Many great events rely on repeat attendees in order to maintain success year after year. The challenge is providing an unforgettable experience, while also leaving your guests wanting more.ย If an attendee has a wonderful experience at your event, they will want to return next year or hopefully attend other events you produce. This is the type of atmosphere any event producer tries to provide and here are a few tips on how you can achieve it.
Provide High-Quality Customer Service
Providing a great experience all starts with customer service. Do your best to make sure your attendees feel valued and excited to be at the event. From arrival to departure, they should be treated with appreciation.
Showing attendees that you are organized and prepared is also another form of providing customer service. Guest are sure to share their experience and return as future customers, if they feel like the event was well put together and successful. A great example of visible customer service is in the welcome you provide at your events.
Keep Your Events Fresh and New
No one wants to attend an event that is exactly the same year after year. Part of the thrill of returning to an event is to see what they have in store for each new year, month, etc. From decor, to talent, to a cool sponsored build out, your attendees will look forward to what you have in store event to event.
Providing this fresh and unique experience each time, can be a challenge, but it also gives you a wonderful opportunity to be creative and think outside the box. Utilize everyone on your team and take everyone’s ideas into consideration. Surveying past attendees makes for good idea generation.
Encourage Engagement
Engaging your attendees is a very important part of gaining them as loyal supporters. Finding new ways that they can interact with each other, the presenters, entertainment, or atmosphere around them will make the event more compelling. If they feel connected to the event they will be much more likely to return and to share their experience with other future attendees.
Empower your attendees to connect with others to spread the word about your event. Repeat attendees can become one of your biggest marketing tools by engaging their friends, colleagues, before, during and after the event.
Provide a Sense of Ownership
Turning your attendees into advocates who feel deeply connected to your event is the ultimate way to transform them into loyal attendees. When you feel a sense of ownership in anything you want to it do well and enjoy being a contributing part of that success. This ownership can easily come through asking for attendee feedback.
Loyal attendees will fuel the repeated success of your event. Work hard to ensure your guests are happy and satisfied with their experience. When you plan an event, you want to create an atmosphere that your attendees will feel connected to. If you can provide them with a sense of ownership, create a wonderful experience and value their opinions, you are well on your way to success for years to come.