9 Undeniable Benefits of Event Management Software for Financial Institutions

Events like investor meetings, thought-leadership workshops, and one-day conferences have long played an important role in the financial services industry. Before the pandemic, most of these events used to be hosted in-person. Since then, however, financial services firms have started to recognize the long-term benefits of hosting hybrid events that let them accommodate attendees from all over the world.

While the benefits of hybrid events are undeniable, the format does present unique challenges. The need to deliver an equitable attendee experience across in-person and remote channels is arguably the greatest of these challenges. The unfortunate fact remains that a lot of virtual trade shows, live webinars, and remote conferences simply lack engagement and are difficult to organize.

Fortunately, event management software can address these shortcomings and challenges by giving organizers the tools they need to deliver high-quality virtual and hybrid events. Here are some of the ways that digital solutions can transform your events:

1. Meet Regulatory Standards

The financial services sector is one of the most heavily regulated industries of all, as well as one of the top targets for malicious actors. These facts alone rule out some event management software, which is why firms need to choose a solution that is specifically suited to the needs of financial services. After all, aversion to new technology in finance often stems from a lack of security and compliance. That said, suitable platforms support documented privacy policies and robust security measures like data encryption and multifactor authentication.

2. Integrate Your Marketing

Events are a vital part of the marketing stack, especially for investment banks and professional services firms whose conferences serve to connect stakeholders and showcase new products and services to would-be investors. Since event management is so deeply ingrained in sales and marketing in such enterprises, it stands to reason that your event management solution should integrate with all other mission-critical marketing tools and platforms. This makes it easier to retrieve and follow up with leads collected during your events.

3. Secure Your Event Venues

Over the past two years, event organizers have largely focused on virtual events, since there has not been a choice in the matter. However, in-person meetings are now making a return, typically as part of broader hybrid events. Finding the right venue to host in-person meetings has always been an important part of event management. A full-featured event solution should assist with research, allow you to track negotiations, and, ultimately, source the best venue for your event.

4. Ensure Brand Consistency

Events play a key role in brand-building, which is why it is essential that you can preserve your branding across all your marketing collateral. That includes delivering a consistent experience when marketing your event, as well as during the event itself. Event management software can help you ensure brand continuity with branded mobile event apps, marketing collateral, attendee badges, and more. Trust is everything in the finance sector, and a consistent brand presents a more trustworthy and professional image.

5. Enable Seamless Registration

First impressions count for a lot, especially in a sector like finance, which relies so heavily on trust. In the case of events, establishing that trust begins with the initial attendee registration. A suitable event management platform should enable a frictionless registration process that instantly gives attendees the impression that you know what you are doing. Automation can achieve wonders in this respect, such as sending personalized emails, testing new functions and features, and categorizing attendees based on persona.

6. Encourage Networking

Events like trade shows and conferences are all about connecting people and building trust between them. This is inherently harder to achieve in virtual and hybrid scenarios, but event management software can make matters much easier. For example, matchmaking solutions can match attendees based on their needs and interests. In remote environments, this might include one-to-one video meetings and consultations, both of which play an increasingly vital role in sales, marketing, and customer support for financial services firms.

7. Empower Mobile Users

Using a branded mobile event app can significantly increase engagement before, during, and after the event with both remote and in-person attendees. Moreover, if your app runs on a secure, compliant event management platform, you can ease the concerns of stakeholders who may ordinarily view mobile functionality as adding risk. Leveraging mobile technologies makes it much easier for financial marketers and event planners to gather real-time feedback, promote matchmaking, and guide in-person attendees through the venue.

8. Gain powerful Insights

Every event has its goals, and these should be clearly defined beforehand. Each goal, in turn, has various key performance indicators (KPIs) that must be recorded to determine the success of the event. For example, one of the most important KPIs for finance trade fairs is the number of leads gained. An event management platform collects all essential data, such as attendee responses to polls and surveys, in a way that is fully compliant with privacy regulations. From this curated data, the platform can generate user-friendly visual reports on the performance of your events.

9. Add Value to Your Brand

The finance sector invests more in technology than almost any other industry, and with good reason. Clients expect a seamless and professional experience, and as every finance leader knows, customer experience is the number-one driver of any long-term business relationship. Upgrading your event technology to match the rest of your products and services will help your brand stay relevant by facilitating a seamless and memorable attendee experience. At the same time, your staff will save time and resources. Together, these factors add lasting value to your brand.

Stova’s fully integrated event management solution helps financial services firms navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory and security landscape when organizing engaging events across global teams. Download our Ultimate Guide to Financial Services Event Management to learn more!