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Boost Event Engagement through Gamification

Thinking outside the box and keeping your audience engaged are two critical keys to any successful event. Now that virtual and hybrid events have become the norm, organizers must work even harder to keep energy high and hold their attendees’ attention.

Integrating games and competitions into events, also called “gamification,” is one of the hottest trends right now. Adding gamification to your event is one of the best ways to increase engagement, heighten brand awareness, and drive attendees to perform desired actions.

What is Gamification? The Basics

Despite its recent rise in popularity, there’s still some confusion about gamification and what it isn’t. It’s important to note that it’s not about turning your event into a big competition or creating something that resembles a fair; instead, event gamification is simply the process of incorporating game mechanics into the overall event experience. 

It works because humans, by nature, like to compete; they also feel a strong sense of satisfaction when rewarded for their efforts. Gamification taps into this psychology to drive desired behaviors in a fun and exciting way. 

Using Gamification to Drive Action

Defining your desired outcome is the first step to successfully incorporating gamification into your events. Whether you’re trying to build your prospect list, upsell to current customers, or increase brand awareness, it’s essential to know how you’ll measure your success.

While gamification can add a significant amount of entertainment to your event, this shouldn’t be the only purpose. Instead, it should always be linked to a specific goal that directly relates to the success of your event. For example, you may aim for a 30% increase in exhibitor interactions or a 25% increase in attendee referrals.

Once you’re clear on your goals, choosing the best gamification format for your event is much easier. For example, if you want to ensure your sponsors and exhibitors get plenty of traffic, you may offer points for each display they visit.

Some other ways to use gamification to drive action include:

  • Awarding points for correctly answering trivia questions during the event
  • Checking off boxes on BINGO cards for completing specific tasks
  • Hiding secret codes at various locations throughout the event space
  • Creating a scavenger hunt and awarding clues for taking particular actions
  • Offering the ability to earn titles and “level up” for completing several tasks
  • Giving points or rewards for inviting others to attend the event

Using a mobile app with gaming capabilities will help you design and launch your gamification plan. While it’s critical to have the right technology in place, simply providing access to an app isn’t enough. You’ll also need to motivate your attendees to participate in the games and make it worth their while. Do it right, and you’ll create loyal brand advocates who will be talking about your event long after it’s over.

Motivating Attendees

Since most people enjoy a bit of friendly competition, providing visual incentives like leaderboards, notifications, and personal scorecards can help keep your attendees motivated.

For in-person meetings, you may also consider giving out color-coded lanyards or badges for reaching certain levels. This will keep your gamification top-of-mind and encourage a competitive spirit.

Make sure your games are challenging enough to give participants a sense of achievement, but not so difficult or complex that attendees get frustrated or lose interest. It’s also essential to monitor your gamification in real-time. Keep an eye on how close participants are to earning awards and how engaged they are. If enthusiasm seems to be waning, make sure to send notifications reminding them how close they are to receiving a reward.

Choosing Rewards and Prizes

If you want people to get excited about your games, you’ll need prizes or rewards they want. While there are many options, ultimately, you’ll want to make sure the rewards you choose surprise and delight your guests.

For multi-day events, you may consider awarding experiences such as a VIP happy hour, a special dinner, a massage at the hotel spa, or an exclusive outing for those who reach certain levels.

Some organizations offer to donate to a charity of the winner’s choice, while others stick to traditional prizes, like a t-shirt and a coffee mug. As you choose the awards for your event, it’s crucial to think about what the prize says about your organization and the lasting impression you want to make.

Benefits of Gamification

Adding gamification to your event is an excellent way to guide your attendees to the actions you want them to take. It also makes them more comfortable, because they’ll know exactly what’s expected of them. In addition, when attendees are fully engaged, they’re more aware of their surroundings, allowing for deeper interaction with presenters and exhibitors.

Properly implemented, gamification converts “attendees” into “participants.” It helps them become fully immersed in the moment, learn new things, and get more out of the event than they otherwise would.

Gamification can create a fun and relaxed atmosphere and ensure a positive and rewarding experience. It can also significantly increase your return on investment by helping you to reach your predefined goals.

Add Gamification to Your Next Event

While the concept of gamification has created a lot of buzz lately, only a small number of organizers are currently using it to its full potential. By using gamification to upgrade your event experience now, you can ensure your events will stand out from the crowd. It will also allow you to increase both participants and sponsor engagement, encourage deeper connections, increase your session attendance, and improve the overall experience.

To learn more about how eShow can help you add gamification to your next event, request a personal demo. We’re happy to show you exactly how our mobile app works and help you choose the perfect line-up of products to ensure your next event is a stellar success.

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Ensure a Positive Experience at Live Post-Covid Events

No one can deny that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all facets of our lives, including face-to-face gatherings.  Now that restrictions and mandates have been somewhat relaxed, people are yearning to shed their comfy sweats and pajamas, stop Zoomin’, and get back to making real emotional connections. Event managers recognize this and although virtual and hybrid events are seen as a way forward (there are too many benefits for event managers to give them the old heave-ho), they’re still trying to satisfy clients who prefer in-person events. 

