Business events are no longer the same as a few years ago. The pandemic was the game-changer, making online events a norm. Even as traditional events resumed in the new normal, technology became an integral part of the industry. However, attendance continues to be a concern for organizers and business owners. Not all events get the desired traffic even after enough registrations and engagement. The good thing is that you can leverage technology to pull the crowds and achieve your attendance and engagement goals. But planners often fail on this front because they have no clue about the challenges and solutions. Here are the best tech strategies to maximize event attendance.

1. Understand audience intent

Event attendance often boils down to audience intent, but marketers and business owners miss out on it. Understand why people want to be there, whether to learn something about your brand, explore new networking opportunities, gain insight into your business ideas, or only because the location is appealing. Figuring out what people expect can help you deliver to their expectations. For example, you may bring in an educational speaker or run a presentation to educate the audience. Likewise, scheduling breakout sessions gives them the opportunity to mingle. Follow your target audience online to know them better and understand their intent.

2. Run a promotional campaign on social media

You cannot expect attendees at your event unless they know about it. Running a promotional campaign on social media is a great way to create a buzz. Choose the platforms your target audience frequents, and share compelling posts and images regularly. It enables you to capture people’s attention and generate interest in the event. They may even spread the word by sharing your posts if they find them compelling enough. Try using hashtags to maximize the reach of your posts. Running polls on your website and social media can help you pick the most popular topics for the event. All you need to do is use digital promotion platforms well to get more people in.

3. Ease the registration process

An easy registration process is another step to maximize attendance for your event. After all, everyone runs short of time, and following a complex registration process is the last thing people want to do. They may rather prefer skipping participation, no matter how critical a conference or session is. Using online signup forms for the registration process can facilitate the process as attendees can register with only a few clicks. Look for a provider that offers customizable forms so that you can provide minimum fields to make sharing information a breeze. Also, ensure that the forms are mobile-friendly so that people can fill them out on the go. Check the provider’s responsiveness as well because you may need support at some point.

4. Build hype with reminders

Getting people to register for your event is only half the work because many may skip it only because they forget about it. You can avoid the situation by building hype with constant reminders to ensure that potential participants do not miss out on it. However, remember not to overdo things because too many reminders can get on the nerves. Space them out and provide valuable information such as venue details, the progress of preparation, keynote speakers, and planned activities. You can send separate emails covering all these points at regular intervals to keep the audience hooked without irritating them. Also, pay attention to the content to build excitement for the event.

5. Unleash the power of video content

Video content can do wonders for attracting attendees, so you must definitely unleash its potential. You may use slideshows or PowerPoint presentations, but live streaming is far better because it is more immersive. Moreover, you can extend your reach by adding an online element to your physical event. A much broader audience can attend the program through live streaming. The best part is that it makes the event more shareable on social media. You can create videos showing a sneak peek of the venue, volunteer interviews, announcements, Q&A sessions with speakers, and updates on progress.

6. Leverage event technology

Another surefire tip to maximize attendance, engagement, and reach is to leverage event technology. In fact, it can help you pull the attendees year after year. Using membership software can help you attract and retain your members. You can hook them with members-only content, such as forums, notices, and networking opportunities. Fun image technology, such as augmented reality experiences, photo booths, and selfie mirrors can engage members at the venue. You can capture attendee attention with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality installations and projections at your booth.

7. Connect speakers and attendees

Bridging the gaps between speakers and attendees is another way to get more people to your event. Your speaker lineup is perhaps the most enticing part of the event because it sets the tone and adds value to your presence. Choosing niche leaders and industry influencers gives you a head start as people want to listen to them. You can go the extra mile by facilitating direct connections between your attendees and speakers. For example, you can organize Q&A sessions, implement group chats, and empower speakers to run live polls between sessions.

8. Keep attendees excited

Keeping attendees on their toes is another way to bring them to the current event and more you organize in the future. Give them something to be excited about, such as valuable and relevant information, bonus training sessions, and a promotional lunch with a speaker. Announcing a mystery speaker in the runup is another way to create excitement around the event. Likewise, you may plan a surprise member activity, enter attendees into an exclusive competition, and recognize loyal members with anniversary announcements.

Maximizing event attendance is easier than you imagine, provided you are ready to take a creative approach. Begin with the basics like understanding your audience and facilitating the registration process because these are essential to bring them in. Once they are a part of the plan, implement measures to hook them for the long haul. Fortunately, you can rely on technology to cover both fronts. Follow these tech strategies to make the most of your business event attendance.

