The pandemic forced us to reimagine events and how we conduct them. With travel restrictions and lockdowns, countless in-person events were abruptly canceled or postponed, pushing marketers to quickly adapt to virtual events. Even high-profile events like the Apple product launches went virtual. 

After two long years, we're returning to in-person events again and with better technology. 

Event tech makes in-person events better and more streamlined. With the help of advanced data collection and engagement tools, event organizers deliver personalized, engaging experiences to attendees. Event tech also makes it extremely easy for attendees to network and interact at events. 

This blog covers the best in-person event ideas and tips to host a successful in-person event.

Best practices to host in-person events

1. Simplify registration and ticketing 

Your attendees want seamless entry into your event. A well-designed event landing page makes it easier for attendees to register for various events. Using brand-specific colors, font style, and images add your business credibility to the attendee journey. With an SEO-optimized branded ticketing and registration page, your visitors will convert to leads. Additionally, you can offer multi-tier tickets and enable multiple payment options. You'll also get your audience excited about the event with various offers, such as early bird discounts.

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2. Create a seamless event workflow 

With multiple tracks, sessions, sponsors, and speakers, setting up workflows for large-scale events is challenging. Event tech platforms like Hubilo offer dedicated event creation formats. Organizers can easily create a seamless event workflow in just a few clicks. Furthermore, event platforms offer a unified dashboard that provides a bird's eye view of all the event activities in one place and allows the organizers to finetune areas that need attention.

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3. Offer touchless check-in 

Show the in-person attendees that you care about their safety and convenience by offering event software-powered touchless check-in options. Your pre-registered attendees check in using QR codes on their smartphones, while walk-in attendees can quickly register on the spot. Your check-in process for all attendees is safe, secure, and seamless. 

4. Print custom badges 

Help attendees recognize each other during in-person events with custom badges printed on-site. During check-in, attendees design and print customized badges with their respective QR codes. Networking happens easier, and attendees have their pass to a custom event experience. You can partner with the right vendors for badge holders, lanyards, printers, and wifi to support on-site badge printing. 

5. Be hybrid ready 

When you need to go in-person as well as virtual, a hybrid event has the flexibility your audience needs. Not to mention the reach! With a single app, you'll engage in-person and virtual audiences with interactive elements that work on-site or across Wi-Fi. Set up exclusive in-person engagement options to curate the experience for your in-person attendees while showing relevant digital content to virtual attendees via the app.

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6. Boost engagement with third-party apps

Attendee engagement is critical for event ROI. Your attendees should feel motivated to participate in various ways, and you can make that happen if you embed third-party apps. Use them to connect to floor maps, social walls, and contests to drive engagement for your in-person audience. Attendees are more likely to feel energized while engaging in live activities such as Q&A, Polls, and surveys.

7. Engage with a branded mobile app

Give your in-person attendees, speakers, and sponsors more opportunities to interact with a branded mobile app. Your in-person attendees can participate in the event activities, schedule meetings, and view sessions on the go that look and feel just like their surroundings in person. Should your virtual or in-person attendees wish to share screenshots of the event experience to their social feeds, your branding will be seen far and wide thanks to your mobile app. 

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8. Boost networking 

Networking is the highlight of every in-person event. You can enhance the networking experience with tools like smart matchmaking and meeting scheduler. With these tools, your attendees can find relevant contacts and schedule 1:1 meetings using your event app. People can also find the locations of their meetings more efficiently. 

9. Empower sponsors to succeed

Your sponsors participate in events because they seek visibility and ROI. One way to offer more visibility to your premium sponsors is by displaying their ads on the event registration page. You can also highlight sponsors on your event mobile app. For lead generation, give sponsors the option to scan, score, and capture contacts in real-time with QR codes. This will help sponsors to follow up with the most relevant leads and drive pipeline revenue. You can also provide your sponsors with a self-serve dashboard to track all their event data in one place. 

10. Deliver custom experiences

Your in-person attendees expect a unique experience from that virtual attendees. You can use the Hubilo platform to easily show relevant event content to different audience groups you decide on. For instance, you can set up a specific in-person event format that will only show the sections of the event you want them to experience. Each type of attendee or group for your event will see and hear precisely what you decide they should. 

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11. Live stream with Hubilo Broadcasting Studio 

Increase your audience reach by live streaming your in-person event. With Hubilo Broadcasting Studio (HBS), high-quality videos are broadcast to social or custom destinations. HBS provides an assortment of valuable capabilities like closed captioning, branding capabilities, and RTMP streaming options to deliver a highly-produced experience to any audience you choose. 

12. Monitor on-site analytics 

Event data helps you gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, from content to contact outreach. The beauty of a great event tech platform is that it allows you to track on-site event analytics in real-time.

Read and Learn: How to Add Energy, Impact, and Results at Every Stage of Your Webinar

You can instantly track check-ins, events, and engagement metrics across the event checkpoints to figure out on the fly what's working. After your event, you can make informed data-driven decisions for sales follow-ups and campaigns. 

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13. Integrate with other marketing tools

A great event tech platform is just one piece of your full martech stack, and solid integrations with the rest of your tools is a must-have. Integrate your event data with your CRM and marketing automation tools to continue with lead nurture and scoring. You can run personalized marketing campaigns with data-driven insights on the attendee journey or plan future ones with what you've learned. 

14. Leverage event management services

You already have a full plate and planning an event is a full-time job on its own. You can benefit significantly from the services of a professional event management company. A professional team can help you with everything from event setup to dry runs. Moreover, an experienced event management team can give you creative ideas to engage your attendees better. By mitigating risks and providing timely support, an event planning team can be your support to craft and execute a flawless in-person event. 

Host exceptional in-person events with Hubilo

In-person events are a powerful marketing channel to generate leads and revenue. Hubilo offers everything you need to plan, manage, and execute excellent in-person events. We offer contactless check-ins, badge printing, branded mobile app, QR code lead retrievals, and on-site support. With the right data collection and engagement tools, you can get more ROI from in-person events. With Hubilo technology, you'll deliver immersive brand experiences that drive engagement and ROI. Get in touch with us to learn how Hubilo can help you grow your revenue through events.