by Event apps are becoming increasingly popular, and consumer expectations are greater.
It is no longer enough to simply plan an event and sell tickets. You need to augment the experience.
According to an EventMB poll, 46% of companies are already using event apps. (And a further 26% are considering to implement them in the future.)
Read on to find out how you can get involved and start using an event app today.
Billetto is a ticketing platform that helps you manage, promote, and host events. Set up an event page and start selling tickets in 5 minutes.
CREATE YOUR EVENT >>
Why do you need an event app?
The sun is setting on the age of printed media. An app gives you the freedom to react quickly in an ever-changing landscape.
1. Improve communication and interaction
Apps can deliver promotional material and updates directly to the pockets of your attendees. Real-time interaction allows you to react natively.
Plus the thoughts and opinions of your attendees can help shape your event.
2. Foster a loyal community
Open up the conversation with your attendees. Through an app, you can build relationships and shape their journey. Apps can help you:
- Gather feedback through polls and questionnaires
- Grow engagement with competitions and games
- Let people easily connect and network
Tip: Read these tips for some inspiration on how to foster community loyalty.
3. Keep your sponsors happy
You and your sponsors benefit from utilising an event app: You can easily identify your audience, build better relationships, and increase revenue.
Tip: If you’re not already courting potential sponsors for your event, read our guide on how to get started.
Which app developers should you go with?
You’re sold on the concept, and you’re ready to get involved.
But where do you start?
Gone are the days of finding specific apps for specific tasks. Now, apps are all-encompassing and provide everything you need in one place. This benefits attendees, event partners, sponsors, and event teams alike.
There are a lot of companies out there, and they all provide many of the same features. You can expect personalisation, networking, interactive maps, analytics, and more.
That can make it all the harder to decide which app is the best one for your needs. Don’t worry, we’ve done the legwork for you.
Tip: Sign up for the Event App Bible to get a comprehensive guide on all the app developers.
The best one-stop event apps
These apps will be valuable to you regardless of the type or size of event you’re organising.
1. Whova
Whova is the most popular event app on iOS and Android (and the winner of The People’s Choice Award at the Event Technology Awards 2018).
The developers promise to make your attendees ten times happier. Whova aims to help you build your brand by improving interactivity and audience participation at events.
They also claim to reduce the time spent on managing event logistics by up to 60%, so you can focus on what matters.
With great additional tools for sponsors and exhibitors, you can’t go wrong with Whova.
2. EventBase
EventBase is the big kid in class and is one of the leading event platforms in the world. It’s positioned as the app for premium brands.
EventBase team works with some of the largest tech brands in the world, including Microsoft and Dell. Their app is in use at the Sundance Film Festival and even the Olympics.
EventBase covers the full spectrum of events. Whether you are looking to put on an enterprise event or a festival, EventBase can deliver.
The app offers all the premium event features, so EventBase is another safe choice.
3. Aloompa
Aloompa pride themselves on innovation. They provide products for music, sports, food, conference, and community events.
One of the key selling points for Aloompa is their emphasis on integrations with big names like Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and many more.
Aloompa comes packed with great features like brand and event customisation and interactive maps. “No Signal Required” is a unique feature that allows people to navigate the app offline.
With a cheaper price tag, Aloompa makes for a great choice for events of all sizes.
The best conference and workshop apps
The conference and workshop space is more crowded, and there are plenty of great providers to choose from.
1. Attendify
Attendify lets you design your very own event app from scratch. You simply follow a step-by-step process to select the features you want in the app. Then you add content related to your event. Their team places an emphasis on gathering and using data to improve your events.
Attendify claim to offer unrivalled value. With their flexible pricing for events of any size, they may be right.
2. Pathable
Pathable’s mantra is “Easy to use, even easier to manage”. Their website makes it quick and easy to understand what you’re getting.
They separate everyone involved in events into three groups:
- Attendees
- Exhibitors / sponsors
- Event planners
This helps keep the features and benefits clear.
Pathable understands that your brand matters at conferences. That’s why when they create your app, it is yours—with your brand front and centre.
3. Guidebook
Guidebook’s mission is to make it simple to create and manage your mobile app with an easy-to-use event app builder.
The app allows you to edit content from anywhere in the world and to easily collaborate with your team.
With the Customer Service Department of the Year Award (Stevie Awards 2019), you can count on them to be there to help you out.
4. Socio
How would you like “an event app your attendees will actually enjoy using”?
Socio’s event app builder offers intuitive drag-and-drop functionality, which makes it pretty hot competition.
Socio also prides itself on guiding organisers through the process with world-class customer support.
The best event apps for entertainment
All work and no play makes for a dull day. That’s why we’ve included a few event apps that focus on entertaining the attendees.
1. Festivality
This app is “bringing festivals and events to mobile” and focuses on delivering entertainment to the palm of your hand.
The app powered the Tallinn music festival, one of Europe’s largest music festivals. But Festivality supports a range of entertainment events including music and film, food and wine, as well as live sports.
Their team led the way in the use of mCommerce and secure mPayments for festivals. Attendees can buy festival passes and book associated restaurants straight from the app.
2. Blispa
Blispa caters to museums and galleries, games and trails, but also events and festivals—with a focus on the attendees.
A unique selling feature of Blispa is their beacon-triggered app.
You can deploy low-energy Bluetooth beacons all around your event. When an attendee is close, these beacons will trigger content of your choosing. Blispa emphasises interaction in the form of games and timely content.
This provides a great opportunity to augment your attendees’ experience.
3. App & Map
This is the smallest organisation on our list, but by no means are they worse for it. (And with a price of $39 a month for small events, they are a steal.)
App & Map’s standout features are the custom interactive map and photo sharing. The latter feature is supposed to drastically improve engagement by increasing the amount of shared photos by up to 300%.
It’s a handy app that allows users to share their—and ultimately your—best moments from the event.
Billetto is a ticketing platform that helps you manage, promote, and host events. Set up an event page and start selling tickets in 5 minutes.
CREATE YOUR EVENT >>
Conclusion
A good ticketing platform is not the only app you should consider for your next event. As you can see from our list, there’s plenty of ways to augment the experience for everyone.
Hopefully, you’ve been inspired to try out a few of these. Let us know what you think of them in the comments section below.
Happy app’ing!
Leave a Reply