How to Choose Event Registration Software

Planning and launching events used to be a major chore handled by using tedious spreadsheets, long email chains, and endless games of phone tag with both attendees and venue spaces. But these days, there is dedicated software that can take much of the hassle out of planning an event,, keeping in touch with attendees & exhibitors, and even checking people in. The right event registration software can save you a lot of stress and even provide you with digital reports to help you determine your event's success. 

If you’re in the market for an all-in-one solution to handle all the tasks associated with registration at your next event, here are five things you’ll want from it:

1. Event registration website construction
2. Content management
3. Event and email marketing
4. Onsite check-in and badging
5. Data collection & analytics

Event Registration Website Construction

No event is complete without a registration website. Not only is it necessary in order for exhibitors and attendees to sign up for your event, but it’s also your event’s first impression. It’s your first chance to engage with visitors, give them pertinent information about your event, and represent your brand. A great event website brings in more registrations without the hassle of bouncing back and forth between spreadsheets and emails. Without robust event management software to handle the website, you’re back to tracking attendee registrations with Excel spreadsheets and following up with email after email. Something could fall between the cracks, or you could spend a lot of time going over your lists to make sure they’re up-to-date. 

Content Management

While we’re on the subject of websites, there’s one important feature that your software should provide for your website, and that’s content management capabilities. This allows you to have a digital content library of venue maps, floorplans, agendas, and speaker abstracts.  Without a content management feature in your event management software, you’re stuck with manually uploading all of that content to multiple pages and potentially re-uploading new documents every time there’s a change leading up to the event.

Event and Email Marketing

Why waste your time and resources sifting through dozens of email threads and updating registration forms when you can have event and email marketing functionalities that are able to handle all of that for you right in your event registration software? Using a separate email marketing tool to handle your communications with attendees and exhibitors is far less efficient than having your mass email functions taken care of by a fully integrated solution. Here’s a list of features you want your event registration software to have for event and email marketing:

• Customizable email templates
• Scheduling for automated invitations, confirmations, and reminders
• Tracking for open rates and click-through rates
• Pre-populating contact information

On-Site Registration, Check-in, and Badging

It’s always a bonus to have on-site registration for your event. Without it, you could be missing out on getting last-minute attendees and potential customers for your exhibitors. Add that to the ability to check in and print out badges for attendees on-site, and you have a winning event management software package. It saves you the stress of pre-printing and organizing stacks of event badges and possibly missing or losing some of them. The most hectic portion of your event becomes far more streamlined when attendees can register, check-in, and receive their badges the moment they walk in the door on day one. Plus, if an attendee loses their badge during a multi-day event, they won’t miss out. You can just print a new one for them. 

Data Collection & Analytics

As a marketer and event organizer, event data and analytics keep your finger on the pulse. Without them, you’ll have a difficult time assessing how to improve your performance for your next event. The right event registration software can capture key information from your exhibitors and attendees through dynamic survey questions, polls, and event reviews. You’ll want your software package to gather analytics on your attendees’ website use, registration and check-in data, audience segmentation, and more. This is vital information to ensure your event’s success. 

Whether you're putting together an in-person event, a virtual event, or even a hybrid event, you'll need an all-in-one software package with the tools you need to handle a lot of tasks. From online registration and email marketing to on-site check-in and post-show data reporting, the right event registration software can turn your next event into a smooth ride for your staff and an engaging experience for your guests.

Request a demo to see how Perenso can improve your event registration experience.