Small Businesses Set To Increase Use Of Mobile Technology For Events In 2013, According To Constant Contact’s EventSpot Survey

According to a new survey from EventSpot™ from Constant Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT), released in celebration of Small Business Saturday®, 81 percent of small businesses and nonprofits planning events expect to increase their use of mobile technology to market their events in the next year. However, there appears to be a considerable gap in interest level versus skill level; an overwhelming 90 percent of these planners say they would like to learn just how they can leverage mobile technology specifically for their events.

“Mobile tools will no doubt assume a much bigger role in event planning for small businesses and nonprofits but considerable training needs to occur before we’ll see widespread adoption,” said Chris Litster, vice president and general manager of EventSpot from Constant Contact. “Mobile technology offers the distinct advantages of reach, convenience, and affordability but until small businesses have the proper training, many won’t be able to leverage mobile tools to maximum advantage.”

Sixteen percent of those surveyed currently distribute content to an event registrant’s mobile device. When asked what event content they distribute:

• 75 percent said event schedules.
• 41 percent said session descriptions.
• 19 percent said speaker biographies.
• 16 percent said event presentation slide decks.
• 6 percent said white papers.

Events and Smartphones

Currently, only 15 percent of respondents report using a smartphone always, or frequently, for event planning. Of this 15 percent:

• 29 percent offer mobile registration and collect payments.
• 24 percent engage with attendees via a mobile device by posting event insights, learnings, or comments to social networks.
• 16 percent send “save the date” notifications from a mobile device.
• 6 percent offer a mobile check-in app.
• 6 percent survey or capture feedback from attendees via a mobile device during an event.
• 5 percent provide event schedule of sessions via a mobile app.

Twenty percent of those surveyed find that they get good response and interaction with collecting payment via smartphone, as well as with engaging attendees by posting event insights, learnings, or comments to social networks via smartphone.

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