Replacing your existing paper registration system with an online registration solution is one of the best decisions you’ll make for your business. You’ll save time (and money!), be able to expedite the event registration process for attendees and possibly generate more revenue from events.
More specifically, you’ll be able to:
- Let customers register for the event and purchase tickets online.
- Offer multiple payment methods.
- Use social media sharing tools to get the word out about your event.
- Streamline the event check-in process on the day of the event.
In this article, we’ll start off by explaining why you should replace your outdated paper registration process with an online event registration solution. We’ll also share some of the most essential features to look for in event management software.
Why You Should Offer Online Event Registration and Ticketing
Although implementing a new registration system and changing up your event registration process may seem like a lot of work, it’s certainly worth the effort.
Transitioning to online event registration allows you to automate registration forms, emails, and payments. You’ll be able to collect online payments through secure payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe. And, best of all, the data you obtain from your customers will be accurate – no more trying to decode poor handwriting or data entry from a paper form to a digital record!
Here’s how organizations benefit from replacing their outdated paper registration process with online event registration:
- Expedites the event registration process. Online registration allows event organizers to speed up and streamline their event registration process. As a result, attendees can quickly provide registration and payment information and receive printable tickets to the event.
- Ensures more accurate information. Organizations using pen and paper to collect attendee information have to do everything manually which slows down the registration process. An online event registration system enables them to validate attendee information through email which ensures that the data you collect is accurate. Plus, there’s less of a chance of errors with data entry when paper records are transcribed to digital documents.
- It’s not an environmental waste. A paper-based registration process uses up a lot of paper in printing forms which are bad for the environment.
- Customized reporting. Since online event registrations make it easy to collect and process data, you’re able to generate all sorts of reports and track key performance indicators.
- Reduces staff resources needed to manage registrations. Event organizers using online registration systems can automate routine tasks like sending email newsletters to past attendees, collecting attendee information, processing payments, and generating reports. This allows them to reduce their labor costs and improve their bottom line.
- Prevents Overselling and Underselling. Paper registrations and ticketing cause delays showing how many tickets are sold or still available. With a paper registration system, you do not have an instant count of the number of attendees that have registered. With a paper registration system, you can hit your event capacity and still have paper registrations trickling in. That can cause problems for your team or create a situation where you have to deny attendees because of the size of the venue.
- Prevents Under Collecting Revenue. When attendees register with paper, their payment may not be included at all or not included in full. With an online registration system, you can know instantly which attendees have paid, how much is paid, or how much is still due. The sooner and more quickly you know which attendees still need to pay for their tickets and how much they owe can empower your team to collect that money in advance or prepare the attendee to fund their account in full. Having a real-time accounting of revenue can also help you budget more properly for executing the event.
- Conduct business 24-hours a day. With an online event registration system, you’re able to accept registrations and sell tickets 24-hours a day as opposed to regular working hours in the case of paper registrations.
- Generate more revenue. Paper registration forms require more work for your audience to fill out, it costs them money or time to deliver the paper (even via faxing). Online event registration forms allow attendees to register more efficiently, and the easier it is, the more likely people will register, and attend. As mentioned before, online event registration is more easily shared among attendees which can create a snowball effect where one attendee invites more attendees, raising more awareness for your event and attracting more attendees.
Online registration systems not only help event organizers manage their business better, but they also improve the attendees’ experience. Here’s how:
- Convenience. Event attendees can submit their registration information online, pay with their credit cards, and get tickets – all within a few minutes. This way they don’t have to go out of their way to print the form, fill it out, post it to event organizers, and wait for it to be processed.
- No lost registrations. By registering online, event attendees receive automatic confirmation emails when their registration is processed. This serves as a reference on the day of the event in case of a mistake or mix-up.
- Early bird pricing. Event organizers offer early bird tickets at a reduced price to encourage prospective attendees to register for the event. Implementing the same (or similar) ticketing strategies using a paper registration process can be complicated.
- Secure payments. No more writing checks or carrying cash while waiting in line to purchase tickets. Online event registration enables event attendees to pay for their tickets using secure payment gateways and receive a confirmation email within seconds.
Now we have a better understanding of the benefits of online event registration systems vs. paper registration, let’s look at some of the features to look for when choosing an event registration and ticketing solution for your event business.
