Virtually all attendees at your next event will have a phone in their pockets. For event organizers and speakers, that is great news. Instead of allowing mobile technology to distract attendees from participation, consider it an opportunity to enhance participation. Mobile apps offer event organizers and session speakers another way to add value to the audience experience and to gain insights.

Exploring the Importance of Live Audience Engagement

In many ways, audience engagement justifies the existence of an event. If attendees don’t care about or participate during the function, they may go home and quickly forget about the event’s purpose. An invested audience will better retain information, and take action after the event takes place. After an event, engaged attendees may:

• Enjoy newfound awareness. Attendees who associate certain concepts with brands and speakers are more likely to remember them (particularly if they enjoyed the event) and recall them at key times during the marketing cycle.

• Initiate a relationship. Engaged attendees are more likely to reach out for more information and develop relationships with a speaker or company.

• Close the deal. The information presented at an event may sway an attendee to make a purchasing decision.

• Spread the word. Even attendees who have no interest in an event’s theme or purpose play a role in its success. They may pass information along to someone who might benefit from a future event or company relationship.

Mobile Apps Designed with Increased Audience Participation in Mind

The next time an event attendee looks down at a screen, make sure it’s to use one of these engagement-enhancing applications:

• Crowd Mics. A simple and effective tool, the Crowd Mics app transforms the average smartphone into a microphone. Leave the murmurs of attendees asking, “Did you hear the question?” and moderator-repeated questions behind with this user-friendly application.

In addition to acting as a microphone extension, the app also allows attendees to answer polls and comment on the presentation without a complex polling system or after-event feedback questionnaire. Attendees don’t even have to download the app to take advantage of Crowd Mics’ polling and commenting. A URL feature allows them to quickly engage and then leave the site. 

• Poll Everywhere. Take the response pressure off the audience with an app designed to facilitate the conversation. Presenters can use the app to prepare the questions/poll format and present it to an audience. Audience members can either text or go to a customized URL to participate. The entire room can watch as answers fill the screen in real time. After, the presenter can use recorded responses to inform future projects.

Futurist and innovation professional Jim Carroll recommends Poll Everywhere, saying, “it gives [him] a powerful marketing tool. Anytime someone answers a poll, they get an auto-text with a link to an article or page on [his] website, with some teaser text. [Poll Everywhere] provides direct messages to an additional 100,000 potential customers each year!” Any speaker can download the free or premium versions to enhance engagement and lead-generation efforts.

• Glisser. Instead of printing presentation handouts or sending a follow-up link that attendees may or may not use, consider a mobile app such as Glisser to share presentation slides with audience members in real time. The tool also supports mobile Q&A sessions and live polling. After, compile data collected during the event, run reports, and create infographics to share with your team.

Audience engagement is a major priority at most professional events. Make every presentation count with mobile solutions designed to connect with audiences in an authentic and unobtrusive way.