Let's paint you a picture; your fan has bought a ticket to see their favourite musician or sports team and have been waiting for this day for weeks - maybe months - until finally the day of the event has arrived. They are ready for an experience that they'll be able to share and remember for years to come. With more and more research showing that younger generations are more interested in experiences rather than tangible goods, it's essential to create a unique experience for them at your event that is both share-worthy and memorable.
So, how can you connect with your fans at your event? We've put together seven innovative ways that will be sure to leave them talking long after the event is over.
1. Fan Tower
“Meet me at the tower!”
The fan tower is an interactive and eye-catching piece of technology that attracts your fans in-venue. The tower can engage fans in multiple ways:
- 📣 Sponsorship Takeovers: Full takeovers, partial takeovers, video trailers, etc. All programmable to occur over a specific time period. All trackable on the platform, making it easy to report back to sponsors.
- 📹 Live Event Streams: A live video feed of the major action can be displayed on one or all sides of the Tower with custom overlays.
- ℹ️ Event Info: Maps, schedules, major event announcements.
- 📸 Camera and Interactive AR: Let fans get silly in front of the Tower with different AR effects, or set up a “photo-booth” experience.
This is a great opportunity to get sponsors on-board for an activation that is both engaging and on-brand like this example from Eyeconic at Lollapalooza.
Tower Use-Cases:
- 🏅 Sports: Tailgate events, fan zones, special team events, etc.
- 🎤 Music: Festivals, street parties, and more.
2. Jumbotron AR
In sporting arenas, a great and easy way to have fun and connect with your fans is to develop an AR filter and display it on the jumbotron. This feature creates laughs and smiles among the audience and can be changed from game to game. This AR filter feature can also incorporate sponsors by promoting their product or company through the filter displayed at that game. You can also take this same AR experience to Instagram and upload it as a filter that is easily searchable by fans for use on their own channels.
3. Wifi Login
What is a Wi-Fi Portal? A Wi-Fi Portal is essentially a custom branded splash page for your Wi-Fi, that allows you to get fan details (email, custom fields) in exchange for Wi-Fi access.
In-venue Wi-Fi has become a non-negotiable, providing fans with a seamless experience on event day. What's often overlooked is just how simple and effective it is as a data collection opportunity. Providing fans with free Wi-Fi is a high value, which means they’re willing to provide you with their information to sign in.
Most venues utilizing a WIFI infrastructure are NOT collecting fan data which is a missed opportunity to market to them more effectively. Instead of having them just agree to terms and conditions and connect, invite them to login via social auth like Facebook, Google, or Spotify. This will allow you to capture affinity data that helps you learn more about your fans so you can personalize your marketing to them in the future.
If you want to take it past just name and email, you can include custom fields like postal code, favorite artist/player, or even a brief survey. If you’re asking for more info, consider adding a special offer for fans to redeem in your venue. They are more likely to engage when they feel they’re receiving something of value in return.
Pro Tip: Lastly, don’t forget that your Wi-Fi portal is a part of your fans event day experience. So, aside from making it user friendly, make sure it’s branded appropriately. Whether it’s branded to your venue/team or you’re using it as a sponsorship opportunity, the details matter. These smaller brand interactions add up to give fans a lasting impression.
4. RFID Bracelets
RFID bracelets are an easy way for fans to enter, pay, and interact at a festival or event. Incorporating RFID bracelets to your festivals can help the fans have a worry-free experience while also allowing you to learn more about their purchasing behaviours once they are inside. Before the start of the festival, fans will be sent their bracelet in advance (or can be picked-up at the venue), then they register their information online via mobile or desktop. This bracelet can help cut down wait times in lines significantly by speeding up the process for purchasing or participating in a contest/activation without needing to type in their information each time.
5. Live Games on Team/Festival App
Many teams and festivals have now developed an app where their fans can quickly access information about the event or sports team. This app can be the hub for multiple different features, such as contests or giveaways for those who download the app. During the event, the app can also be used as a platform for live announcements or games that can be played only through this medium. Check out what our partners at MLSE are doing in their Raptors and Maple Leafs app for some great examples.
6. AR Photo Booth
What's the ultimate fan dream? Not only getting to see your favorite athlete or music celebrity but being able to get a photo with them. Now AR photo booths are making that dream a reality for many. The augmented reality photo booth is a new interactive experience for fans. This was first launched by AT&T at the Dallas Cowboys season-opener game. These touch-screen photo kiosks allows fans to cycle through a handful of their favorite players whom they can pose side-by-side with, giving them the ultimate souvenir photo.
7. SMS Engagement
Text messaging with your fans is on the rise, especially when it comes to being able to engage with your favourite athlete or musician. Simply have fans text their full name to a phone number to opt-in to receiving SMS engagements (or add a checkbox field to your next contest) and before you know it you'll have a list of numbers that you can engage with on behalf of an artist, festival or sports team. This is a new and popular feature that we offer clients of Tradable Bits which allows you to manage your database of fans and send out messages all from one platform.
8. UGC
UGC streams work well for milestone events. On the sports side, this can be heritage nights, jersey retirements, etc. For music and festivals of course, it’s a little different. The key is to activate around a theme. Once you’ve figured that out, make it visible and easy for fans to enter using QR codes.
💡Pro tip: push the campaign on your social channels leading up to the event to give fans more runway. If there’s incentives attached, this will also encourage more fans to participate and create an engaged fan atmosphere.
Bonus: 'Surprise and Delight'
Many companies have also approached the 'surprise and delight' route when interacting with their consumers. One example would be WestJet; the company set up a live chat with Santa where he asked WestJet passengers what they wanted for Christmas. WestJet workers then surprised their passengers by purchasing the gifts they asked Santa for and delivered these gifts to them at the end destination. This method of engagement creates a great connection with customers, through building brand loyalty and creating a positive experience.
Book a free consultation with us to see how we can help you engage your fans at your next event!