Digital transformation is a business buzzword today, but it is no longer only for big enterprises with massive capital investments. Even small companies with tight budgets and minimal resources are keen to embrace modernization. The great thing is that you can make big leaps with cost-effective software solutions. You may hire an in-house developer team or outsource expertise to go ahead with the initiative according to your budget and preferences. Whichever route you choose, developing an enterprise-grade solution is absolutely possible, even with small funding and limited resources. However, you must create a viable plan for the project and follow a proven roadmap to complete it successfully. Here are a few software development best practices that small business owners can rely on.

Define a scope of work from the outset

You will probably have a vision for the modernization of your small business. But a vision becomes a solution only if you materialize the idea into a clear scope of work for the project. Avoid taking things for granted because explaining a raw idea to your development team can be more complicated than you imagine. Write down the app idea, and the specifications and features you expect your app to have. Proper documentation gets you in a better place when it comes to sharing your expectations with your developers. Including business goals, needs, and challenges into the scope is an even better idea because it helps the developers understand the core objective of the software solution. If you are a novice, get your questions on paper and create a scope with your software development team.

Choose your team wisely

This one is a no-brainer because you cannot expect your software solution to run successfully without qualified professionals to develop it. You must do your due diligence while hiring an in-house team or collaborating with an outsourcing partner, whichever way you choose to launch the project. Skilled resources are more likely to understand your needs and expectations regarding budgets and timelines. They may even have some valuable recommendations, such as developing MVP software instead of going too big too fast. The approach is ideal for small businesses as they can create software with only the essential features and add more down the line.

Create a project strategy

Another valuable piece of advice for software development for small businesses is to create a project strategy. It is easy to proceed without a plan when you want a basic solution with a few features and have an in-house team working on the project. But developing a roadmap helps you eliminate the chances of errors, wastage, and miscommunication. It works like a shared plan that includes direction and task prioritization. Further, it gives your team a clear view of the list of features, so they can plan the project milestones and timelines accordingly. Sharing a roadmap with your outsourcing partner facilitates transparency and timely completion.

Design before coding

Project planning, team selection, and roadmap creation are the basics of a software development project. But your developers get down to work only when they start coding. However, they must research and design the app features before writing the code because going the other way around can lead to tons of wasted time down the road. You may even end up with a product that hardly addresses your needs and challenges. Your team can implement various design patterns and tools, so discussing these options help them create an effective design for the app.

Encourage smart work

Nothing gets better than smart work when it comes to saving money for a small business. Fortunately, you can encourage your developer team to use open-source backend platforms instead of writing code from scratch. Heroku is a popular option, and you can also find a Heroku alternative that offers comparable features. You can use such platforms to reduce the development time to weeks instead of months, which is typical for software projects. The best part is that your developers do not compromise quality to ease the coding process. You can rely on the SDKs, APIs, real-time databases, and cloud code functions that come with these platforms.

Stick with simplicity

YAGNI (You Ain’t Gonna Need It) is another best practice small businesses must implement for software development. Stick with simplicity and ensure that your team does not write unnecessary code. Developers often want to code for the future, writing elements they do not currently require but may need later. However, you may switch to a new app as your small business evolves in the future. You may not even need the extra code, making it a waste of time for developers and losing money for the company. The best way to keep things simple is to split the features into smaller tasks and ask your developers to create independent pieces of code for them.

Test iteratively

Working code isn’t enough because it does not deliver value until it is flawless. In fact, incorrect code can do more harm than good. Testing is an integral element of software development because it identifies potential errors and flaws. Taking an iterative approach to testing is the best way to go for all businesses, and small enterprises are no exception. Testing throughout the development stages can save you time, money, and trouble reworking the code from scratch. You can tackle modular pieces of code and test a single functionality at a time. As part of this approach, automating various types of testing, such as cross-browser, regression, and GUI, can significantly streamline the process. For instance, GUI testing involves evaluating the graphical user interface and the automation of the process will ensure it functions as intended across different platforms and devices. To facilitate this, developers often turn to a comprehensive overview of the most popular GUI automation tools available in the market, that offer a range of features and capabilities, allowing developers to automate the testing of graphical user interfaces effectively. Further, you can correct codes before moving to the next stage of development. Think beyond bringing seasoned developers on board for the project because hiring skilled testers is equally crucial.

