Event planning is a juggling act of competing priorities, tight timelines, and multiple moving pieces.
Traditionally, event planners have had to rely on a disjointed mix of tools and workflows to get it all done—using email for communication and registration, Excel to manage schedules, PowerPoint for promo materials, and more.
But constantly switching between apps wastes precious time and creates opportunities for errors to slip through the cracks.
Enter all-in-one event management software. By centralizing all your planning needs into a single platform, you can streamline processes and boost productivity.
In this post, we’ll explore the major benefits of using dedicated event software and the key features to look for. You’ll see how the right tool provides a frictionless, integrated approach to save your team time, reduce stress, and deliver amazing events, time and again! Let’s dive in.
What is Event Planning Software?
But first, what exactly is event planning software, and why do you need it?
Event scheduling software is an all-in-one solution designed to handle every aspect of organizing and executing events. It replaces the need for separate, disjointed tools by centralizing all the core capabilities planners require into one seamless platform. |
Typically, event planners have needed to juggle a bunch of different tools and log-ins to tackle their neverending to-do list, including:
- Email for communication and registration
- Spreadsheets to build event schedules and agendas
- PowerPoint and other presentation tools to create promo materials
- Individual website platforms for building event websites
- Separate project management tools (or good ‘ol pen and paper) for managing stakeholders and team members
… Not to mention all the manual work of switching between tabs and triple-checking everything to make sure no details have been missed.
It probably goes without saying, but switching between fragmented systems is super inefficient and leaves plenty of room for manual errors. With an event management platform, all of these disconnected workflows are consolidated into a centralized, easy-to-use solution. *Chef’s kiss*
Read more: 5 Ways to Streamline Your Corporate Event Planning
What are the Benefits of Using Event Scheduling Software?
There are plenty of reasons to ditch outdated methods and to adopt event management software instead. Let’s explore!
⏱️ Saves you considerable time
Consolidating tools and automating repetitive tasks saves you time and energy, period. Rather than manually entering data across multiple platforms, everything is housed in one intuitive place. Plus, automation streamlines processes like time-intensive processes like email marketing and registration.
👍 Keeps you organized
Event management solutions help you stay organized amid all the moving pieces. All your event details, schedules, communications, and more live in one central location. No more scrambling between apps and tabs to gather the info you need, when you need it.
📈 Boosts productivity
With less time and energy wasted on tedious and time-consuming processes, you’ll be empowered to focus more on the tasks that actually move the needle. Plus event management software makes it easier to collaborate with your team so that everyone is aligned and on the same page.
✨ Increases event attendance
You’re able to drive more attendance with event registration platforms. From customized event websites to automated email campaigns and social promotion, you’ll have all the tools you need to maximize your reach.
Check out: 4 Easy Ways to Boost Event Registration by 20%
What are the Top Features of Event Management Solutions?
When evaluating event planning software, it’s crucial to identify the essential features that align with your needs and goals.
In this section, we’ll highlight the must-have capabilities to look for, ensuring you choose the right solution that saves you time, money, and headaches.
Event registration and ticketing
Allow attendees to easily register and purchase tickets directly from your event website with an event registration platform.
It’s simple to manage different pricing levels, discount codes, group registrations, and to integrate secure payment processors. Attendees can also sign up for specific sessions, join waitlists for full sessions, and process refund requests smoothly.
Schedule and speaker management
The best event scheduling software streamlines the entire speaker management process—from issuing calls for proposals, to approving speakers and sessions, and more!
Automatically sync updated speaker details across your entire events portfolio. Set up automated speaker workflows and empower speakers to self-manage their profiles. Plus, build out detailed schedules with options for attendees to customize their agenda.
Event marketing automation
Promote your events with fully-branded, customizable email marketing campaigns sent to segmented contact lists at optimal times. Automate repetitive marketing tasks and integrate with tools like Marketo and HubSpot for cohesive promotion across multiple channels.
Plus, it’s easy to analyze your campaign performance data to optimize your event marketing strategy as you go.
Event website builder
Avoid the cost and hassle of website developers by building professional, on-brand event websites yourself using drag-and-drop tools and pre-built templates.
Automatically populate website details like schedules and speakers pulled from your event management platform. You’ll be able to quickly clone previous sites for future events, making sure you don’t waste time or energy reinventing the wheel.
Multi-event management
Centrally create, publish, and streamline every aspect of managing a high volume of events through one unified platform. Use templates to ensure consistent branding across your entire events program. Set granular user permissions and automate workflows to boost efficiency.
Read more: How to Manage Multiple Events at Once
Virtual and hybrid event capabilities
Confidently host live, pre-recorded, or on-demand virtual sessions with robust security features. Deliver branded online experiences with engagement tools like polls, Q&A, and chat. Seamlessly manage hybrid events combining virtual and in-person components.
Event reporting capabilities
Generate comprehensive reports with integrated data from every event touchpoint, giving you a single source of truth for all of your events.
Build custom dashboards that allow you to easily visualize key metrics. Integrate with analytics platforms like Google Analytics for tracking event website performance.
Finally, survey stakeholders and attendees to get insights for future events.
Event Planning Software FAQs
Can event planning software handle registration for virtual and hybrid events?
Absolutely! EventUp Planner is built to streamline registration and execution for events of all types—virtual, hybrid, or in-person. Our virtual event studio allows you to confidently host online sessions at any scale with the highest level of security.
For hybrid events combining virtual and in-person components, EventUp Planner synchronizes all aspects for a seamless attendee journey.
How does event management software integrate with my existing marketing and sales tools?
EventUp Planner easily integrates with the tools you already use—like Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Google Analytics, and more. This allows your event data to flow seamlessly into your broader systems and campaigns for a unified view of performance metrics. No more disjointed data silos!
Can I customize the branding and website experience for my events?
Definitely! We understand branded experiences are essential for engaging your audience. With our intuitive website builder, you can create stunning, fully customized event websites without developers. It’s never been easier to stay in complete control of your brand across your entire events portfolio.
Work Smarter, Not Harder with Event Planning Software
Bottom line: it’s possible to work smarter, not harder. Ditch the struggle with event planning software that consolidates every aspect of the event lifecycle into one powerful yet easy-to-use platform.
With EventUp Planner, you can streamline processes, boost productivity, drive more attendance, and deliver amazing event experiences time and again! Our all-in-one solution provides all the features you need to succeed—from registration and marketing, to scheduling, reporting, virtual capabilities, and more!
Book a demo today to see how our software can transform your approach to event management.