Proven Strategies to Improve the Visitor Experience at Events

The visitor experience at events is everything. When it comes to running a successful attraction, the visitor experience is everything. And since 88% of consumers say they trust recommendations from people they know above all other forms of marketing, a positive visitor experience can help grow your business and give you a competitive advantage.

Create a Smooth Entry Process

Waiting in line isn’t exactly the cornerstone of a successful visitor experience. Modern guests are happy to serve themselves and go at their own pace. In fact, 67% of customers prefer self-service to interacting with a team member. Here are some techniques to craft a better entry process and improve the visitor experience:

• Use online ticketing systems to reduce wait times by allowing guests to arrive with pre-purchased tickets and pre-signed waivers.
• Install self-service kiosks and make it easy for guests to serve themselves.
• Adopt a party booking feature that saves time for guests (and staff) by streamlining large group reservations, check-ins, and food orders.

Personalize Beyond Expectations to Drive Repeat Visits

A personalized approach to visitor experiences will make every guest feel like a VIP and help you convert visitors into regular customers. In fact, 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when you offer them a personalized experience. Here’s how you can improve your personalization process:

• Offer memberships to reward loyalty and keep guests coming back with exclusive offers and incentives.
• Adopt a CRM and manage your communications and audience segments in one place—all based on visitor likes and habits.
• Increase return visits with discount codes based on customer preferences.

Harness the power of technology to improve visitor experiences at events

Adopting the right technology is a surefire way to improve visitor experiences and alleviate pain points at your attraction or venue. However, there are a lot of technology companies out there, and choosing the right one can be difficult. Here’s how to find the right technology partner for your business:

• Look for products, services, and brands that can scale alongside your business to ensure you’re always getting the quality of life updates and support you need.
• Don’t look for trends. Look for data – Proven track records of growth and adoption are essential and an indicator of how the right technology partner can fuel business success.
• List your pain points and look for technology that removes these barriers by streamlining your operations and improving guest experiences.
• Look to partner with a single company that offers multiple services rather than bloating your technology stack with multiple providers.

Design engaging spaces

Creating engaging spaces is critical to a better visitor experience. Here’s how to perfect the look and feel of your venue spaces to delight visitors:

• Create a stunning entrance to make a strong first impression.
• Think of your spaces as a way to extend your brand and create a cohesive experience.
• Add ease of use to your spaces with mobile food and beverage ordering and payment technology. Plus, you’ll enjoy a 33% increase in spend per person.
• Highlight your beautiful spaces in marketing materials and on your social media profiles.

Continuous improvement through feedback loops

Continuous improvement is how a business can meet and exceed customer expectations and consistently deliver a delightful visitor experience. Here’s how to capture this data:

• Collect, analyze, and activate your guest feedback with a guest feedback tool.
• Monitor online reviews and respond quickly to address concerns and show you care.
• Use data and analytics to track progress and take the guesswork out of decisions.

Hyper personalization

Hyper personalization is a strategy that involves tailoring products, services, and experiences to meet the specific needs and preferences of individual customers. This can create a more engaging and memorable visitor experience for visitors. Here’s how to embrace this strategy:

• Analyze guest data to create personalized moments and enhance the visitor experience by showing them what they actually care about.
• Use your CRM to provide personalized product recommendations, content suggestions, or targeted marketing messages.
• Build audience personas and segments to make targeted marketing easier and more effective.

Immersive multimedia experiences

Consumers now expect experiences when they spend money, which is why incorporating these immersive multimedia strategies can be vital to improving the visitor experience:

• Introduce virtual reality and augmented reality technology to immersive experiences at your venue or attraction.
• Add a sense of wonder to your venue – such as themed events or spaces.
• Enhance your spaces with interactive elements and multi-sensory features.
• Develop personalized multimedia content that appeals to individual preferences, enhancing the overall visitor experience.

Sustainability Initiatives to Improve Visitor Experience at Events

Data shows us that 78% of consumers feel sustainability is essential, and 84% of customers say poor environmental practices will turn them off from a brand. With that in mind, here’s how to embrace sustainability initiatives to improve visitor experiences:

• Reduce single-use plastic packaging, products, and items.
• Encourage recycling on your site and make green choices easier for customers.
• Include proven sustainability messages and initiatives on your website and weave them into your identity.

Integrate social media to boost engagement

Connect with your customers where they spend their time and look to social media to improve visitor experience. Here’s how to use social media in your visitor experience strategy:

• Monitor and respond to visitor sentiment on social media and use the feedback to improve the overall visitor experience.
• Create branded hashtags and challenges for user-generated content.
• Create engaging spaces to capture content.
• Share live updates and behind-the-scenes content to keep customers engaged with your brand.