Implement version control

Besides setting up a process for iterative testing, small business development teams must also implement version control for the software product. Essentially, version control entails tracking and managing changes to app code. It is vital if you have multiple developers working on the project because things can get overwhelming when they make random changes at their ends. With version control, they can work on new features and bug fixes without the risk of overriding someone else’s code. They may even revert to previous versions if errors occur, all without disrupting the work of other developers on the team. Git and GitHub are the popular version control systems small businesses can rely on.

Invest in team performance

Whether you hire an in-house team or outsource development services, you must invest in team performance to make the most of the project. Regular meetings and seamless communication are the cornerstones of high-performing software project teams. Appointing a project manager is a wise approach as it brings accountability and transparency to the project. Moreover, the manager can assess individual performances and ensure that everyone works toward a common goal. They also address conflicts, sort out issues, and plan for implementing changes. The role of a manager is also about keeping the team members motivated until the end of the project.

While software development sounds like a complex and expensive project for a small business, it can be much easier than you imagine. You only need to plan strategically and get the best developers on board to achieve more with less during the journey. Following these simple best practices does the rest, even if you run short of time, money, and resources.

As the competition in the business landscape grows, finding a competitive advantage is more challenging than ever. You cannot expect to compete with product features and pricing because several brands will probably have similar ones. However, the brand story is one factor that can set you apart in the market. It makes you different because every business has a unique background, vision, and values.

But only having unique attributes isn’t enough, as you also need to highlight them to engage the audience and build trust for your product and business. Everything boils down to creating compelling stories, but most brands take a random approach to it. However, mastering the skill of storytelling is easier than you imagine. Let us share some actionable storytelling tips that brands can rely on.

Know your audience

The target audience matters the most when it comes to creating a story to introduce and promote a brand. But marketers often lose track here as they focus on their product or brand instead of the audience. Remember that your buyers should be at the center of the narrative, with their pain points, expectations, and needs getting all the attention. Also, every member of the target audience is not the same. Consider segmenting them into different buyer personas and categories. Brainstorm ideas for each group and reach out with personalized narratives that address their needs and problems.

Consider your positioning

You will probably have a positioning in the market unless launching a startup. Your story should replicate your current identity and elements like your core values, vision, and tone of voice. Find out what buyers think of your business, and consider whether you want to stick with this identity. You may change or develop it over time according to the current trends, competitor positioning, and customer expectations. But ensure that you have a clear picture of your business positioning from the outset because your story must match it.

Understand your purpose

After building the initial pillars of your storytelling strategy (audience and brand identity), you must understand the purpose of your campaign. Businesses run campaigns for various purposes, such as reinforcing their position in the mind of existing customers, capturing the attention of new buyers, setting themselves apart from competitors, or launching a new offering in the market. The most effective stories follow the end goal of turning followers into leads and loyal customers.

Leverage storybranding

Brand stories shouldn’t just be random narratives raving about their products and services. Marketers often make the mistake of taking a selling perspective instead of connecting with buyers through genuine narratives that show how their products address consumer problems. Experts recommend leveraging storybrand marketing to create perfect ones that push potential buyers subtly down the conversion funnel. The concept considers the customer the hero of the story and their problem is the theme. The seller steps in as a guide who finds ways to solve the problem and builds trust in the brand and its offering. The entire flow follows a detailed script that shows empathy toward the consumer and an intention to resolve their problem.

Create an honest and authentic content strategy

Your narrative should follow an honest and authentic content strategy. However, marketers often fail to do it because they get too enthusiastic to launch a plan. Putting it on paper is an even better idea because it lets you evaluate and improve over time. You may want to rework your strategy when customer expectations or competitor strategies change. But remember to stay genuine, no matter what. Keep the customer and your identity in mind when creating or reworking your content strategy. Also, ensure that your stories are human so that they appeal to the audience.

Ensure consistency

Besides being honest and authentic with storytelling, brands must also ensure consistency. After all, you must show up the same way every time and across all customer touchpoints if you want people to recognize and connect with your brand. Moreover, consistency breeds comfort as your brand looks familiar to the audience. Consider your identity elements like colors, logo, and tone of voice, as your reference points. Build a narrative around these elements, and stick with them unless you wish to change them down the line.

Match your story with the channel

While brand stories should be consistent, they should also match the channel where they are showcased. For example, you cannot expect an extra-long video to engage Instagram audiences, although it may be apt for YouTube. Likewise, an infographic may render too small on a blog because visitors expect in-depth information on the channel. Remember that different promotional channels require different kinds of storytelling. Not adapting your narratives elevates the risk of crashing and burning, no matter how great a content piece is. Reworking your storytelling strategy channel-wise is the best approach.

