Top 20 Features that a Good Event Management Software Must Have
Justin Veerasammy
Event management software has become an invaluable tool for businesses and organizations to plan and execute successful events. With so many options on the market, it can be tricky to determine which platform offers the right combination of event management software features and capabilities your team needs. In this comprehensive blog post, we will outline the top 20 must-have features and capabilities to look for in an elite event management software solution. Whether you're planning an intimate corporate gathering or a large-scale conference, keep these important event management features in mind during your search to find the best fit. It’s important to consider the features of event management systems.
Explore the Best Event Management Tools in 2023
1. Robust Automated Scheduling
A powerful automated scheduling tool allows you to easily create, customize and manage event schedules, sessions, and activities with drag-and-drop simplicity. This key event management software feature saves your team tons of time compared to manual scheduling in spreadsheets. Look for advanced algorithms that can generate optimized schedules in seconds based on your custom parameters and restrictions. As details change, automated rescheduling minimizes disruptions. Intelligent assistants even recommend tweaks to improve flow and traffic management.
2. Seamless Registration and Ticketing
Seamless registration setup and integrated ticketing are essential event management features that impact both planners and attendees. From customizable registration pages to payment processing, your software should provide an automated, streamlined experience. Robust registration features like promotion codes, waitlisting, and confirmation emails are useful. Ticketing facilitates varied pricing, discounts, and volume purchases. Process payments directly within the platform via popular gateways like Stripe.
3. Customizable Data and Reporting
Understanding your event data and metrics is crucial for evaluating success and targeting improvements. Look for customizable reporting features that allow you to extract and analyze the specific event metrics you need. Dashboards, graphs, and visualizations give you data insights at a glance. Segment and filter data using tags and categories for deeper analysis. Powerful data analytics capabilities are vital event management software features.
4. Seamless Email Marketing Integration
Email marketing is indispensable for driving pre and post-event promotions, registrations, communications, and surveys. Select software that seamlessly integrates with your existing email platform or provides robust native email features. Design beautiful templates, create targeted campaigns, automate mail merge personalization, and trigger event-based reminders. This simplifies email marketing, a key event management system feature.
5. Intuitive Website and Registration Page Builder
An intuitive website and registration page builder makes it simple for you to quickly build custom landing pages that represent your brand. This is a very useful event management system feature that requires no coding expertise. Look for modern page builders with drag-and-drop editors, SEO optimization, and mobile responsiveness. Use pre-made templates to get started fast. Easily customize colors, fonts, layouts, images, and dynamic content.
6. Comprehensive Sponsor and Exhibitor Management
Maximize revenue by effectively managing event sponsors, exhibitors, and vendors. This multifaceted event management software feature provides the tools you need to track relations, fulfillment, assets, and more. Key capabilities include sponsorship tiers, packaged offerings, promo opportunities, badge printing, floor plans, booth profiles, lead retrievals, and sales automation to optimize sales. Payment processing is also simplified.
7. End-to-End Venue Sourcing and Management
Venue selection optimization is an integral event planning task that can be arduous. Sourcing and management features simplify this process significantly. Look for venue search filters, RFP automation, venue profiles centralizing details and assets, floor plan design, room blocking, onsite vendor coordination, and more. These comprehensive venue software tools are invaluable.
8. Intuitive Guest Management Capabilities
Proper attendee list management and an optimized guest experience leads to better events. Look for intuitive features like seating assignments, dietary preferences, access accommodations, CRM integration, front-of-line check-in, and more. Robust guest management tools make it seamless to track RSVPs, manage groups/tables, print specialty badges, and adapt to changes. Post-event follow-up sustains engagement.
9. On-Demand Onsite Badge Printing
On-demand badge printing is an excellent event management feature that allows for onsite flexibility and fast changes. Rather than printing names weeks in advance, quickly generate badges as needs arise. Easily accommodate walk-ins, staffing changes, and sponsor requests. Badge templates make adding logos, barcodes and custom attendee details simple. This event management feature is a game-changer for onsite agility.
