As an event organizer, you’re always looking for ways to improve the quality of your virtual or in-person events and enhance event engagement.
A good way to do this is by simply creating more networking opportunities for your participants. But how do you go about it? Matchmaking is the key. This is the process that helps event organizers connect participants with each other, based on their interests and objectives.
By utilizing an intelligent matchmaking event platform, you can create more targeted and customized networking opportunities for your attendees, sponsors and exhibitors, driving increased event engagement. See below for how you can implement matchmaking at your next event.
Matchmaking can help event organizers in five crucial ways:
1. Improve the quality of your event engagement by creating more targeted networking opportunities.
2. Increase the quality of attendees at your event by making it easier for them to connect with each other and find potential business partners, clients or collaborators.
3. Generate more leads and sales by connecting event participants with each other prior to the event and facilitating meetings at the event. As a result, they will be delivering on ROI before the event even opens.
4. Save time and resources by using matchmaking to pre-screen attendees and connect them with the right people. When they arrive onsite, they know who they are going to meet.
5. Enhance event engagement and the event experience for attendees by helping them connect with the right people and creating more meaningful networking opportunities.
There are a number of different matchmaking platforms available, so it’s important to choose one that best suits the needs of your event. Some factors to consider include the size of your event, the type of attendees you’re expecting, and the budget you have to work with.
If you’re looking for a matchmaking service to help improve your event, you should look for these three key features:
Usability: The user-interface (UI) is how attendees will interact with the matchmaking service, so it’s important that it’s easy to use and understand. If the UI is complicated or difficult to navigate, attendees will likely get frustrated and give up on using the service. This reflects badly on the value of the meeting opportunities missed as well as your event!
Filters: This feature is important because it allows event organizers and participants to fine-tune the matchmaking process and ensure that people are only being matched with others who meet their specific objectives. For example, if you’re organizing a conference for marketing professionals, you may want to filter attendees by job title, company size or industry. Help make it easy for your exhibitors, sponsors and attendees to connect.
Recommendations: Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to help event organizers match participants with others who have similar objectives. For example, AI-powered matchmaking services can analyse an attendees’ profile and interests, identify the best matches and recommend meetings for them. This is a great way to take the guesswork out of matchmaking and help event planners connect all event participants with the right people.
Event organizers need to be strategic about how they connect participants with each other. They have more external influences pulling them in different directions, making it more difficult to provide a return on their time.
Whether you're an old hand or new to matchmaking, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
1. Define the objectives of your event and the type of contacts that would be most valuable for your participants. Present these opportunities to your exhibitors, sponsors and visitors so they realise the value of being involved in your event.
2. Choose a matchmaking platform that offers the features and functionality you need to create targeted networking opportunities. Does it tick all of the boxes?
3. The best platforms require little training. Look for a solution that is intuitive to all users and ensure your event planner teams know how to use the platform and how to best facilitate networking at your event.
Matchmaking is a valuable tool that can help event organizers improve the quality of their event engagement and event experiences.
By utilizing the right matchmaking platform, you are helping establish long lasting relationships between participants. If you create specific goals for your participants and match them with others who have similar objectives, everyone involved can make the most of their time and leave the event feeling satisfied they've achieved their business goals. This will ultimately lead to great word-of-mouth about your show and rebookings from attendees, sponsors and exhibitors.
If you get all of this right, your event will be seen as the conduit to creating long lasting industry relationships for everyone involved.
Discover how Grip can help improve your event with matchmaking, here.
“Now we have Grip as our matchmaking platform, I don’t want to imagine doing the event manually!” - Morgane Horellou, Digital Product Manager, RX France
