Rising Tech for Enhanced Engagement & Wayfinding at Occasions

Occasion organizers are more and more turning to superior tech to make their occasions stand out from the group and appeal to returning exhibitors and attendees.

Two rising applied sciences on this combine? Blue dot know-how and location-based messaging. These improvements are shaking up commerce exhibits, providing on-the-fly navigation and tailor-made interactions that increase engagement and effectivity.

Integrating these applied sciences brings important benefits but additionally introduces challenges. These contain aligning your indoor positioning methods with numerous venue infrastructures and adhering to strict privateness legal guidelines. We’re right here to information you thru these technical and logistical hurdles to make sure every thing runs easily. 

What’s Blue Dot Expertise and Location-Based mostly Messaging? 

Let’s begin by defining these two core applied sciences!

Blue dot know-how—often known as geolocation, wayfinding, or indoor positioning— is somewhat blue dot in your cellphone’s map that exhibits precisely the place you’re on the venue flooring. Consider it like commonplace GPS, which helps you discover your means round giant indoor areas like malls, airports, museums, and convention facilities. 

Your common GPS doesn’t fairly work indoors, so blue dot tech steps in to make navigating these areas simpler. 

Location-based messaging refers back to the apply of sending messages to customers primarily based on their geographic location for a extra customized and interesting occasion expertise. 

Location-based messaging is typically used interchangeably with the time period geofencing. In actuality, geofencing is the usage of blue dot know-how to create digital boundaries or perimeters round a selected geographic space. When a person strikes in or out of those digital perimeters, geofencing know-how triggers the sending of tailor-made messages by location-based messaging. For instance, you may ship a push notification when an occasion attendee is close to your premium exhibitor’s sales space.

Why Use Blue Dot Expertise and Location-Based mostly Messaging? 

Introducing wayfinding know-how akin to blue dot navigation and location-based messaging into your commerce exhibits gives a variety of advantages to attendees, exhibitors, and organizers alike. Let’s discover the advantages for every additional!

For Attendees: A Personalised Occasion Journey

Blue dot know-how and location-based messaging mean you can flip the huge occasion house into tailor-made attendee experiences by making it simpler to find and find exhibitors and periods that align with their pursuits, schedule, and site. 

With real-time steering and updates, attendees are capable of navigate the occasion house effectively, guaranteeing they join with the best folks and take part in experiences most related to their targets.

For Exhibitors: Enhanced Visibility and Engagement

Exhibitors can leverage this direct line of communication to ship customized gives, demonstrations, or unique insights to certified leads close by. The result’s elevated sales space visitors, enhanced engagement with potential clients, and a larger return on funding (ROI) for exhibitors.

Exhibitors can even harness knowledge from these applied sciences to reinforce their presence, and join extra successfully with attendees. This consists of the adjustment of employees ranges, demonstration timings, and engagement actions to match peak instances or the usage of attendee circulate and dwell instances to tell future choices about sales space location and design.

For Occasion Organizers: Streamlined Operations and Insights

By integrating blue dot know-how and location-based messaging into their occasions, organizers are capable of acquire real-time insights into crowd actions, enabling them to handle crowds and optimize occasion circulate. This creates a smoother, extra pleasant occasion for everybody concerned, from attendees navigating the house to exhibitors partaking with potential clients.

Moreover, organizers can leverage the info from these applied sciences to design future occasions. Assume, adjusting the occasion format or scheduling fashionable periods at fashionable instances. This proactive method ensures every occasion is extra profitable than the final by maximizing exhibitor ROI and attendee satisfaction.

Blue Dot Expertise and Location-Based mostly Messaging Setup 

Able to arrange blue dot know-how and location-based messaging at your subsequent occasion? Listed here are the 5 elements you’ll want:

Location Expertise 

That is the know-how that lets you pinpoint precisely the place your attendee is. It’s additionally vital for geofencing. There are numerous applied sciences you need to use to find out a person’s indoor place. 

The most typical embrace Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Vitality (BLE) beacons, Extremely-Wideband (UWB), and RFID. Every know-how has its strengths and use circumstances, typically relying on the required accuracy and the atmosphere.

Beacons are these tiny devices that ship out Bluetooth alerts. Your cellphone picks up these alerts if you’re close by, serving to the occasion app present you the place you’re and the place to go subsequent. These are strategically positioned at every venue.
Extremely-wideband (UWB) is sort of a high-tech radar that may pinpoint your location inside a constructing very precisely by sending out radio waves to measure how far you’re from a number of factors, very similar to a bat makes use of echolocation to navigate.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) makes use of tiny tags that emit radio alerts. Consider it as a digital barcode. Whenever you get near a scanner, it detects the tag’s sign, figuring out what or who it is connected to, but it surely’s extra for scanning gadgets or badges at shut vary reasonably than guiding you thru areas.

Indoor Maps 

Making certain your occasion runs easily hinges on the exact format of your venue, which is why correct, digitized flooring plans are essential. They have to mirror the real-life dimensions of your house to seamlessly combine together with your chosen occasion app.

At Swapcard, we take this to the subsequent degree by providing dynamic, interactive flooring plans because of our partnership with ExpoFP and MapsPeople. This location intelligence platform gives invaluable insights into attendee actions and interactions so you may optimize occasion format and circulate for a really partaking attendee expertise.

Content material Administration System (CMS)

Organizers and exhibitors want a digital house the place they will create, handle, and ship out messages and notifications to focused customers. This technique should be user-friendly and dependable so busy organizers and exhibitors can use real-time knowledge insights to place collectively tailor-made messages in little time. 

Swapcard gives a devoted communications or notifications dashboard the place you and your exhibitors can section audiences, tailor messages, shortly analyze engagement metrics, and extra.

