data is captured and what is required to prove ROI needs to reduce. With the cost of participating in trade shows rising year on year, you need to capture all the information to qualify leads in a more effective way.
See how Eventdex can help you capture, score and track leads. Let me know in the comments section below how you manage and capture leads at trade shows.
Marketers, These 5 Features of Event management technology are a must-have for you!
The importance of event management technology for marketers cannot be stressed enough. With marketers under constant pressure to enhance the result of their organization’s events, they need something extra to help them prove and improve event ROI. Typically used by event planners, technology for events has been evolving ever since its advent in the early 2000s and late 1990s.Today, technology has moved beyond its event planning origin into a lead creation, building brand awareness roles.
As you look for event management solutions that support your marketing needs, consider these five must-have event management tool essentials:
Mobile App
Let’s take a trip down the memory lane: it is the 1990s, you are working on your desktop and your phone lying peacefully next to your keyboard. Your phone is just a simple device to send and receive calls and messages. Flash forward to today: You’ve moved to laptops and your phone can do almost everything that your laptops can do. Today, you use laptops or desktops to see things that require higher pixel resolution. Your mobile has become a crucial information provider, especially when you are on the go. Therefore, make sure your event management solution also has an integrated mobile component. This will help you quickly and easily create mobile apps for any event that you host. Try for mobile web-based applications that are automatically created the moment you set up any event. Make full use of the app and provide attendees on-demand, personalized information like announcements, agendas, important event information, and appointment schedules.
Marketing Automation Integration
Marketing automation has become the talk of the tinsel town in the last few years. With most of the organization spending nearly one-third of its marketing budget on events, it is vital you capture the relevant data and store it in one centralized system. By integrating event management and marketing automation systems, you can easily track data generated before, during, and after the event. This priceless integration can improve your lead-to- revenue cycle, all while enhancing the impact and effectiveness of the event itself. If you have your own in-house CRM, make sure that the automation software has an application programming interface for seamless flow of data.
Lead Intelligence
Lead intelligence has become an important arrow in your quiver of event management solutions. Lead intelligence is a kind of data mining that helps marketer capture as much attendee information as possible. A name and email address may be a good starting point, but not enough to quickly close a sale. Even though lead intelligence is popular amongst sales departments, marketing managers can also use it to better understand potential customers. With lead intelligence integration, you’ll be able to mine all important data to close more sales quickly. The integration will equip you to capture profile,engagement, and interest data during the event lifecycle. This data can be combined with marketing automation tools to create rich and accurate customer journey.
Appointments
Your event can be a huge success if you allow all event participants to achieve their goals through stronger engagement amongst each other. Your event management solution should foster greater engagement, create networking opportunities and increase sales opportunities. Opt for an event management platform that offers both self-scheduled and automated “matched” appointments. This will significantly improve the overall event experience.
Personalized “Event Views” for Attendees
Don’t provide one-size- fits-all experience at events. Choose an event management platform that gives attendees an option to see the content that they are looking for. In other words, your event management solution should act as a central resource that can be curated with the needs of your attendees. Make sure the solution can personalize agenda, 1-to- 1 meeting schedule, travel information, and other relevant content.
With these five “must-haves” features in your event management solution, you’ll be in the perfect position to have an impact both on your attendees and your company.