How to Design a Conference Badge?
10. Engagement-Driving Mobile Event Apps
A dedicated mobile event app allows attendees to access schedules, maps, speaker info, networking and more all from their smartphones. This is a hugely popular modern event feature that drives attendee engagement. Benefits include reduced onsite paper, interactive content sharing, location-based notifications, and fun gamification elements. Discounts can incentivize downloads. The app creates an optimized event experience.
11. Built-In Event Gamification and Polling
Interactive tools like gamification, live polling, quizzes, and quests boost participation through fun, rewarding engagement. These are excellent modern event features that also provide valuable data. Use real-time leaderboards to track participation and offer prizes. Understand attendee interests and behaviors via gamification data. This creates memorable event experiences while gathering feedback.
12. Robust Event Marketing Automation
Marketing automation helps consistently promote your event through email, social media, digital ads and more. This expansive event management system feature simplifies pre/post event promotional campaigns. Easily repurpose content into customized emails, social posts, and ads for each channel. Automated reminders consistently re-engage attendees. Reduce manual tasks and drive results.
13. Comprehensive Speaker & Agenda Management
Robust speaker and agenda management tools allow you to efficiently track speaker details, build complex schedules, and share content in one centralized platform. These are vital event planning features. Speaker management functionality includes communications, bios, itineraries and presentation sharing. Customizable agenda builders make programming events simple. Share speaker, session and venue details across all event collateral.
14. 360 Exhibitor Management Software
Managing exhibitors, vendors and sponsors is multifaceted. Successful execution requires optimized management software. Exhibitor management features include floorplan mapping, booth management, sales automation tools, promotions management, lead retrieval integrations and more. Make it easy for exhibitors to manage booth logistics, assets, schedules, staffing and leads. For planners, customized reporting provides actionable data to improve future events.
15. Built-In Networking & Matchmaking
Networking is a primary goal for many event attendees. Powerful matchmaking and engagement event features make connecting with relevant individuals easier than ever. Look for 1:1 messaging, interest-based recommendations, private chat forums, networking prompts and gamification. These event features foster meaningful interactions between all stakeholders before, during and after the event.
16. Hybrid & Virtual Event Capabilities
Hybrid event features allow you to seamlessly transition components or your entire in-person event to a virtual environment as needed. These integrated tools are invaluable given the unpredictability of current times. Look for robust virtual capabilities like live streaming, on-demand video libraries, interactive online event hubs, virtual exhibitor showcases, chat forums, and built-in presentation options. Automatically migrate content from live to virtual with ease.
How to Organize a Virtual Conference?
17. Actionable Event App Analytics
Robust analytics provide data-driven insights into event app experiences, feature usage, content engagement, lead generation, and overall event ROI. These intelligent event features are invaluable for your current and future events. Track usage metrics like adoption rates, popular pages, networking activity, session feedback, booth traffic, gamification participation, and more. Make data-informed improvements to your event app and program.
18. Seamless Integrations via Open API
An open API allows endless integrations between your existing event tech stack, including registration systems, payment processors, survey tools, email systems, accounting software, CRMs, and more. This interoperability optimizes workflows. Rather than managing disjointed solutions, API connections create a unified event ecosystem tailored to your needs. Key data flows automatically between integrated tools, avoiding manual effort. This is a vital event management software capability.
19. Ironclad Data Security
Protecting event data is mission critical when selecting any software platform. Look for providers prioritizing security and compliance such as encryption, access controls, stringent policies, certifications, audits and backups. GDPR, SOC2, and PCI compliance ensures adherence to privacy regulations and data protection standards. Question potential providers on security practices and how they manage and govern data to ensure safety.
