Corporate Event Personalization: 6 Effective Personalization Tips

Aug 06, 2024 Praggya Joshi

An increasing number of professionals today are in search of authentic experiences to feel valued and special. This is why personalization has become a dominant trend for businesses in every sphere.  

However, the need for personalization is greatest in the events industry. Corporate event personalization has become undeniably important to craft unforgettable experiences.  

Such personalized events allow you to offer value to your audience in the way they crave,  building stronger connections, loyalty, and increased recognition.  

In this post, we'll give you the essentials for personalizing corporate events so you can successfully tap into what resonates with your audience and build a wide community. 

What Is Event Personalization?
Personalized events are made to make attendees feel that the experience is curated just for them. It means tailoring the event agenda, sessions, and activities to suit the needs of attendees. You can personalize events according to the industry your attendees belong to, their specific profession or according to the nature of the enterprise you are targeting. 

Planners who personalize events carefully choose venue, sponsors, speakers, decor, and catering options according to the interests of attendees. They also integrate technology to make experiences more in tune with the goals and preferences of guests. This ensures that people feel engaged and truly connected with the experience. In turn, it enhances their relationship with the brand. 

What Does Personalization Mean at Corporate Events?
In a corporate setting, event personalization involves diving deep into your target attendees' needs and creating an experience that fulfills them. With the rise of event technologies and AI (Artificial Intelligence), personalization has become even more important. It allows companies to stay ahead of the curve and plan unique events that meet dynamic needs of their participants'.  

Personalizing corporate events means analyzing the data of the target audience and creating engaging experiences using it. This can be done by employing interactive elements like experiential activations, gamification, branded experiences, tailored workshops, and networking opportunities. 
 
Infact, according to a recent study, almost half of marketers don’t have access to data for event personalization. An absence of knowledge about the target clients, their goals, changing ambitions, and concerns is a major roadblock in creating personalized events. A deeper awareness of the target audience is essential to create events where attendees get the freedom to curate their own memorable experiences and feel grateful to have known your brand.

6 Tips for Corporate Event Personalization
Creating tailored corporate events and scaling personalization strategies won't be difficult with these tips. 

Tip 1: Align Event Goals with Attendee Preferences
Defining the goals of the event is essential to personalizing it. Well-defined goals direct the planning process and lead to the desired results. Your event goals should be according to the needs of your audience. i.e., the corporate attendees. This means learning about the preferences and challenges of your target guests and creating a corresponding experience.  

To learn about your attendees, use data from pre and post -event surveys. Further, data from registration allows you to determine the needs and interests of attendees. Ask your sales and marketing teams to leverage CRM data and draw insights about the target participants. Analytics from your mobile event app is also useful for discovering popular sessions, speakers, and networking success.  

Make sure you have the following types of data to create a personalized corporate event experiences that fulfill your goals: 

• Topics of interest and popular sessions (according to registrations) from previous events  
• Ticket sales 
• Effectiveness of your prior event strategy. This can be known by integrating your event management platform with CRM. 
• Popular speakers  
• Most interesting activations  
• ROI of previous events based on number of registrations, ticket sales, revenue, expenses, and other key metrics 

By analyzing the data types above, you will be able to gauge what drives your target audience and plan your event goals.  

PROTIP - Leverage insights about your attendees by integrating your CRM with Eventcombo's event management solution.  

Tip 2: Customize the Corporate Event Space
Whether it's a seminar, product launch, or a conference, the corporate event space should be customized based on your theme and the goals. You can look into both outdoor and indoor spaces when planning the event. But regardless of the venue, the trick to personalizing a corporate event is experimenting with its design. It means modifying the layout, decor, and lighting, giving a personalized touch to the venue.  

For example, you can use floral decoration in your brand colors at the entrance lobby or the stage. Divide the seating area according to the activities in the event agenda. The theme of the event can also be reflected in things like tablecloths and centerpieces.  

The importance of technology in customizing venues is a no-brainer. This is especially true for indoor events where you can experiment with various tech enhancements to personalize corporate events to the optimum.  

Here are some of the ways technology enables venue operations:  

• Floor-to-ceiling video walls for high-impact visuals and messages 
• Scenic curved LED canopies to make visuals more three-dimensional and lifelike, thus creating an immersive experience 
• Project mapping (that uses media servers and laser projection with custom content) to show 3Da animations and huge brand logos 
• Hologram speakers to create a life-like presence of speakers who are not physically present in the event.  

Boost attendee experience when visiting your event space with effective venue management software. With Eventcombo's venue management software, your clients can view the details of the venue, including amenities, and reserve their spot at any time without your assistance. 

Tip 3: Match Activities and Content to the Event Theme
Activities and content that align with the theme of the event makes attendees feel like the whole experience was especially curated for them.  

To plan a personalized event agenda according to the theme, you must have adequate information about your attendees. Use the information in the CRM connected with your event management software to assess attendee data and customize content. 

With the help of data, you can create engaging workshops, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities for your attendees.  You can also tailor your marketing efforts with the aid of data-driven insights.  

Moreover, you can draw insights from past event feedback and can choose relevant topics for presentations that align with the event's theme. Besides topics, data allows you to look for speakers and panels with expertise and experience that match the needs of your target attendees. 

Another aspect of personalized schedules is organizing the event in distinct time slots and tracks according to the theme or major topics covered. So, you can have tracks for marketing, technology, or any industry-specific topics. 