Prioritize shareability

Any marketing campaign works only if people spread the word about a brand and its products or services. You can achieve the goal by creating shareable stories that customers feel like sharing with their friends and acquaintances. Everything boils down to striking an emotional chord with the viewers because it is the only reason they will want to share your narrative ahead. The effort is worthwhile because word-of-mouth is far more effective and less expensive than conventional promotions. So you must definitely go the extra mile to understand what clicks.

Educate, entertain, and inspire

Buyers are smarter than ever, and they can see through a brand’s tactics. You cannot expect them to trust your word and buy your product or service only due to a great advertising campaign. The best approach to make your content connect with the audience is by educating, entertaining, and inspiring them with your stories. The approach shows that you are an expert in the niche, care about the buyers, and want to give them the best. It enables you to establish strong bonds that boost buyer retention for the long haul.

Dig deep into data

Another surefire tip to ace brand storytelling is by paying attention to what works and what doesn’t. The best way to do it is by digging deep into data to identify your best stories and campaigns. Surprisingly, the data in your campaign spreadsheets is nothing less than storytelling gold, provided you are ready to follow it diligently. You can get valuable trends and customer insights from it, and use them to create compelling narratives in the future. Your campaigns become more data-driven with this approach, so you have better chances of impressing potential buyers.

Storytelling is the mainstay of selling in the competitive landscape, where product features and pricing are no longer the key differentiators. But you cannot expect random narratives to connect with the audience and compel them to buy. A strategic approach can help you create actionable stories that replicate your identity and resonate with consumer expectations. Most importantly, focus on buyers and their pain points instead of your brand and offering. While there are no shortcuts to compelling storytelling, you can definitely rely on storybrand marketing to give your best. Also, stay ahead of data to learn more about the best stories with the potential to get buyers on your side and retain them for good.

Workplace productivity is the mainstay of organizational success and growth. Maintaining it is perhaps the most daunting challenge for organizations, regardless of the size and scale of their teams. The hybrid model makes it even harder to achieve and maintain because you cannot oversee your employees at all times. Moreover, people working in different teams across the business location or from home may fall short on communication and collaboration fronts. You can imagine the impact it can have on their overall productivity, but a business intranet can be a true savior for resolving the concern. It offers more productivity benefits than you imagine. Here are some ways it can help you build a productive team and workplace.

1. Seamless collaboration with centralized knowledge resources

Intranet software facilitates seamless collaboration between employees as they can access centralized knowledge resources in real-time, regardless of their locations. These resources are accessible to employees, managers, vendors, and partners, empowering them with all the information they need. In fact, you can even set role-based access to ensure security in a remote setup. Team members need not struggle with endless email loops and file searches, which are the worst productivity culprits. They can get exactly what they require to be their productive best at work.

2. Facilitate the onboarding process

Onboarding is a critical process for the HR team as it ramps up new employees for their new roles. The process entails training them to handle the obligations and responsibilities of their job. You may face onboarding challenges with remote hires because they can hardly connect with co-workers and seek help for tasks. A business intranet bridges this gap and enables people to give their best from the outset. You can leverage it for HR and IT setup to create new accounts for payroll and install security applications on their devices. Additionally, you can provide corporate guidelines training to help new employees to follow workflows. Finally, you can assign mentors to new hires and facilitate communication through messaging tools and integrated videos.

3. Simple communication that keeps everyone connected

Besides seamless collaboration, the business intranet helps set up simple communication between team members, regardless of where they work. None of your employees have to stress over connecting with the right manager or team member for quick feedback, discussion, or opinion, even if they are at different locations. The lack of communication is often a productivity killer, so overcoming it enables people to close tasks quickly, and without gaps and errors.

4. Break down boundaries and silos

Organizational teams often struggle to overcome boundaries and information silos imposed by location or department. The worst part is that people cannot be on the same page, which keeps them from reaching the highest productivity levels. Using intranet software is an ideal solution to break down these barriers and empower your workforce, regardless of geographic location or functional roles. Businesses that do not have internal silos are in a better place to achieve their growth goals in the long haul.