20. Exceptional Ongoing Customer Support
Even the most advanced software is meaningless without exceptional ongoing support, training and service. Ensure your provider has robust resources in place to help you optimize their platform and your events. Look for readily available options like phone/email support, chat, online knowledge bases, weekly live demos, an online customer community and more. Regular product updates and optimizations are also important.
How to Choose the Right Event Management Software for Your Company?
Selecting the right event management software is a big decision that requires careful evaluation of solutions against your organization's unique needs and priorities. Follow this comprehensive guide to choose a platform that will optimize workflows, engagement, and event success.
The first step is clearly defining your must-have capabilities, problem areas to resolve, and overall goals.
- Involve key stakeholders like planners, marketers, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and IT to get comprehensive input.
- Make a detailed list of features and functionality based on current pain points and desired improvements. Common needs include registration, website builders, scheduling, reporting, etc.
- Consider long term goals and forecasted event growth so the software scales with you.
- Use this requirements list to objectively compare solutions.
With your needs defined, research top reviewed platforms that align. Schedule demos to experience first-hand and get questions answered.
- Come prepared with your checklist to methodically assess each against your criteria.
- Pay attention to the platform's workflow, ease of use, and automation capabilities. It should simplify tasks, not complicate them.
- Ask about integrations with your existing systems like CRM, marketing, payments, etc. API capabilities are ideal.
- Inquire about optimization for different event types like conferences, fundraising galas, career fairs, and webinars.
- Review available training, support, and ongoing customer success resources. These are invaluable as you onboard and continually optimize the software.
The platform should adapt to your existing environment and processes rather than forcing you to conform.
- Evaluate the level of customization allowed for workflows, forms, branding, page design, etc.
- Understand the various pricing models available. Look for flexible month-to-month options aligned to your budget.
- Consider how easily the platform allows you to scale features as your program expands.
Protecting your data should be top priority. Vet provider policies, technology, and procedures around:
- Data encryption, access controls, stringent security protocols
- GDPR, PCI compliance, SOC 2 audits, and regular backups
- Transparency around governing laws, where data is stored, and use cases
With your analysis complete, compare pros, cons and tradeoffs across your top solutions.
- Weigh how each platform meets your must-haves and aligns to long term strategy.
- Consider ease of use and time/cost savings achieved. Focus on total value delivered.
- Don't make concessions on data security, support and transparent policies.
- Select the optimal balance of features, flexibility, and ease of use tailored to your needs.
With diligent evaluation, you are poised to select the ideal software match.
- Finalize vendor negotiations around pricing, contract terms and agreements that maintain flexibility.
- Develop an implementation plan and timeline including integration, testing, training, and rollout.
- Designate team members to oversee management of the software and continually maximize value.
- Periodically review changing needs and new product features to take advantage of innovations.
The investment in thoroughly assessing platforms against your specific requirements will pay dividends through optimized workflows, reduced administrative burdens, and more impactful events. Our Engineerica product, Conference Tracker, is great for these features. It’s an incredible event management software.
Choosing the right event management software is a strategic decision vital to your operations, and these are some great features of event management. Follow this step-by-step guide to evaluate top solutions against your current and future state needs. Today's flexible and customizable platforms empower you to find the ideal fit to achieve event excellence. With the right software partner, you can elevate events from time-draining administrative tasks to strategic drivers of organizational success. Use this comprehensive guide of the top 20 event software features and capabilities to select a solution tailored to your organization's unique needs and goals. Keep these vital event planning essentials in mind during your search. Prioritizing must-have event management features will ensure you find a robust platform capable of simplifying workflows, enhancing engagement, and driving success for all your events.
Justin Veerasammy
Justin is a Software Support Specialist at Engineerica Systems, Inc. He works with clients to troubleshoot issues and helps with setting up their cloud-based event management software -- Conference Tracker. He is also a speaker for Accudemia Monthly Sessions, where he talks to clients about various tips and tricks to make the most out of Accudemia. Justin graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL with a B.S. in Information Technology.