Three Things Your Event Guests Wished You Knew (And What To Do About It)

You’ve spent months meticulously planning an event, sourcing the perfect venue, ironing out last minute crises and executing what’s arguably, a kick-ass creative brief. Your event goes off without a hitch (or without any that your event guests notice, that is). But that’s where it ends. Sales haven’t spiked, nor has social media lit up with praise that you feel your brand deserves.

So what gives? You don’t know what your guests really want.

Your event serves as a tangible interaction with your brand, a chance to form a relationship with your event guests, and hopefully convert them into customers, or better yet, brand advocates.

With this in mind, these are the three things your guests don’t just want you to know, but expect you to.

One: Their past interactions with your brand

Each of your guests has a relationship with your brand, forged through interactions of varying frequency. Some of them will have had very little interactions with your brand, for example: your invitation and social media presence may be the sum total of it.

To determine the extent and type of interactions they’ve had with your brand, begin by answering questions like:
Have they attended an event before? Do they follow you on social media? Are they a customer? Did they buy online or instore? Do they hold influence in your industry? Have they been a lifelong supporter of your brand? Or are they just learning about it?

Two: Their reason for attending your event

Following on from the point above, your event guests are interested in your brand for different reasons. On the surface, their ‘why’ may seem the same, but look a little harder and you’ll see that what draws Guest A to your event is not necessarily what attracts Guest B.

Let’s say you sell bespoke luxury travel packages, for example. Some of your guests might attend solely because they’ve heard of your brand or have interacted with people who’ve mentioned it. In other words, their reason for RSVPing “yes” is based on awareness of your brand. Other guests may be planning a getaway and have decided that your company is a viable provider, but before they hand over their hard-earned money, they need some convincing. They’re interested, but they’re not yet personally invested in your brand. Other guests are already customers – they’ve traversed the globe thanks to your tailor-made travel packages and are ardent supporters of your brand.

One brand: three very different reasons for attending. And the onus is on you to know who’s there for what reason, and then provide them with an event experience that correlates.

Three: Their expectations from your event – and your brand as a whole

Following on from the above, (the why), this is the what. Every single one of your guests has different expectations of your event. To find out what they are, you’ll need to first establish the answers to the first two questions as outlined above. Do they want more information? Do they want to try out your product before buying? Will a discount or special offer make them more likely to pack their bags and jet off into the sunset? Do they want more of the same? New travel options? Tales of seasoned travellers? A brochure? An explainer video? A one-on-one consultation with a bespoke travel planner?

Establishing the answers to these three identifiers is crucial. But without an ERM™ platform, you’ll have a hard time collecting this data.

Event Relationship Management software is specifically built to gather, compile and store guest data, and in an age where connecting with your target market is trickier than ever, ERM™ software is an indispensable marketing tool.

Make sure your events meet your guests’ expectations – and then some – by finding out more about our all-in-one Event Relationship Management solution. Simply download our brochure below.