“Personalization” has different meanings to various people and sectors. Web pages, for instance, can be personalized based on desired characteristics (interests, social category, context), actions (click on button, open a link), intent (make a purchase, check status of an entity) or any other parameter for a tailored user experience. The same is true for mobile phones (interactive wallpaper), print media (demographic targeting), promotional merchandise (t-shirts, key chains) and others.
Personalization has also found its way to the events industry and, consequently, to associations and other member-based organizations that organize meetings, conferences, exhibitions and other events.
In the study, “Personalization: Creating Tailored Event Experiences”, UK-based Eventsforce cites that successful personalization involves the delivery of relevant content and experiences to the right people at the right time. Among the study’s key results are as follows:
- 82 percent of event planners said personalization is a key priority, but only 27 percent of them use it in events marketing;
- 60 percent mentioned personalization as equal barrier, lack of time and internal resources, while 49 percent cited cost, 38 percent, lack of technology and 31 percent inaccurate data;
- 65 percent said they used online surveys as data-capture tools to create a more personalized experience for attendees, 44 percent said events apps; 42 percent, social media; and 36 percent, registration tools (RFID, bar-code scan), while other ways cited were voting buttons on apps (24 percent), speaker-rating systems (21 percent), attendee networking tools (18 percent), interactive screens, tables and kiosks (12 percent), wearable technology (2 percent) and iBeacons (1 percent);
- 68 percent used e-mail communications to personalize the delegate experience prior to an event; 57 percent, through unique registration paths for different attendee types; 38 percent, personalized content; 32 percent, printed letters, direct mailings; 21 percent, personalized web content; 19.5 percent, both for attendee networking tools and event apps tailored for VIPs, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees; 16 percent, multilingual-event web sites; and 4 percent others;
- 38 percent of event planners said they break down their attendees into categories (event goals, job titles, session selections, company size) when deciding on marketing activities around the event, 37 percent said sometimes and 25 percent said no;
- 2 percent mentioned that they use the attendees’ data from their other business systems (CRM, marketing, membership) to create more personalized content, 27 percent said sometimes and 31 percent said no;
- 62 percent used crowdsourcing tools with their attendees to determine user-generated content (agenda, topics), speakers, dining and décor, and 38 percent said no. Of the 62 percent, 44 percent applies to content; 24 percent, to speakers; 18 percent, to dining preferences, 7 percent, to entertainment, and 1 percent, to décor.
By knowing and analyzing these data and statistics, associations that organize events by themselves or employ event-management companies should be able to plan appropriately and execute their events better with their attendees’ aspirations and expectations in mind. It is no longer the event per se that attendees will remember in the end; it is the experience of attending it.
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The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and the CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE). PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 (AS5) on November 22 and 23, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which is expected to draw over 200 association professionals here and abroad. The two-day event is supported by ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC.
E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details on AS5.
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