PRO TIP - Give attendees the freedom to create agendas that align with their interests. This shows you value your customer interest and emphasize the flexibility of switching a workshop if they find another one more appealing.  

Tip 4: Use Event App for Customized Agendas & Networking Opportunities
App usage continues to rise, with nearly 97% of Americans owning a smartphone. From Gen Zs to Baby Boomers; almost everyone uses mobile apps. But its importance for corporate event planners is manifold. With an interactive mobile event app, you can elevate your event personalization efforts in the following ways:   

• The apps provide customized agendas to attendees  
• Guests can plan entire event schedules, bookmark sessions, or add them to their agendas 
• Attendees receive real-time updates 
• AI-powered matchmaking feature in the event app helps create networking opportunities 
• Get access to data on popular sessions, the download rate of the app, and attendee engagement  
• The event app is a great platform to offer exclusive discounts or early access to other types of event content.  
• Create a community chat with attendees where you can bring in speakers, share ideas, and circulate event thought leadership.  
• Mobile event apps let you feature the highlights of the corporate event, such as high-profile speakers, sponsors, sessions, and networking opportunities for attendees. This information allows you to tailor pre-event marketing.  

Make AI-powered networking easy with Eventcombo's mobile event app. Transform your corporate event into a ground for sparking innovation and long-lasting partnerships among industry professionals.  

Tip 5: Use Gamification for Personalized Events
Increasing attendee engagement is indeed imperative for corporate event planners and one of the effective ways is gamification. Studies show that Event gamification  is immensely helpful in creating unique experiences and increasing their perceived value. But the result is truly impactful when you customize it to match your corporate event's theme and goals. 

This means using games and interactive activities according to the subject of your conference including:  

• Creating puzzles or riddles related to your brand's products or history of innovation. 
• Challenges such as identifying sustainable practices within the event venue (if your theme is sustainability) 
• Incorporating questions about the interests or hobbies of the guests into your challenges. 
• Giving rewards tailored to the preferences of attendees  
• Allocating QR codes to different parts of the event and asking attendees to scan as many as possible.  
• Introduce a puzzle at every spot related to the event that needs to be answered to proceed to the next step. 
• If your event aims to offer networking opportunities, gamify it by asking attendees to swap tags and share information about themselves. 

Similarly, you can add interactive trivia in general corporate event sessions, content quizzes inspired by social recognition or rewards, and scavenger hunts to maximize attendance.  

Make sure that they match what you want to accomplish and with the interests of your guests. Successful gamification creates an enjoyable event atmosphere and leaves a lasting impression in the minds of your attendees.' This makes your guests more likely to recommend your event, boosting word of mouth. 

Gamification for personalized events becomes delightfully easy with a dedicated mobile event app. You can incorporate activities like scavenger hunts, Q&As, polls, leaderboards, and challenges of any kind matching your event's theme and goals to keep your attendees engaged. Eventcombo's event app offers you a plethora of gamification features you can try based on your goals to deliver exceptional experiences.  

Tip 6: Personalize Corporate Swag
Swag or promotional items, which are freely given away to corporate conference attendees help you make a lasting brand impression. It also allows guests to recall why they attended your event and the overall idea behind it.  

Custom goodies, no matter how big or small they are, provide a tangible association to the event, making people feel valued. This sparks an   innate willingness to engage and reciprocate to your content. 

Swag also holds prominence when it comes to corporate event personalization. It is one of the essential ways to make both in-person and virtual events engaging.  

An easy way to personalize corporate event swag is to send items related to your brand's services in boxes that feature the names of attendees. You can send it before a virtual event by including a short summary of the event under the name of the attendee who has registered. It will speak volumes about your effort and prompt attendees not to miss the event.  

Another example of customized corporate event swag is lanyards. These are essential for in-person conferences where guests need to learn one another’s names, show credentials, or keep track of important documents. You can work with a swag provider to customize the products and make your branding stand out. 

Try sending a wearable item to participants as part of your pre-event swag gifts. Request them to wear the swag during a specific portion of your event. Seeing others in the same item of clothing or with the same fun gift effortlessly forges a sense of community and belongingness.  

Some other ways to customize swag for personalized events include the following:  

• Tailor the swag to the event location. If the conference is in New Orleans, include some treats like cookies from a neighborhood bakery or products from local artisans, and items that emphasize the city's culture. 
• Lean into the event theme with your swag to create a cohesive experience. 
• Include a signed book or other item from the special guest speaker in your conference as swag. 
• Customize swag according to attendee interests and demographics. So, if you find that most attendees are young parents, include some kid-friendly items like stuffed animals with your logo as swag.  
• Include practical items that guests can use throughout the corporate event. Examples include notebooks, water bottles, and headphones. Such customized swag keeps people engaged throughout the event and prepares them to make the most of the event.  

Summing up
Corporate event personalization is no longer a matter of choice. It has gained ground and impacts the success of the event tremendously. Knowing how to personalize events allows you to make the experience more valuable for the attendees. Personalization boosts engagement and prompts attendees to actively participate and respond to your target messaging. Creating tailored experiences becomes easier when you leverage event technology.  

Eventcombo's all-in-one event management solution gives you deep insights about attendees, supporting gamification and AI-based networking. You can also use it to create tailored registration processes and promotional campaigns, ensuring that every attendee feels exclusive and well-cared for. To know more about how to use Eventcombo’s gamification feature, simply book a demo today!