Registration Software Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
Event registration is the main reason for any successful event. Regardless of the industry or topic, any event aims to bring people together. Therefore, event registration is the top priority for event marketers. Increasing the conversion rate from a prospective customer to a registered attendee is an important KPI for event success.
» What is Registration Software?
Event registration software is a set of business solutions that address different aspects of event management, from planning to post-event stages. These end-to-end solutions offer tools for the entire event life cycle and focus on specific processes of event organizing that includes registration, ticketing, analytics, floor planning, surveys, and schedulers.
» What are the Features of Registration Software?
The goal of event registration is to make it look simple from the attendee's point of view. Therefore, it is important to invest in the best registration software, which is the key element in building a strong registration flow. The software helps in getting more people to the event and increase event revenue.
With lots of event registration software out there, comparing to shop one for your needs can be overwhelming. You will be on the right track by clarifying on must-have and nice to have features. Some top features of an event registration software should have been:
› EVENT MARKETING:
Event planners can create a customizable website for an event, launch push messaging, email marketing campaigns, social media posts, and generate promotional codes.
› TICKETING:
This feature enables owners to sell the event tickets and handles the registration process for conferences through both online and offline channels. The software you choose should enable you to set ticket prices, types, and quantity limits.
› ATTENDEE MANAGEMENT:
You can enhance the attendee experience with the event registration tool for customized registration, guest list management, assigned seating arrangements, assigning staff to escort attendees, using customer feedback to improve future events, and conducting real-time survey's through Q&A’s and polling system for the better engagement. Some platforms even manage travel facilities for attendees.
› ON-SITE MANAGEMENT:
This feature allows you to manage activities at the venue that includes the registration on the spot, printing name badges for attendees, check-in with barcode scanners, and easy check-ins by integrating with self-service kiosks.
› REGISTRATION MANAGEMENT:
This feature helps users to accept or decline registrations for seminars, conferences, along with events. Some membership registration software allows you to book venues, rooms, and tables for attendees.
› SESSION MANAGEMENT:
You can create and track content for speakers, sponsors, and event exhibitors. Your chosen software should allow you to create event agendas and measure attendee interest for each event or session by generating customizable reports.
› VENUE MANAGEMENT:
With the help of software, you can identify potential venues and develop a floor plan to allocate booth to exhibitors. You can also manage resources, event logistics, and catering services with the software.
» What are the Benefits of Registration Software?
Event registration software is an intuitive and user-friendly solution, used by the event marketer and attendee. The best registration software integrates with the ticketing system to maximize the success of your events. There are more benefits to using event registration software in your event business.
› FLAWLESS EVENT REGISTRATION:
Ticket sales gets the top priority in the registration process. The software helps you to follow up who bought your tickets, did any target groups fall behind, and the number of tickets sold out.
› TARGETED COMMUNICATION:
You can easily track who bought, registered, and canceled a ticket for your event. Sending emails and notifications for the targeted audience gets simple with membership management software. The software allows you to send emails that direct the audience to your event website for more details on the present and upcoming events.
› AUTOMATIC CONFIRMATION AND E-TICKET:
After purchasing tickets for your event, your audiences get confirmation about the ticket through automatic emails. You can also send e-tickets to your guests that include a logo and necessary event information. You can even generate a company invoice for your attendees and send them along with the automatic confirmation email.
› MEASURES EVENT ROI:
You can easily measure your event ROI with the event registration and ticketing software, by considering how many tickets sold per day, show and no-show percentages, and ticket turnover per ticket category.
» What is the Cost of Registration Software?
There are loads of event registration software tools available in the market, which your time and keeps you organized. Your choice of a registration software for events selection is important since the platform affects all parts of the event planning process. Though software features and its function are important considerations to look in for, the price of it is also undeniably a key factor before making a final decision. You can outline your specifications list and target a few different solutions before deciding how much to invest in software. This will help you test and find out if the solution fits your specification list.
The price also varies based on your audience size and event. The basic price of the software may range from $100/month or $75/month if billed annually, while some provide a customized quote based on your requirements. We recommend you to consider the reviews of that software before you try it. You can go for free trial event registration software before you invest in one. However, choosing premium providers helps your event business if you want to provide a customized and branded experience for your audience. It is important to find out if the software is user-friendly to avoid any inconvenience and the one that meets your requirements at a competitive price.
» Questions to ask a vendor when buying best Registration Software
1. What level of automation will your registration software bring to the table?
2. How does the process of event registrations work in your solution? Is it complex?
3. Does your system offer the means to manage contacts and calendar?
4. How does the solution help in the badge management needs?
5. Does your solution offer ready templates?
6. Can I customize the built-in forms?
7. Will the registration forms appear properly on different screen sizes?
8. Is the software’s class registration function easy to use?
9. Is it possible to track and manage attendees through the solution?
10. Does the software provide any means to simplify the process of group registration?
11. Does the product include marketing automation tools?
12. Will the software provide hassle-free online registrations? Will it work across devices?
13. Does the product come in with on-site registration capabilities?
14. Can your software offer self check-ins and check-outs?
15. Is there a mechanism to tackle refund management?
16. Will your system save time on my administrative tasks?
17. What kind of payment processing does your software contain? How safe is it?
18. Will the software allow the creation and distribution of surveys and feedback?
19. Does your product work offline and remotely?
20. Can I use the system on any of my devices and platforms?
21. Where does your product stand in terms of analytics and reporting?
22. Is the software extensible to meet my future requirements?
23. Which features of your software can I customize?
24. Is it possible to integrate this product with my existing applications?
25. What is its standard implementation process?
26. How do you offer training?
27. Do you provide 24/7 support? How can I ask for help?
28. Is there any hidden cost?
29. Is your software an ideal fit for my business?
» Conclusion
The event registration software helps you to sell out an event with the right audience, rather than selling out an event. The software helps you to create a website for an event, which is crucial to get the attention of the targeted audience. You can provide as much as information necessary for audiences to register for the event, which includes different ticket types and special discounts. You can experiment and measure your event promotion campaigns and keep tabs on what’s working and what’s not. The software increases business profitability in the long run and is more rewarding for your audience.