These days, efficient event management is essential. The organisation of B2B events is becoming increasingly complex, partly due to new possibilities offered by digitalisation and increased participant demands. Only when your event is efficiently organised and executed can you ensure you are offering your visitors the best event possible.

If it’s not already, understanding that organising events is a labour-intensive process becomes apparent when you start putting together your first one. There are numerous tasks, large and small, that need to be addressed before you can welcome visitors on opening day. There are also plenty of tasks to complete during the event and, finally, the follow-up can be very time-consuming as well.

Wouldn't it be great if someone lent you a hand and took on a large portion of the tasks for you? That’s exactly what the right event management software can do!

In this guide, we’ll show you how you can use event management software to automate time-consuming tasks when planning and executing your event, saving you dozens or even hundreds of hours of work every time.

Ready to make your event management more efficient? Let’s get started!

Advantages of event management software

Event planning software helps you with countless tasks needed to properly organise and execute your B2B event. These include:

• Automatic participant registration
• Sending personalised invitations and general communication
• Clear management of payments and finances
• Participant tracking and management
• Automatic feedback collection
• Data analysis and insights for future events

Using such a programme significantly increases efficiency, saving you a great deal of work and unnecessary stress. At the same time, when challenges arise with little notice, you can respond more quickly, as many tasks that previously required your attention are now automated.

That’s not all: You also have more time to focus on the creative aspects of event planning and experiential marketing. And that’s exactly what makes working as an event manager so much fun!

Of course, the needs of your participants are at the heart of organising and executing a B2B event. The best event management software ensures participants experience an excellent networking event, as efficient organisation and execution leads to an overall increase in event quality. This makes it more likely that attendees will purchase tickets for future events, which generally leads to higher attendance numbers.

Let’s take a detailed look at how the right software can increase event management efficiency.

Automatic participant registration

To a large extent, event management software automates one of the most crucial tasks in B2B event organisation: registering new participants.

• Event website: In many cases, the basis for this is a customised event website. No prior technical expertise is required to create such a website. Instead, a user-friend drag-and-drop editor is used. This even makes it possible to create complex websites with numerous functions while simultaneously integrating an event’s corporate design.

• Registration form: A customised registration form is required to register your participants. This can also be created with just a few clicks using the drag-and-drop editor. Those who are interested can provide their information and easily register as an event participant. Organisers have the flexibility to collect specific information through the registration form and adjust the registration process according to their needs.

• Email marketing: Collecting participant email addresses is particularly important. These can be transferred to a professional email marketing software, which has numerous benefits. Not only does it structure and automate the entire email communication process, but a specialised email software also ensures sent messages reach the intended recipients instead of landing in their spam folders. An email programme also makes it easier to comply with legal regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The biggest advantage of an ‘all-in-one’ event management software is that the website, registration form and email programme are all elements of the same software suite, meaning they can be efficiently integrated with one another without problem.

Once participants are registered in the event registration software, they can easily be contacted via email and, for example, receive notifications regarding changes to the event. This ensures participants are always kept up to date on current event developments. Each email also serves as an additional touchpoint, providing opportunities for interaction and playing an important role in brand building.

Personalised invitations and communication

Collecting data through the registration form also allows for personalised communication with registered participants in the next step of the process. The information collected is stored in the event management software and can be used for subsequent communication.

A simple example of this is the ability to directly address registered users by name in the subject line of an email. Implementing such a simple measure with minimal effort can already lead to measurably higher open rates.

The entire group of participants can also be segmented into smaller subgroups, for example, based on their interests. For instance, during the registration process, you can ask users what topics they are particularly interested in for the event. Messages related to these topics can then be easily sent to the relevant subgroups.

While effective personalisation is possible without suitable event management software, at least in part, it requires a considerable amount of work. By using an efficient software, you can easily save yourself this additional effort.

Theoretically, personalised communication is only limited by the available data. Even hyper-personalisation, where you extensively address individual aspects for all participants, is possible. However, be cautious with the information you collect through things like registration forms. Long forms with too many data fields tend to result in fewer participants registering.

Managing payments and finances

Even for small and medium-sized events, it is necessary to draw up a comprehensive financial plan. This will ensure the event stays within the estimated budget, liquidity is guaranteed at all times and financial targets are met.

Event management software helps you efficiently create a financial plan and provides a quick overview of all financial aspects when planning and organising B2B events. This also makes it easier to identify cost drivers and stay within the agreed budget.

• Revenue: Typical sources of income for B2B events include ticket revenue, exhibitor fees, event sponsorship and catering revenue.
  

• Expenses: Expenditures vary depending on the event. The most common cost factors include rent for the event location, costs for technical equipment, fees for speakers and catering costs.

