A Guide to Generating Hype for Your Event [Pre-Event Checklist]

You know what it’s like when you’ve got an important event to look forward to – counting down the days, fine tuning all the details and actively checking online for any updates from the host that you need to be aware of. All in anticipation of the event itself. In fact, half the fun of any event is that eager build up as the day draws nearer.

This too, is something you want to remember when planning your own event. Yes, you may have organised caterers, entertainment, venues and a bulletproof budget, but now is the time to keep your attendees engaged, excited and evermore hyped for your upcoming event. In this post, we’re going to tell you how you can do exactly that, with a foolproof checklist, as well as give you top tips on utilising an event app, which will change your pre-event build-up so drastically you’ll wonder how you ever coped without it. 

✅ The pre-event Checklist for event success

No event goes by hitch-free without a foolproof checklist – I’m sure you already have your own checklist to hand as you read this. 

This checklist is different, however. It’s designed specifically for the purpose of engaging your audience and attendees with an event app as your event draws nearer. So that you keep up the momentum and retain their attention and excitement for all that’s to come – whether that’s before, during or even after the event itself.  

1. Set your Goals

With anything in life, knowing what you’re trying to achieve is absolutely pivotal from the outset. If you’re unclear in your actions, you’ll be unclear in the outcome and that’s not what you want for yourself or your business. 

Begin by knowing the purpose behind your event – is it simply for networking and making new connections? Are you trying to spread the word about a product launch? Or, maybe you’re looking to raise awareness about a specific charitable cause or employee engagement event. Whatever the goal of your event, make sure it is clear from the outset. Not only for you as an organiser but for your attendees too – if they understand that you are trying to raise funds for a charity, they will come prepared with the intention of being able to add considerable donations towards the cause. 

Similarly, if it’s a networking event, they will have prepared their elevator pitch ready to mingle with like-minded individuals. It’s your role as the host to make your intentions clear and communicate them well to all involved, from your teammates to your attendees. Stick with your goal and you can’t go far wrong. 

2. Choose the Right Event App

Next up, is choosing the right event app from the outset to help you pursue said goal. Having a multi-faceted event planning app will take your event from being a basic “do”, to being the place to be within your networking circle. 

With a handful of decent apps available to choose from, you’re going to want something that differs from other options on the market to ensure that you’re maximising engagement and pre-event hype ahead of the day. Eventee is the event management tool that is designed to skyrocket your audience engagement. Whether you want to organise a hybrid, virtual or in person event, Eventee’s app offers a one-stop shop for your event planning needs. With easy to use tools and multiple live features within it’s clever technology, as well as providing valuable analytics and a multitude of networking possibilities, Eventee is a super choice when considering event management software as an event planner looking to streamline their event organising.

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3. Create Content and Set Up Event App Features

Once you’ve chosen the perfect app, it’s time to begin creating content and setting up the apps features.

Eventee provides a free homepage for any event you create. Knowing how busy their dedicated users are, they take all of the hard work out for you – allowing you to provide all of the information once from the outset before generating a sleek homepage to direct your attendees towards so that they can keep up to date in the run-up to the event. They can also begin utilising the app's features beforehand so that on the day they know their way around the app like the back of their hand. 

4. Branding the Event App

Once you’ve “filled in the blanks” content-wise, it’s time to move on to branding the event app to ensure that your own branding shines through the moment your attendees have signed up. Having your branding at the forefront of everything, both in the run-up to and on the day of the event itself is incredibly important. 

5. Test the Event App

Testing is by far one of the most important steps. You want to ensure that you are confident in navigating your way around the app, not just as a host but as a user. It’s important, as a host, to cover your bases so that you not only feel familiar with the app, but for you to feel like a confident super-user so you can answer any questions with ease. 

Testing all your tech beforehand is a must, as well as making sure you are able to engage your users in the lead up to the event, means you avoid any last minute ‘oops’ moments on the day.

6. Promote Your Event App

Start early and get your attendees clued up to the fact you are using an event app. By getting them onboard early with the tech you are using in the lead up to the event, means users can get familiar with the apps capabilities and will ensure that users are happy to engage with and ultimately use the app to it’s max potential before, during and after the event.