Occasion App

On your attendees to view their location on the indoor map and obtain location-based messages, they want a transportable and user-friendly digital house. This can usually be within the type of an occasion app. This app might also present navigation instructions, search performance, and customized suggestions for periods or cubicles to go to.

Swapcard’s cellular app gives a bookmark function so attendees can simply discover and get real-time updates on cubicles or periods of curiosity. This function is very helpful in giant occasions the place preserving monitor of exhibitors, periods, and conferences could be overwhelming. 

With the intention to work correctly, customers need to grant these apps permission to entry their system’s location providers. 

Web Connectivity

As attendees transfer across the occasion, location-based alerts faucet into real-time knowledge to ship out well timed notifications. However not everybody’s cellphone service is as much as the duty. Sign power can fluctuate, and crowded occasions can clog the community, resulting in spotty protection for some. To ensure everybody will get the total expertise, think about providing complimentary Wi-Fi at your occasions.

Whereas some venues supply Wi-Fi protection, it is a good suggestion to staff up with the venue’s tech crew to check the sign power and reliability. That means, you may determine and handle any potential useless zones or areas of weak sign on the venue— earlier than the occasion kicks off.

💡 High tip: Strive including extra entry factors or Wi-Fi boosters to areas in your venue the place the sign is patchy.

Finest Practices to Implement Blue Dot Expertise and Location-Based mostly Messaging

To make sure a clean integration and maximize the advantages of those applied sciences, observe these finest practices:

Planning and Preparation

To take advantage of out of blue dot and location-based messaging applied sciences, start by clearly defining your targets. 

What do you wish to obtain? 

Maybe your main goal is to spice up exhibitor ROI by providing an enticing means for them to advertise their services or products, or possibly your foremost focus is to reinforce networking by making it simple for attendees to satisfy up with like-minded people or audio system who’re close by. As soon as your aims are laid out, you may tailor the know-how to satisfy these particular wants.

Make clear your aims first, then pair them with the best tech— whereas contemplating your venue’s compatibility:

Wi-Fi for intensive attain
BLE Beacons for detailed steering and customized notifications, and 
UWB for exact positioning

It is also vital to take a look at the combination of those applied sciences together with your current occasion app or platform. Seamless integration ensures that you simply, your exhibitors, and attendees can entry all options and advantages in a single place. 

Lastly, search for scalable options with versatile pricing so you can begin small and develop as you see the worth they carry to your occasions.

Coaching for Occasion Employees, Attendees, and Exhibitors

Make certain your onsite occasion staff is aware of the ins and outs of blue dot and location-based messaging and the way they may also help attendees use these applied sciences to their benefit. A quick tutorial or FAQ part in your occasion app may also help information attendees by the options and assist them get probably the most out of the occasion. 

For exhibitors, set limits on the quantity and frequency of messages they will ship and provides them tips on tips on how to draft location-based messages that truly delight attendees. Keep in mind, no person enjoys being spammed, so all the time prioritize high quality over amount.

Steady Monitoring and Optimization

As soon as your occasion is underway, it’s a good suggestion to examine the metrics on blue dot know-how and location-based messaging efficiency. This implies actively searching for any technical glitches which may pop up so you may resolve them shortly, but additionally advising exhibitors on their use of the platform to drive significant interactions and conversions. By offering steering and assist to exhibitors, you may assist them enhance sales space visitors and maximize their ROI.

As soon as the curtains shut in your occasion, it is time to roll up your sleeves and dive into the info set. Have a look at which location-based messages had the best click-through charges, which cubicles acquired probably the most visitors, and peak instances when engagement spiked. Use these insights to find out what labored nicely and the place enhancements could be made for future occasions, guaranteeing that your subsequent gathering is much more partaking and profitable.

Privateness and Safety Issues

Consent is essential in terms of occasion knowledge assortment and utilization. Merely letting your viewers know what knowledge factors you are accumulating, who it has been shared with, and the way it’ll be used helps to construct belief and preserve the general integrity and status of your occasion.

One other should is offering choices for location monitoring and notifications so attendees can personalize their expertise and have larger management over their knowledge. 

By implementing efficient privateness administration practices and clear communication, you not solely foster belief but additionally guarantee compliance with authorized rules, such because the  Common Knowledge Safety Regulation (GDPR) in Europe.

Future Developments in Blue Dot Expertise and Location-Based mostly Messaging

Sooner or later, occasions will use location-based know-how to supply extremely customized experiences, customizing content material, strategies, and interactions primarily based on every attendee’s preferences and actions. 

Organizers will be capable to use AI to research detailed location knowledge offered by smartphones and ship extremely customized automated messages. This implies attendees can count on extra tailor-made and predictive communication. 

Mix this with AR (Augmented Actuality), and also you get partaking navigation experiences, providing visible cues and interactive content material to information attendees seamlessly by occasion areas.

With superior mapping and steering, navigating by busy occasion areas shall be simpler for everybody, together with attendees with mobility limitations. AI-powered analyses of location knowledge will enable organizers to handle crowds extra successfully and modify schedules to enhance circulate and security. This know-how additionally promotes sustainability by serving to organizers use assets extra effectively by predicting attendee actions and necessities.

Do not be afraid to embrace these developments and discover integrations of blue dot and location-based messaging with different applied sciences akin to AR, VR (Digital Actuality), and cellular apps can create distinctive and memorable experiences that differentiate your occasions.

Abstract

Improvements like blue dot know-how and location-based messaging are setting new requirements for engagement and connectivity.

Gone are the times of conventional occasion setups the place attendees wandered aimlessly, struggling to search out related data or join with the best folks. Blue dot know-how and location-based messaging supply attendees a personalised expertise, organizers improved logistics and beneficial insights, and exhibitors elevated visibility and leads.