As an event manager operating in the post-Covid-19 space, you’ll be tasked with not only ensuring an enriching experience for in-person attendees but a safe one as well. Despite relaxed restrictions and decreasing case numbers, the pandemic is still in force. To give attendees something worth shedding their jammies for, you’ll need to consider the following practices when planning your events:

1.  Consider the Why’s

To have a successful event and ensure that attendees have a positive experience, it’s important to consider why you’re holding the event in the first place. Are you looking to boost revenue or strengthen your brand message? What does your audience hope to gain by attending your event? Even with safety measures in place, attendees expect to see your creativity and innovation on full display. Deliver the goods and they’ll likely attend future events.

If you can create an environment in which you meet company goals and give attendees valuable take-aways, you’ll strike gold.

2.  Take It Outside

Outdoor spaces have become a safer option for everything from baby showers to restaurant dining, so why not consider an outdoor setting for your events? If your events will take place in locales with favorable weather year-round, you won’t have to schedule them during the spring and summer months only.

Be prepared to provide tents, porta-johns, and, of course, PPE (personal protective equipment) like masks and temperature check devices. This will increase your costs and staffing needs but if it will show that you take the health and safety of your attendees seriously, it’s worth it.

3.  Keep ‘Em Connected But Not Too Close

Post-Covid, event managers will need to foster opportunities for attendees to connect yet remain safe. Once events are back in “full swing”, most venues won’t be at full capacity and social distancing will likely still be in place. Consider incorporating additional safety signs and entry and exit points in your event spaces when planning the layout. Some companies are opting for larger facilities and creative layouts to aid in keeping attendees safely distanced.

For added safety, make as many of your processes (from check-in to photo ops) contactless. Take advantage of technology  to accomplish this. When promoting your event, convey the safety measures that will be implemented. Although some attendees may be comfortable throwing caution to the wind and doing the “mask whip-off”, there are some who will still want to see sound safety measures in place.

4.  Gamify the Experience

Whether your event takes place in an indoor or outdoor space, optimize attendees’ experience by gamifying it. Award prizes to attendees who visit the most exhibits or sponsor booths. Put on your creativity cap and find ways to enhance the experience for attendees while driving more traffic to sponsor booths. Want attendees to visit specific booths (i.e. for top sponsors)? Motivate them by holding contests (with prizes) directed at those particular booths.

Encourage and incentivize attendees to join social media conversations and post about the event.

5.  Hybrid For the Win

Although there’s a push for returning to live events, the hybrid event format can be beneficial to both event managers and attendees. For event managers (and their clients), eliminating geographic restrictions leads to increased attendance and reduced costs. Attendees benefit by being able to attend an event without having to travel across the country in some cases. They’re also able to connect with and share feedback with like-minded individuals.

According to Joanne Dennison, School of Hospitality adjunct professor of hospitality meeting and event planning at Boston University, “hybrid meetings will be the norm as opposed to the exception. People can attend face-to-face or virtually.”  Again, this increase in attendance yields higher revenue for companies (in the form of registration fees) and allows those who can’t afford travel costs to participate in the event.

If the benefits of a hybrid event resonate with you, prepare to face what some event managers consider to be their biggest challenge when hosting hybrid events: connecting the two groups. In a survey conducted by Swapcard, of 352 event planners polled, 33.5% said engaging two audiences when hosting hybrid events was their biggest challenge. Most event managers seek to connect the two groups of attendees because they feel it allows for more organic networking opportunities and makes it easier for speakers and moderators to engage with all attendees.

To meet the growing demands for hybrid events and deal with this obstacle and others, eShow offers a full range of solutions that will help you accommodate both your virtual and in-person attendees and save time, money, and resources.

Final Thoughts

Planning an event at any time can be challenging but planning an event when a national health crisis is still in effect presents unique challenges. As companies and the general public yearn for returning to in-person gatherings, event managers are tasked with not only ensuring that attendees have a positive experience but that they have a safe one as well.

Post-Covid, hybrid events are expected to be around for a long time because of the benefits offered to event managers/clients and attendees. With adequate planning, creativity, and taking advantage of available technology, managers can provide all hybrid event attendees with opportunities to make meaningful connections whether they opt to attend virtually or live.

At eShow, we provide event managers with an event “safety net” by helping them move their in-person events (or part of the event) to a virtual format. Our robust platform:

– Allows for better ROI

– Allows event organizers to reach out to attendees who aren’t able to attend in person

– Allows for increased engagement between virtual and in-person attendees

We understand that enhancing the attendee experience is key to having a successful event so we make it easy for attendees and speakers/organizers to connect before, during, and after the event. We can provide everything you need to manage all aspects of your event – from planning to execution. From event branding to strategy to vendor management, we’re with you every step of the way.

Contact us today for a no-obligation demo.

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