7. Scheduling Event Teasers and Updates

Now that you have the event app set up and ready to use, you simply need to start working on executing your marketing strategy in the lead up to the event. You’ll want to strategically plan posts and teasers along the way to maximise the engagement from your attendees – so consider the timings of the posts along with providing updates when they’re most relevant. This will ensure your attendees stay in the loop but also, most importantly, that they want to stay tuned with your various channels so that they don’t miss out!

8. Encourage Attendee Engagement 

Now that you’ve got their attention, you want to get your attendees talking. Not necessarily in the literal sense of being on the end of a telephone, but engaging with each other using the helpful app that you’ve provided them with. Make sure that your attendees are aware well in advance of the networking opportunities so that they can reap the benefits early on. Whether your event is online, hybrid, or in-person it will help with engagement on the day itself because your attendees will be well versed on using the app, as well as feeling a familiarity with not only your brand, but the other attendees too.

9. Track engagement

Finally, you want to monitor engagement and keep track of things as they’re happening. Engaged attendees are excited attendees and those are the people that come to an event feeling inspired for what’s to come. Make sure you keep a close eye on engagement from day one so that you can track any peaks and troughs and learn how and when your attendees respond best so that you can always keep improving.

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💪 Using Eventee to Pre-Event Excitement

Now that you’ve worked through your checklist, you should be at the point where you’ve published your event, you have your homepage and an app that is ready to be thriving with engagement. It’s now the time for you to look at ways to create pre-event excitement. Here are the tips on how you can use Eventee’s incredible features to do that:

Social Wall

One of Eventee’s newest features allows user to generate their own content inside the app that helps with spreading excitement among attendees. As part of this feature, attendees are also able to interact by ‘liking’ and ‘disliking’ posts.

📖 Learn more about the Social Wall feature.

TIP: Be the first to share a post that kicks off engagement and keeps your attendees talking!

Push notifications

Making sure that you emphasise the benefits of enabling push notifications to your attendees means that they don’t miss any new information you share with them. This feature isn’t just beneficial for attendees, organisers can benefit from being able to utilise this feature to count down days and send reminders directly to attendees, all of which drives that all-important event engagement beforehand.

📖 Learn more about app push notifications.

TIP: Keep things fresh is to make use of emojis, GIFs and images to keep things interesting, rather than just plain text.  

Promote key Speakers, Sponsors,...

Use your speakers, sponsors and performers as marketing tools. Showcasing them here adds real value to your event and keeping their names at the forefront of conversation in the run up to the event will build excitement for the content that’s to come on the day.

📖 Learn how to showcase speakers and partners.

TIP: Feature their bios, profile photos and contact information, as well as highlighting their expertise and accomplishments to remind your attendees of their success and why they should want to learn from them.

Custom menu

Thanks to the Custom menu feature on Eventee, organisers can add heaps of content from links and text to pdfs and images into the apps menu. This is a simple way to allow attendees to see important information.

📖 Learn more about the feature Custom menu.

TIP: Embed a short and sweet pre-event survey to understand the attendees' needs and expectations. Share recommendations (accommodation, restaurants, parking, etc.) or tips on how to explore the app and use it to the fullest.

Networking

Within Eventee, you can match with other attendees and arrange meetings in advance using the networking feature. And get this - it works just like Tinder! Swipe right if you're interested in meeting someone and swipe left if you're not. 

📖 Learn more about the feature Networking.

TIP: Plan pre-event icebreaking activities to make networking even more fun and engaging.

Analytics tool

Monitoring and adjusting your strategy is crucial for maximum effectiveness. When you stay on top of your strategy and make tweaks as needed throughout the planning process, you can ensure that you're always moving in the right direction.

📖 Learn more about the analytics tool.

TIP: Setting goals at the beginning and sticking to them is a great way to keep your team aligned - together, you can conquer anything!

✍️ In conclusion

When you choose Eventee, planning an event will never be easier. With a combination of your organisational skills, Eventee’s intelligent software and the tips we’ve provided in the post, your next event is bound to be a success. Just make sure that you utilise all of the information we’ve provided to your advantage - creating plenty of hype as your event draws nearer in order to keep your attendees excited for what you’ve got in store. In turn making them eager to attend not only this event, but your future events too.