The event industry experienced the same kind of shock as the other industries back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, companies began to host virtual conferences. And by no surprise, within a few months, the virtual events platform witnessed a significant increase in demand for hosting various events virtually and the trend is continuously growing.
40% of the participants want to attend virtual events, whereas 35% of respondents prefer hybrid events - according to a survey by Statista in 2021. However, as the impact of COVID-19 began to fade once more, businesses returned to in-person conferences, thus matchmaking features, and tag-based networking has started gaining more eyeballs among B2B and B2C event planners.
For the success of the event, event professionals are opting for the next-gen event technology during the event planning process. B2B matchmaking is viewed by 52% of the trade event, conference, B2B, and B2C event organisers - as being essential to the success of their events. Previously, event professionals used to consider matchmaking until the very last stage of planning, especially when software is involved. But they now try to put the horse before the cart, which frequently backfires.
In this article, we have curated the main points of our project managers, software developers, and communication experts. Through their years of experience & perspectives, they believe these following 15 tips to be the most crucial success factors for matchmaking to work.
Why Event Matchmaking Is Need of The Hour
By meeting the needs of your attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors, you ensure that they will continue to see the benefit that is coming on their way. Additionally, they will be happy with the experience of the event, and word of mouth will work naturally as well.
The majority of event planning organizers desire the luxury of retention and referrals, and guess what? Effective matchmaking accomplishes both tasks by generating a high level of retention and referrals.
Events can be quite big, and frequently, attendees get distracted by their to-do lists and miss out on meeting with everyone they would like to.
Making matchmaking a top priority and letting people interact with each other before the conference, will allow them to explore more things off of their to-do lists. Furthermore, the event can be thoroughly enjoyed by the attendees, and the exhibitors can drive the necessary ROI to cover their participation costs for the following year.
Which Occasions Might Benefit from Matchmaking?
The majority of event management hosts anticipate using matchmaking at some of their trade events and other conferences. But those are not the only events that might benefit from matchmaking assistance. Here are a few additional ways where matchmaking can truly be a key factor for the success of an event, conference, or gathering:
- Start-up events and conferences
- Trade Events
- Events for networking, recruiting, and careers
- Conventions for entrepreneurs and investors
- Gatherings of the public and private sectors
15 Brillint Tips to Improve Event Matchmaking
You should consider these 15 proven tips to enhance your event matchmaking if you genuinely want to make it up to par. Let's get started;
1. Create A Perfect Timing
Make registration and ticketing as simple as possible for participants. People will become discouraged by lengthy registration forms. B2B event attendees are not only choosing to attend at later and later ages, but they are also beginning to plan their trip closer and closer to the event's date.
Based on experience, it would be wise for you to start software-based matchmaking, 2-4 weeks before the event. By that time, participants must have also optimised their profiles for matchmaking, such as by including a link to their LinkedIn, XING, or any other profiles. To create a sense of urgency, begin a countdown (i.e., only 12 days are left for the event) to create hype and anticipation among attendees.
2. Utilising Discount Codes and Payment Methods Efficiently
Several weeks before the event, discounts and early-bird schemes can increase registrations. Matchmaking won't function properly until a sufficient number of active participants use the platform before the event.
3. Active Registration for Matchmaking
To succeed in matchmaking, participants must be active on the platform after registration. And for this nothing is better than a push message and instant messaging features. Putting data protection laws aside, you would not succeed by simply entering all visitors into the tool, as this would leave too many "inactive" users on the platform, which would annoy the "active" participants.
4. Engage the Audience and Stay in Touch
Matchmaking participants can be encouraged to log into their profiles and actively use the platform by personalised messages such as "Additional Participants Have Registered Who Meet Your Search Criteria." The announcement of appropriate event formats, such as "Further Workshops Have Been Added That Correspond with Your Interests," is another good practice.
5. Strategically Place Sponsorship Messages
Based on specific criteria (such as foreign address or job title), you can infer any special requirements the participants may have and then place targeted sponsoring messages, such as offering a VIP shuttle to and from the airport or advertising the International Visitors Lounge.
6. Initiate A Kickass Email Campaign!
During the event planning, organizers put a lot of attention on email campaigning for matchmaking. Email campaigning plays a very crucial role to chalk out potentially strong users.
So, taking a targeted approach in a robust email campaign to inform your attendees about upcoming activities, will fetch positive outcomes in your favour. Additionally, you can include a personal touch to users through Custom Email Template Designs to ensure greater success.
7. Streamline the Registration Process
Do not ask for too much information on the registration forms in the first step, and keep them as brief as possible. A simple event registration process is essential for a positive attendee experience. So, during the event, you can obtain the data needed for matchmaking or social login.
8. Avoid Using Too Many Platforms
One platform is used to sign up participants, another is used for CRM, a third platform is used for the event website, and additional platforms are used for email marketing, reporting, etc. - is the worst practice.
As a result, complexity rises and data transfer between systems becomes more challenging. Therefore, it is advised to use a single event app that can take care of all of your needs.
9. Pre-filled Registration Forms
The matchmaking service ought to be directly linked to the event registration (ticketing) process in the ideal scenario. If it can't be done, export the ticketing information and enter it into the matchmaking registration forms. As a result, registration will be much easier and simpler for attendees.
10. Keep It Short and Communicate in Real-Time
Think about how you can provide the best experience in all of your communication with the participants. Which details are necessary for the participants? Which information can you omit?
Allow for real-time alerts. Getting a text from a person you have been waiting for can be exciting in a certain way. Offering instant notifications of messages from exhibitors and attendees is enjoyable in this regard. It would be a bonus if you could make a funny ringtone or messaging sound for them.
11. Autonomous Invitations and Reminders
The majority of event matchmaking technologies can automatically send invitations to visitors and exhibitors, whose requirements and commercial interests match.
By automating the process, everything is kept in one place and it becomes much easier to manage. Then, there is no longer any ambiguity left regarding time zones or business between exhibitors and attendees.
12. Meeting the Needs of Two-Ways
It is simple to use matchmaking for attendees looking for particular services, but it is equally crucial to learn about your exhibitors' and sponsors' ideal customers. The better fit you can achieve depends on how much you can hone in on each party's interests.
13. Enable Attendee Messaging
Letting attendees message inside an event management software is another important technological element you want in your event matchmaking. Allowing attendees quick and easy access to the people they are meeting with - is much more pleasant than making them dig through lots of business cards, if they have questions or their plans need to be changed.
14. Offer Quick Personal Schedules
Utilise technology that enables attendees and exhibitors to quickly access individual records to view all of their scheduled appointments. Everyone can benefit from having a place where they can record their thoughts in private after the meeting to make the most of the opportunities.
15. Make Use of Pre-Event Messaging
Because of the anticipation and hype, even before your event starts, attendees will be there already to attend the event.
Make the most of this time by utilising matchmaking technology, which allows interested attendees and exhibitors to connect and interact with each other instantly through the mobile chat feature before arriving on the event premises. As a result, they will be able to get to know one another better and discuss any particulars while they are still in the office and away from the job.
Final Thoughts
The success of your event depends on dynamic networking and matchmaking, because who has time to review the checklist of event planning? You can undoubtedly have a successful event if you follow the points mentioned above.
Nevertheless, if you have a nagging doubt in the back of your mind, you should consider collaborating with Eventify, one of the best reasonable and sophisticated event matchmaking service providers in the country, enabling you to seamless the whole pre and post-event process.
We have highly qualified professionals who will handle every last detail of your upcoming major event. If you truly want your upcoming event to be spectacular, just get in touch with us and we'll take care of the rest.
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