5. Quicker response to problems

Another benefit of adopting a business intranet is that it facilitates a quicker response to problems because employees have seamless access to the relevant information they require. They can handle their jobs better, close tasks on time, and avoid errors. Being able to connect with co-workers just-in-time enables them to tap into the collective intelligence that is not available in file cabinets and company emails. Accelerated information gathering speeds up the response times, so bottlenecks hardly persist for businesses relying on a connected intranet. All of these factors make your team as productive as possible.

6. Access on the go

With hybrid work becoming a norm, mobility is the mainstay of a productive workforce. Your employees should have the option to connect and work from any location and with any device. Business intranet like Powell Software’s solution provides access on the go, enabling team members to connect using cell phones, laptops, and tablets. They can work from home, on sales tours, off-site business meetings, and at networking events, so productivity is never off-track. You can make a great impression on potential clients by showcasing seamless connectivity and data access from anywhere. The best part is that workers love the flexibility that comes with remote access. Employee satisfaction gets you full marks on the retention front.

7. Minimal search time

Complex searches through files, folders, and documents are stressful and affect the productivity of workers. The more resources you have, the more complicated searches get. After all, you may have to sift through thousands of files, folders, documents, and emails to find the one you need. Using an intranet is an ideal solution, as it reduces the time-consuming search hassles for employees. They can rely on a well-structured intranet to quickly search and locate documents, photos, channels, and people. Savvy solutions even let employees utilize features like keyword search and auto-suggest for simplifying the searches further.

8. Keep all departments happy

With an intranet in place, you can boost productivity for entire teams within your organization. Most departments face repetitive, monotonous, or complex tasks every day. The team members end up feeling unhappy, which makes them less productive, even if they work hard. An intranet serves as a common area where business leaders can encourage team members to support each other by providing assistance, resources, know-how, experiences, and advice to resolve everyday issues and business-critical challenges. You can also leverage it to alleviate individual work overflows, pressure, and management. These factors go a long way in enhancing their work quality and performance.

9. Create polls and surveys

You can easily create polls and surveys within your organization by providing flexible electronic forms to them on the intranet. The process is far simpler and more economical than using tools to poll, survey, and register a large ream. Your employees can confirm attendance for events, fill up forms to vote on new ideas, and provide anonymous feedback to managers. You can crowdsource ideas for new projects and get insights on upcoming events, company policies, or employee wellness. Further, you can quickly gather feedback on employee satisfaction and rework things for the better. The intranet also speeds up the collection of data and integrates it with other data sources across the organization.

10. Speed up learning and development

Learning and development are crucial for organizational growth and productivity, as trained team members always go the extra mile. You can use a business intranet to speed up the learning and development process. The best part is that it curbs the need for in-classroom training where everyone has to be in the main office. With a robust intranet in place, you can implement a centralized LMS with training programs for remote and on-site employees. Users even have the freedom to pick their own pace for coursework, so they need not stress about keeping up with the quickest learners. Beyond the mandatory training modules, you can also provide optional learning modules for employees looking for a promotion or planning to switch to another team.

11. Reduce the load of internal emails

Employees get hundreds of business emails every week, which tends to distract them and hurt their productivity levels. Moreover, they end up losing, ignoring, or forgetting key announcements and policy updates in a sea of messages. They may also miss out on someone while sending a critical email thread. A centralized and highly visible intranet resolves the concern because it lets anyone in the team answer queries or update documents. You can imagine how the system can offload the internal email burden for your company and reduce distractions for your employees. You can reserve email only for external conversations with customers, vendors, and partners. People become more efficient when they do not have to clean their inboxes frequently. The best part is that there is hardly a chance of missing out on high-value emails.

12. Employee directory to find the right skills

A business intranet with a people directory is an excellent asset for a team that wants to go the extra mile with productivity. The directory offers information such as expertise, department, and manager for each employee on board. Team members struggling with specific tasks can easily search for a person who can offer relevant expertise to wrap it up. The benefit is immense when you have a large team working across different locations. You cannot expect people to know each other, but the people directory serves them a solution just-in-time. Moreover, managers and business leaders end up knowing their team better and segregating top performers from the rest. You can focus on their training, development, and retention to empower your business in the long haul.

Businesses are more concerned about workplace productivity than ever, specifically in the hybrid work era. While there is no magic pill to build a productive workforce, an intranet works as an ideal solution to boost productivity. Besides communication and collaboration, it empowers your team in more ways than you imagine. You can rely on it to build a productive, efficient, and happy team that pushes your company ahead toward its growth goals over time.