There’s been a lot of buzz that chatbots and virtual reality installations will be the hot trend in 2018. But a recent study by the QHotels Event Profs panel shows that white label event engagement apps like Pathable will continue to be the hot thing in 2018.

Here are our some of our top favorite tips for getting the most out of your event engagement app.

Encourage Attendees to Get Engaged and Stay Connected Before, During, and After Your Event with an Active Discussion Board

Help your attendees connect without an open bar! The discussion boards centralize everything going on at your event, even before the conference gets started. Tap your influencers and get everyone involved by highlighting the need to know logistics, intriguing different sessions, and can’t miss activities that your attendees may have overlooked in all that pre-event email.

A discussion board is a great way to keep your event attendees engaged–they can interact with not only your brand, but they can also network with other attendees. Take a look at what our sample discussion board looks like in the mobile app.

Pro tip: Impress your boss and important stakeholders by demonstrating this engagement ROI through your event analytics before attendees step onsite. You should see spikes in your analytics dashboard once your event site goes live. Learn how to get started with event analytics today.

Share Engagement through Social

Your event marketing team shouldn’t have to work so hard when happy and engaged attendees can help you accomplish many of the same results. A well-designed event engagement app like Pathable helps your attendees connect with you and build a social presence before, during, and after the event. Having an app that prompts your attendees to connect their social accounts in the app means that they don’t have to navigate away from your event or app to share on social platforms.

Encourage your users to post photos and thoughts about what they’ve learned in sessions and share interesting things they find while they’re in the expo hall! Most attendees love sharing what they are doing and getting new ideas…that is after all why face to face events remain so powerful and why we continue to plan and attend events!

Pro tip: your social presence can also serve as a great customer care desk. Let your attendees know if they encounter an issue, they can @ you on a special conference social handle and get a resolution quicker than having to trek across the conference center.

Spark Engagement (and Better Assign Rooms) by Encouraging Attendees to Keep Track of Sessions with an Agenda Builder

To most attendees, the agenda builder is probably the most important part of an event app, with conferences featuring more than 50-100 sessions. Record an easy to watch or type up an easy to read quick start guide of how to take advantage of the agenda builder so that you put conference control into an attendee’s hands. She or he will able to personalize and see her/his entire schedule that your event offers and bookmark specific sessions—allowing attendees to keep track of their plans (and share the excitement for sessions and activities).

Pro tip: Include in your agenda builder all of the sessions, events, and keynotes. Not sure how to get started, check out our quick start video series.

Keep Attendees Up to Date with Push and SMS Notifications

True, attendees check email at conferences but not as timely as they do when they’re in the office. Take advantage of your event app’s messaging features, like Push and SMS notifications which allow you, per your attendee’s permission, to send a message to their mobile device that pops up on their screen. These are great to help send out room change notifications, remind attendees of important deadlines (like the exhibit hall or luncheon area are closing soon), or announcing winners of any conference games your attendees are playing.

A good rule of thumb is not to exceed three to five push notifications a day, in order to be relevant and timely. Because of this, when you are putting together your push notification strategy, make sure that they are necessary and timely.

Two more pro tips: be sparing and offer specific value to your attendee.

Encourage Interaction and Competition with Gamification

This is one of the best ways for you to get your attendees engaged, using all the different aspects of your app, and connected with one another! Event mobile apps should always be equipped with gamification features—this helps target the competitive nature of your attendees and keep them coming back to the app for more.

Involved sponsors and exhibitors by building out prizes and opportunities. Not sure how to get started? Check out why gamification is great for your next event and our quick start guide for gamification.

Event Engagement Apps Should be More than a Printed Program Guide

When you plan a large conference one of your main goals before the show is to drive attendance. That’s all well and good, but what about once they’ve completed the goal of registration? Use your event engagement app to engage your audience and offer value before, during, and after attendees are at your event.

Are you using your event app as an engagement tool or merely replacing your printed program guide? Chat today with someone from the Pathable team to help your attendees get the most of out of your event app investment.