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Collect contact information from prospects, invitees, and more.

Easily collect and track RSVPs for your next event.

Find out what attendees want so that you can improve your next event.

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Easy event registration with SurveyMonkey

Registration is one of the most important parts of an event, and SurveyMonkey solutions make it a breeze.

The first fundamental key to event success is the event registration experience. Your first contact with prospective attendees is your event registration form. Well-planned and executed registration can help you engage more attendees, increase attendance, and set the stage for a well-executed event.  

Let’s take a look at setting up your online event registration and outline how you can start your next event off right with flawless registration execution. SurveyMonkey offers the tools you need to make your registration process smooth and simple.

You’ve spent time and effort planning your premium event. You’ve done event surveys to find out what’s important to prospective attendees. And now, according to your event planning checklist, you need to open registration about 12 weeks before the event date.

Event registration prevents you from planning an event for 100 people and having 500 show up. Events open to the public may work for home shows, but most events like conferences and business events require planning for food, swag, and physical space. And to plan effectively, you need to know how many attendees to expect.

Event registration also provides you with an opportunity to gather attendee contact, employer, job title, and other relevant information that will be useful both in planning this event as well as in follow-up activities.

There are countless benefits to using online event registration tools. The first and most important benefit is knowing how many attendees you’ll have. Without that information, you could exceed the maximum occupancy of your space, be unprepared with food or seating, and ultimately end up with dissatisfied attendees.

Using an online event registration tool also allows you to offer a variety of ticketing options for varying perks associated with each level. 

Online registration provides security for attendees. If your event is a paid ticket experience, they can make secure online payments, receive tickets via email, and view confirmation that they are registered for your event. With SurveyMonkey, you can accept payments through Stripe integration. The knowledge that their personal contact information will be kept safe is also an important point to users. Create your online registration form today.

We’ve put together the steps you need to ensure that your attendees have a smooth event registration experience.

Your event hub is a microsite created solely to promote your event. This branded website should contain content that speaks to your target audience for the event.

Include your brand story with details that connect you to the event. Use your logo and other branded images that will connect your brand to the event's purpose, topics, and speakers.

Critical components of your event hub

  • Event schedule: Main schedule and breakout sessions. This is especially important if your attendants will need to choose between sessions that are held at the same time.
  • FAQ: Save time by answering the most frequently asked questions.
  • Speaker bios: Who is speaking, what they are presenting, why they were chosen to speak, and their qualifications.
  • Vendor details: Will there be specific vendors or sponsors in attendance? Highlight their information.
  • Food information: Explain what will be provided and if there will be options for special diets.
  • Registration landing page: Details about event registration and your embedded registration form or a link to your registration tool.
  • Safety information: State whether any safety protocols related to COVID-19 or other safety risks are in effect.
  • Refund and privacy policies: Clearly state your criteria and timeline for refunds as well as your data privacy policy.

You may think you should place the information about your event on your main website, but the microsite should be created using search engine optimization to reach a larger, more targeted audience. Make sure to link to the microsite’s landing page from your main website.

Your online registration form will gather the necessary information and payment information (if this is a paid event) from attendees. The amount of information you collect will depend on the type of event, who your targeted attendees are, and the type of experience your event provides.

Online event registration forms are instruments for gathering the necessary information from your attendees. Your event promotions and advertising should link to a landing page on your microsite that contains the form. Optimize the landing page for search engines to increase your chances of showing up for relevant search queries.

Before online event registration, most events utilized bulk mailing to send event information and forms to potential attendees. This often required purchasing lists of people in the target market, printing eye-catching mailers, and postage fees—not to mention the time it took to organize the returned forms.

Using online event registration has several benefits:

  • Accessibility: With online event registration, you can cast a wide net and reach more people who would benefit from your event. SurveyMonkey Audience is a tool that is particularly helpful in finding people in your target market.
  • Time savings: Online registration eliminates the waiting periods between getting your forms printed, sent, and responses received. It also collects your data efficiently, reducing time spent collating and sorting responses. You can save even more time by using an online event registration form template.
  • Cost reduction: Online registration is more economical, reducing overall costs for printing, postage, and manpower to manually record the registration data.
  • Improves event management: Automated processes reduce human error, improve communication, collect secure payments, and provide one central place for data management.
  • Analytics: By creating your form with SurveyMonkey, you’ll have access to a customizable dashboard of data collected from your attendees.

Once your event registration form is up and running, it’s time to promote your event. Today, your best bet is to use social media. Business events should be posted on LinkedIn, with hashtags created especially for your event (including topics that professionals may follow or search for). If your event is aimed at consumers or influencers, promote your event on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok

Choose your platform based on the demographic you want to target. If you have time, you can always advertise or post about your event across social media platforms. 

Local events may benefit from radio, television, and newspaper advertising.

Social media event promotion best practices

  • Highlight speakers, performers, or special guests
  • Use hashtags, so your content is found by the right audience
  • Include engaging images
  • Include a link to your microsite—specifically your event registration form landing page
  • Post frequently, starting as soon as your event registration is open
  • Create urgency with a countdown timer or the number of tickets remaining as you get close to the event date
  • In addition to regular posts, use social ads to reach more people

Make sure users keep moving toward the submit button by using these best practices for easy event registration.

  1. Make your registration form mobile-friendly. 15% of American adults use their smartphones as their primary means of internet use—they don’t use computers at all! Your form must be easy to use and see on devices of any size. 
  2. Create momentum by asking easy questions first. Demographics, company name, contact information, and other questions that can be answered quickly pull the potential attendee into the process. Save any open-ended or more complex questions (if you have any) for later when they’ve already committed to completing the form.
  3. Be concise. Redundant questions will deter users from moving forward. Read, reread, and ask someone else to read your form before you make it live.
  4. Be clear. This form has one purpose: to collect information. Use easy-to-understand language without complicated vocabulary, unnecessary jargon, or witty asides. 
  5. Show progress. Let users know how far they have left on the registration form. Whether it’s with page numbers (e.g., page 2 of 4) or a visual progress bar, it’s important for the user to know how much time they need to complete the form.
  6. Keep it brief. Ask for only necessary information. You can request additional details with a pre-event survey. Remember, you’re trying to move toward that submit button as efficiently as possible.
  7. End with a call to action (CTA). Register now, get my ticket, or submit my registration are all great CTA ideas on a button that submits the form.
  8. Test your form. Recruit team members to go through the registration process to ensure that it works properly and collects the information needed.
  9. Keep in touch. Send email or text messages with new information about your event and reminders for the day.
  10. Promote your event. Social media will likely be your primary source of promotion, but don’t discount the value of radio or television advertising for local events.

Create an online event registration form that’s appealing and easy to use with SurveyMonkey. Sign up today to use event registration software that will simplify the registration process and organize your attendee data. Choose the plan that’s right for you now!