How to convert your event website

Creating an inviting and converting website for events is not that easy. If you want to present your company to a specific target group through online events, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

To achieve optimal event success, it is advisable to consider the 7 levels of conversion. Only in this way can a website that is specifically tailored to events inspire employees and customers in the long term. The model documents the factors that motivate users of a website and can be easily applied to event websites.

Before you start looking at the motivation of your participants, you should first clarify the basic factors of the website. How should the design and clear event registration be structured?

Registration in particular is the be-all and end-all for a successful event. You should leave nothing to chance here in order to make participant management as professional as possible. You should check off the following points:

• Before registration: Save the date and appealing event invitation management
• Call to action (cta) for registration in a registration form
• Data query during event registration (personal data such as name or e-mail address)
• Inquiry of the desired program points of the participants

What is an event website?

A website for your corporate event is the ticket to successful customer and employee loyalty. The aim of such an event website is to get (potential) participants excited about your event in advance.

You should provide all relevant information about your event on the website. Think about how you would like to address participants and what details you would like to reveal about your event.

As a general rule, you should not reveal too little, but also not too much. Participants may sacrifice work or free time for the event and should know in advance what the content and schedule will be like.

The aim should be that as many customers or employees as possible register for your event through the appealing event registration page. Many virtual event platforms offer CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integration, which makes it easier to manage participants and significantly improves the ease of use of the website. This software can be integrated into the invitation process and provides you with important insights into participant behavior.

What makes a good event website?

In itself, an event website is a landing page whose goal is to convert users. In order to achieve this goal, it is worthwhile for event marketers to use methods and elements from neuromarketing and conversion optimization for event websites as well.

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A good website for corporate events should always take into account the 7 levels of conversion . This refers to the following seven points which, if observed, lead to users staying on a website and using it optimally:

• Relevance: Does the search match the results presented on the event website? Is the internal dialog of the interested party used? Potential participants should feel addressed by the website.
• Trust: Is the website reputable and does it have a seal of approval? Users of an event website should be able to trust its authenticity, as this is the only way the website will actually be used. An imprint, for example, should not be missing under any circumstances.
• Orientation: A user-friendly website should be clearly structured and easy to use. An event landing page that is confusing and does not make important points and terms clearly visible will frustrate users. Simply structured and clearly laid out websites, on the other hand, motivate users to stay longer.
• Stimulus: Convince potential participants with language tailored to them. Take a close look at your target group to find out how you can reach them emotionally. Studies have shown that up to 80 % of decisions are made in the limbic system.
• Security: Users should always feel in control and be confident in their decision to take part in your event. Data protection also plays a major role these days. Users should be informed on the website that their data will be treated confidentially.
• Convenience: In the age of smartphones, users have long been used to digital processes being simple and convenient. Registration and login on an event landing page should therefore offer the greatest possible convenience. Even minor difficulties or excessive effort can demotivate users from registering for the event.
• Evaluation: Users should not regret having registered for your event even after registration has been completed. You can give potential participants a feeling of security through microfeedback.

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Checklist registration form

A detailed, but not too detailed, registration form is essential for every event and an important part of invitation management. The following points should be included in every participant management software in order to plan an event optimally:

• Personal data
• Travel dates
• Special requests
• Allergies
• Scope of participation (program items)

Nevertheless, keep the scope of the form as lean as possible to avoid demotivation when filling it out. The above points provide you with all the information you need for a successfully planned event. Some tools also allow you to add custom properties, i.e. user-defined fields, to the form.

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Color scheme and design of the event website

The color scheme and design, such as branding and whitelabeling of a website, should be adapted to the event target group on the one hand, but also be pragmatic on the other. The limbic types that can help you choose the design are explained below.

What are limbic types and how do they influence our decisions?

Limbic types refer to the way in which potential customers react to a stimulus. The concept attempts to understand the unconscious processes of the human brain.

There are a total of seven different types, which can vary in intensity and should be addressed accordingly.

You should know which limbic type is most likely to belong to your target group and design your event website accordingly. Limbic types include performers, disciplined, traditionalists, harmonizers, open-minded, hedonists and adventurers. Each of these groups requires customized event marketing based on the limbic map.

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Define buyer persona

Define the persona of your target group and keep in mind who you need to address. As a rule, a CEO is likely to belong to the limbic type of a performer and therefore belongs to the dominance group. If you have HR employees in your target group, they are more likely to be in the Harmonizer group. They require a more harmonious and balanced approach.

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A template for creating a persona is available here, for example.

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Another model that has proven itself for this is empathy maps. The approach originally comes from user experience and user research, but can also be easily used in marketing and helps teams to better understand what is going on in the persona.

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More articles on this topic:

5 tips for more interactive events

How to make hybrid corporate events a success

Online Events - This is what matters

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Conclusion

Creating a perfect event website is not rocket science. Try something new to reach a high number of participants. The website is the first step to a successful event. Keep the above points in mind and your future events will be both a quantitative and qualitative gain for your company.

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