Features to Look for in an Online Event Registration Solution
Finding the right event registration solution isn’t rocket science. You just need to have a clear idea of what sorts of features you’ll need.
Here are seven of the most essential features to consider when evaluating event registration solutions.
#1: Smooth Registration Process
The first thing to consider in choosing the right online event registration software is how easy and intuitive it is to use. Event attendees don’t like to fill out lengthy forms or be asked to submit unnecessary personal information.
You should only request information that is absolutely necessary to collect attendee registrations. With an online registration system, you can also put registrants on waiting lists and offer group registrations.
Event Smart is an event registration tool that allows you to set up a smooth online registration process. It lets you create high-converting forms directly from your WordPress site. You’ll also be able to offer multiple ticket and pricing options, multiple attendee registration, and multiple dates and times per event which will make your event’s registration process easy and flexible.
#2: Multiple Payment Options
Attendees will be more likely to purchase tickets if you offer multiple payment options. The great thing about an online registration system is that you can offer a combination of online (PayPal, Venmo, e-checks, credit cards, etc.) and offline payment methods (checks or invoice). This way your attendees can pay using the method that suits them best.
Event Smart allows you to integrate different payment gateways into your event website including Stripe and PayPal.
#3: Data Ownership
Organizations hosting events collect personal information (such as their email address, contact information, and billing details) from attendees. Making sure this information is secure is a top priority.
For this reason, you should go with an event registration solution that safeguards your attendee’s data. If you’re storing the data of residents living in the European Union, make sure that your event website is GDPR-compliant.
Event Smart enables you to protect your attendees’ personal data. It also allows you to use that data to generate analytics reports which you can use to improve your marketing efforts.
#4: Marketing Tools
The online event registration solution you choose should offer marketing features which will help you increase your market outreach and attract more attendees.
For example, you can use attendees’ contact information to keep them informed about upcoming events or send them promotional emails.
Event Smart lets you offer promotional codes for exclusive discounts on tickets. In addition to this, it integrates seamlessly with MailChimp allowing you to automatically add attendees’ emails to your MailChimp mailing list or group.
#5: Mobile Attendance & Ticket Scanning
You need an event management solution that enables you to quickly verify attendee tickets on the day of the event. Event tickets can be scanned using the mobile app with barcode scanning capabilities which helps speed up the check-in process.
Event Smart’s mobile app (available for iOS and Android) makes it easy for event organizers to check-in attendees and validate their tickets in a few seconds. It also lets you monitor event attendance and gives you access to attendee information directly from your mobile device.
#6: Consistent Branding
One of the biggest problems with a paper registration process is establishing a strong brand identity. Printing branded tickets, registration forms, promotional flyers, and whatnot can get pretty expensive pretty fast.
The benefit of an excellent online event registration system is that you’re able to deliver consistent brand experiences and stand out from the crowd. For example, with Event Smart, you’re ready to pick a theme and add branding elements to it. Event Smart sites also make it easy to add your logo to your event website, event pages, emails, and tickets.
#7: Fees and Costs
While it may seem like purchasing event registration software for your organization will cost more than a paper registration process would, that’s simply not true. Between the cost of printing, managing paperwork, and mailing documents, you can expect to spend thousands of dollars per year handling registrations manually. With online event registration and ticketing, a lot of those costs are lowered or eliminated entirely.
In contrast, the software would cost you much less. For example, with Event Smart, you can create unlimited events, offer multiple tickets and registration options, create custom registration forms, receive online payments, send attendees tickets via email, scan tickets using your mobile device and much more for as low as $10 per month.
Event Smart does not require any contracts so you can subscribe to just the features you need on a month-to-month basis or annually for a discount. You can also manage your subscription at any time from your account page.
Conclusion
If you’re still using paper registration for your events, then you might be losing attendees for events. By switching over to an online event registration solution – like Event Smart – you’ll be able to:
- Offer attendees a smooth registration experience.
- Allow attendees to make secure online (and offline) payments using their preferred payment option.
- Own all of the data you collect, analyze it, and generate reports.
- Leverage built-in digital marketing tools such as creating promotional codes and building email lists.
- Check-in attendees faster on the day of the event using a mobile app.
- Deliver consistent brand experiences.
- Save thousands of dollars on printing, managing paperwork, and mailing documents.
Which online event registration features are essential to you? Let us know by commenting below.
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