On average, 48.5 percent of all event attendees adopt an
event app and perform 34 engagements with their event app, according to Cvent's
Mobile App Benchmark Report. The report is based on data Cvent pulled from 2,032
events that used its CrowdCompass app between March 1, 2017 and May 31, 2017. Events
types and sizes varied and included locations worldwide.
App adoption was measured by taking the number of attendees
who downloaded and logged into the app and divided it by the number of people
who attended the event. Engagement was measured by the number of interactions
with in an event from within the app. This includes checking out a session,
sending a message to another attendee, posting to social media through
the app or simply viewing in-app content like an agenda or white paper.
Cvent offered the following event app adoption and
engagement breakdown by event size:
- Events with up to 250 attendees had 55 percent
adoption and 34 engagements
- Events with between 250 and 500 attendees had 48
percent adoption and 36 engagements.
- Events with between 500 and 750 attendees had a
46 percent adoption rate and 36 engagements.
- Events with between 750 and 1,000 or more
attendees had a 55 percent adoption rate and 48 engagements.
Events that had the highest app adoption rates weren't the
ones with the highest engagement, or vice versa. Conferences and trade shows
had 49 percent adoption and 27 engagements, seminars and webinars had 49
percent adoption and 23 engagements and training and workshops had 45 percent
adoption and 37 engagements.
Driving Mobile App Adoption
& Engagement
According to the report, the easiest way to increase
adoption is to have an app for every event, regardless of size. Adding more
security features increased average app engagement by 14 percent, attracting 40
interactions with the app per attendee, compared to the overall average of 34
times.
One way to increase both adoption and engagement is to
include more in-app content like know-before-you-go pages, speaker FAQs and
maps. Event apps with the highest adoption rates had 39 or more pages of
content and sent out 18 or more push notifications. Engagement features like
live Q&As and polling also push higher interactions.
The Opposing View
Including more content and ensuring an extra layer of
security translates into more work going into the mobile app. Smaller meetings
technology providers like Conference Technology Enhancements argue that separate
apps are not the future state for mobile meetings tech, citing similar stats to
Cvent but spinning them differently: More than half of meeting participants, on
average, don't adopt the mobile meetings app.
"[Meetings apps] have two major shortcomings," a
spokesperson for the company wrote to BTN in an email. "First, most
attendees don't want to download yet another app on their phone. Second,
preparing a new app for each conference requires enormous resources."
According to CTE, the future of mobile meetings technology
lies in integrated responsive websites that are optimized for mobile use and
include the content, interactive features and attendee tracking capabilities.