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For event marketers, there’s no better feeling than seeing “SOLD OUT” appear next to your upcoming experience. It’s true: great marketing and planning will get people in the door. But a packed out venue isn’t the end goal in and of itself. In fact, it’s not even the best benchmark for measuring the success of events and experiences in marketing.

As you’re creating events and setting up key performance indicators (KPIs), remember this: engagement, not attendance, is the best indicator of success for the brand’s bottom line. For example, let’s say you have an event coming up with 1,000 tickets available. If you sell all 1,000 tickets, but only get 100 engaged attendees at the end of the event, you’ve connected with 10% of your audience. But what if you sell 750 tickets, and 250 of those people engage with your event? That’s a 33% engagement rate — and a higher number overall. Numbers matter, but sometimes, filling chairs isn’t your most important metric. 

So how do you create events that attract audience attention and motivate people to engage with your brand instead of just showing up? The key to successful engagement is inviting your attendees not just to an event, but to an experience. When they interact with your brand in a positive way, loyalty is created — and that turns one sold ticket into an audience that returns again and again!

At Redstory, we love harnessing the power of experience to connect people with brands. Here are five of our favorite ways to create engaging experiences for attendees. 

1. Innovative Experiences

Introducing our most engaging tool yet: the MiCircle experience. This immersive 360° experience offers interactive displays designed to engage, educate, and retain any audience. The technology can be customized to help your brand hit KPIs, from collecting data to boosting engagement to generating valuable leads. Learn more about what MiCircle can do for you at your next event – we’d love to help.  

2. Event Apps

Whether you’re hosting an in-person gathering or a hybrid experience, a comprehensive event app is one of your most powerful tools. Webex is our favorite solution – its simple but powerful features help guests to find the event schedule, learn more about the speakers, get reminder notifications for sessions, and engage socially with each other by posting photos to a photo wall. Everyone spends time on apps these days, so give them an easy way to create community and a space to celebrate one another.

3. Photo Booths

Forget cheesy prom snapshots — 360 Photo Booths are the wave of the future. With this technology, guests partake in a unique 360° photo experience they’ll actually want to step into. The positive brand interaction here is twofold: the booth cultivates a space for attendees to feel confident and have fun, and it also provides them with a keepsake to remember the event (and your brand!) for years to come. 

4. Networking Features

If your event offers an online component, remember that virtual attendees matter too! They want to feel like they’re part of the experience, not just watching the fun unfold from afar. Creating a virtual meeting space, like a Zoom meeting or a chat feature, allows attendees to connect with one another. Don’t forget to provide a host or moderator to help them connect with your brand, too! You can customize these virtual features in a way that makes sense for your demographic and desired KPIs, from hosting small breakout sessions to creating a large group mixer.

5. Feedback Walls

If you want to have meaningful interactions with your attendees, give them space to talk to you! Providing a tangible space that invites feedback, like this wall, is a great way to spark conversation. Sending out post-event surveys is a great tool, but sometimes, emails can get lost in the shuffle. With an in-person option, you’re offering people a chance to provide their thoughts in real-time, while their opinions are fresh — which means you may get more valuable feedback! To take it one step further, host a session where you go over feedback from the wall. Everyone will feel heard and appreciated, which means their relationship with you will skyrocket. 

With tools like these at your fingertips, you can create experiences your attendees will enjoy in real-time and remember for a long time. Want to build events designed to create meaningful human connection? At Redstory, we use technology to build events by people, for people — because that’s what matters most. Partner with us for an experience your attendees will never forget!