With the right software, you can create a clear and quick summary of all revenue and expenses. This eliminates the need for the manual and error-prone creation of financial overviews, such as using a spreadsheet.

Participant tracking and management

Event management software is the perfect foundation for efficient participant tracking at an event. This becomes particularly relevant when implementing real-time participant tracking, which, without suitable event management software, can only be done manually or in an extremely labour-intensive manner.

• Tracking participants in real-time: Real-time tracking can be implemented using QR codes, wristbands or check-in apps. When an attendee arrives at the venue, for example, they can scan a QR code at the entrance. They will then be logged in as ‘present’. If the attendee leaves the venue, another QR code is scanned. This allows an organiser to know how many people are currently on the premises at any given time and how many registered users were ‘no-shows’.
  

• Tracking attendee flow in real-time: Live tracking can be applied to individual sessions during the event. To do so, a QR code is scanned at the entrance to a session as well. This allows organisers to immediately determine which lectures, discussions or other sessions are particularly popular, and where there is less demand. This data can be used to better tailor the event programme to attendee preferences for future events. In addition, real-time tracking can help identify which areas of the event are overcrowded and need to be closed to further visitors.
  

• Participant tracking and data protection: If you choose to track participants in real-time, it is important to take data protection aspects into account. Some attendees may have concerns regarding the creation of personalised movement profiles. Legal regulations, such as those outlined in the GDPR, must also be adhered to at all times.
  

• Digital participant lists: In addition to comprehensive live tracking, event management software also offers options for less extensive but still efficient attendee tracking. A digital participant list, in particular, is frequently used for this purpose. Gone are the days of printed participant lists. Not only is digital guest management efficient, but it also offers completely new possibilities. You can view record of attendance, registrations and check-in status for participants with just a few clicks.
  

• Automated feedback collection: Participant feedback is a valuable B2B event source for identifying optimisation potential for future events. By gathering feedback after the event has ended, organisational weaknesses or holes in programme planning can be determined and corrected.

Automated feedback collection

Feedback from participants is a valuable source for identifying optimisation potential for future B2B events. By collecting feedback after the end of an event, organisational weaknesses or gaps in the programme planning can be identified and rectified.

• Feedback through online surveys: The process of collecting feedback can be highly automated and efficiently managed with the implementation of suitable event management software. During participant registration, an email address for each user is requested and stored. You can then send an email to this address during or after the event, requesting feedback. Participants can then provide feedback through an online survey link in the email. This survey can also be created using your event management software.
  

• Increasing feedback response with follow-up emails: Since many participants do not provide feedback immediately, several reminder emails should be sent to those who have not yet responded. With modern event management software, it is also easy to automate this process and send reminder emails specifically to contacts who have not yet submitted their feedback.

Caution: Although participant feedback is a very important source for improvement suggestions, the survey should not be too long. Too many questions, especially open-ended ones without predefined responses, can cause many users to abandon the survey before completing it.

Data analysis and insights for future events

A modern event management software not only enables you to efficiently collect data about an event and its attendees, but it also allows you to analyse the data with just a few clicks. Powerful analytics features provide comprehensive insights into participant behaviour and preferences. This allows you to, for example, optimise future events and better tailor them to the needs of your target audience.

Specifically, event management software gives you the ability to systematically measure and evaluate your predefined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Relevant KPIs that can be used to measure the success of a B2B event include:

• Number of participants
• Participant satisfaction
• Participant engagement
• Return on Investment (ROI)

Only when an event management software with the appropriate functionality is in place is a comprehensive data-driven evaluation of these KPIs possible. Analysing large datasets can be done automatically or with just a few clicks. Clearly visualising the data, such as in tables and graphs, ensures a better understanding of the data and facilitates better decision-making.

Creative aspects and smooth event experiences

By using event management software, you can complete numerous standardised tasks much more efficiently or even automate them completely. You then have the opportunity to devote your newly gained free time to creative aspects of the event, like tasks that cannot be automated. These include aspects such as:

What speaker will attract the most interest from our target audience?

What venue is best suited for our B2B event?

How many participants should ideally be on site to ensure the best participant experience?

At the same time, event management software can also help you handle creative tasks when organising your B2B event, whether it’s creating a perfectly designed website or writing an email with a high conversion rate.

Making efficient event management effortless with the right event management software

The evidence is clear: A large portion of the tasks related to organising and executing B2B events can either be automated or their efficiency can be significantly enhanced through the use of event management software. This includes complex tasks, such as the registration process.

Using event management software enhances the quality of your event by making tasks both efficient and significantly less prone to errors. This allows you to spend more time on the creative side of things, like choosing the speakers for the location. These are the aspects that make your event a unique experience for all participants.