Memorable events don’t just happen – you have to take time to plan, think through the plan, and execute with utmost precision. Creating an unforgettable experience for your event attendees is a crucial objective to achieve, which leads to rewarding loyalty.
Therefore, when planning your event, sometimes, you may overlook some minor details that may make or break your attendees’ experience of the event. That’s not to mean that you should go above and beyond with your spending to keep people entertained.
But, as the famous saying goes, the devil is in the details. Every interaction with your event attendee reflects on the event host, whether good or bad.
Here are eight actionable strategies on what makes an event memorable:
Make Your Guests Feel Welcome
The impression you make in the first instance is what counts. Use tickets rather than paper lists to have guests check in to the event. Therefore, scanning tickets at the entrance frees up your staff, who’ll be waiting to give the guests a warm welcome rather than flip through lists.
Thus, avoid keeping your guests waiting in line at all costs.
Know Your Attendees
Do you know who your target audience is? Use the ticket sales to know your audience better. Also, you may ask questions about your guests beyond their demographics. For instance, if the target guests are successful business owners, you need to ask them how long they’ve been doing business.
If you realize the business owners haven’t been in business that long, you can have a breakout session to help you and your guests nurture the businesses.
Be Entertaining
You don’t have to spend too much to keep your guests entertained. Therefore, brainstorm what you can add to your event to create an icebreaker. Incorporate activities that match the occasion and audience needs.
Look for light-hearted and intimate ways to get your attendees’ to interact at the event.
Have Interactive Competitions and Games
Add playful and fun ways to encourage interaction among your attendees. This part of an event is referred to as gamification. Thus, gamification transforms attendee interaction into a challenge or a game.
Accordingly, device ways to have your attendees interact through games such as stamp collection or a scavenger hunt.
Offer a Sense of Discovery
Rigidity and rules aren’t fun. Don’t force your attendees to follow the rules to the latter strictly. Instead, think of ways to help them explore different event sections on their terms. Allow attendees to enjoy the event while relaxed and comfortable.
Look for ways to delight and surprise the guests using demonstrations and interactive displays in static booths.
Rethink the Swag
Before spending lots of cash on branding merchandise, consider more relevant items for your attendees. For example, if you’re in the travel industry, have sun lotion and sunglasses in the place of branded pens.
Teach Your Guests a New Skill
To create a long-lasting impression on your attendees, add something educational to the event. Teaching the guests something they’ll use in the future positions your brand as insightful and helpful. The new skill can be something as simple as the bartender at a cocktail party demonstrating the creation of a signature cocktail.
This way, every time the guests replicate the recipe at their events, they’ll remember your event.
Engage Your Attendees After the Event
What interactions do you have set regarding your brand after the event? Have they heard from you again? How you interact with your guests after the event is an overlooked aspect that can make you a hero or hurt the brand.
Following up sales leads is critical, but being too aggressive can put off the attendees and discourage them from attending future events. When you have relevant content to take away from the event, you can nurture relationships post-event in a meaningful way.
FAQs
How Can You Make Your Event More Memorable?
Here’s how to make the event more memorable:
- Make greeting more personal by appealing to each guest individually.
- Never underestimate the power of mouth-watering food.
- Look for that ‘wow’ factor in your event and create it.
- Remember to follow up with your guests after the event.
How Do You Make an Event Unforgettable?
To make your event unforgettable, here’s what you need to do:
- Come up with a unique and diverse list of guests.
- Choose the best location where you’ll host your event.
- Keep track of your attendees’ schedules so that you avoid any coinciding events while planning your event.
- Don’t underestimate what a well-thought-out invite to your guests can impact the event.
- Ensure you have plenty of food and drinks.
What is the Most Important Thing to Make the Event Unforgettable?
The most crucial thing to making an event unforgettable is having a clear vision for the event. Have a well-thought-out plan of what you intend to achieve in the event. Once you’re sure who your audience will be, you must know what you expect from the event.
What Makes a Great Event Experience?
Great attendee experience begins long before the actual day of the event. A great event experience is about delivering a personalized and seamless event experience. Furthermore, it encompasses collecting attendees’ data to gain greater insight and create a personalized attendee experience.
How Do I Make My Business Event Special?
Create an immersive experience for your guests in the following ways:
- Have photo booths with branded corporate fliers.
- Tweet walls.
- Have interactive touch screens for the guests to navigate through.
- Include some crowd-responsive lighting.
- Have whiteboards where the guests can interact.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, if you wish to have a memorable event, the most critical thing is to create a lasting impression on your guests. By following this blueprint, you’re sure to create an event experience that lingers for a long time.
Therefore, you need to focus on human, memorable, personalized, and enjoyable events such that people will think about the event outcome for days to come. The strategies above will keep your guests thinking about your event long after they’ve left the event space.
Need help creating a memorable event? Contact Aurora Event Lighting & Rentals and we can help you with event production and insights to creating a night to remember!