See how Opendate can help you manage the entire event lifecycle.
Let us know who you are to unlock the demo video.
Manage all of your holds and confirms for each of your rooms in one calendar.
Where do you start with the benefits of a mobile app for events? There are many reasons why a venue chooses to have a mobile app. With the ever increasing demand for mobile apps and increase in popularity, it is no wonder that venues are keen to invest in a mobile app. The first step towards understanding the benefits of having a mobile app for your concert venue is understanding what an event management app and a custom event app for fans can do and the difference that they can make. For the spirit of this topic, we may touch on but won't do in-depth dives into event networking apps, virtual event apps (or networking events apps, like the cvent app/cvent event app for example), or event apps for conferences/conference apps. After all, the best event apps for conferences or best social event app for example, may not be the best mobile app for your venue or theatre. We will talk through what to look for in top event apps and the approach you may take or consider as you evaluate what's right for your venue.
In 2022, we're all of course familiar with mobile applications and no doubt rely on many in our day to day lives. They aren’t websites that are designed to be viewed on a computer (although primitive applications can look similar), but rather software that runs on mobile devices. There are also of course a number of advantages to using a mobile app for your venue on both the organizer and the fan side of the experience. Many ticketing businesses and some venue management systems offer broad, generally branded apps that can be used by a fan but aren't of particular value, however when considering the best event apps for your venue, a custom (or largely custom) app branded and created for your particular venue can be a tremendous value add and revenue driver. Of course, event app pricing varies greatly and the cost of developing and maintaining a standalone application can be astronomical - which is why Opendate makes an event mobile app that is easy to use and priced fairly - easily outweighing the value and revenue it can drive, not even to mention the elevated fan experience.
One top priority for most venues (or businesses in general) when thinking through getting a mobile app that is easily customizable but doesn't need to be built from scratch. Since there is no need to worry about hiring a development team or finding developers who can write the code for your venue app, it makes implementation and maintenance much easier and attainable. We've talked about some of the challenges, but there are many upsides that come along with event mobile apps. For venues for example, it becomes easier to encourage more patrons to attend concerts in your venue if they have easy access to information about the concerts through their mobile app, can purchase tickets more easily, and even have the opportunity to buy add ons like a VIP experience, merch, or any other number of other ways to drive revenue and provide a better, more streamlined experience. With the rise in the popularity of mobile apps, more and more people are using them to access information and even have the expectation to have a mobile first experience. With a great event app or event schedule app, it becomes easy to increase the number of patrons who visit your venue app by increasing the number of leads who are converted to patrons (and gives them more information and opportunity for a good experience along the way). The leads who are converted to patrons become fans because they have an easier time accessing information about your venue via their mobile app. A lot of venues think that since they don’t have a large number of patrons who are using the venue app, they don’t have to spend a lot on creating the app. But this is where they are wrong. The venue app is only as good as the experience a user has when in the app; something that's difficult to use, clunky, or lacks any good information will not only lose users, but can cost ticket sales as well. If you don’t invest in making the app user-friendly then you are wasting your time, effort, and money. Unfortunately, when it comes to the mobile app market, you have to invest in usability first. The cost of hiring a development team for a mobile app is also not something that you want to have to worry about. The most expensive part of having a mobile app for your concert venue is the cost of hiring an Android or iOS developer so finding a provider that has already done this legwork for you will help save you money and ensure that you don't have to become an expert on mobile app development! Having a mobile app for your concert venue also increases your brand awareness. Now, when someone sees your venue name on their smartphone, they are more likely to think of your venue than any other place in their city. In this way, having a mobile app for your concert venue helps in growing brand awareness among your patrons.
AppOne thing you'll notice we have not covered in depth during this review are the best mobile event apps for conferences. We've touched on a few, however with the exception of large, multi-day festivals, we have found that most concert venues aren't particularly concerned with laying out a fan facing agenda for each event. Likewise even the best conference apps in 2022 won't provide most of what a concert venue needs on a daily basis. On the other hand, it can be helpful for event organizers to utilize an app to stay organized internally. Opendate's iOS and Android applications allow a venue's team to take the value of centralized information, event details, and even real time ticket sales and check ins on the go - unlocking the power and speed of Opendate right from their phone. This capability can help venues save time and effort, and more importantly cut down errors that can be easy to make with so many moving parts. With a streamlined and mobile specific design interface, Opendate's mobile app gives event organizers more power right in their hand, where and when they need it.
Other benefits of having a custom venue app include giving you the ability to share agendas or schedules with your guests and fans. We've mentioned saving time, reducing errors and centralizing information, but the best apps for your venue also help drive revenue and drive your business. With the ability to quickly and easily use both Opendate's Organizer app as well as the Opendate Venue app, we believe that Opendate gives concert venues more tools than ever before to help give your team and fans the experience that they deserve - one that will keep fans coming back for more!
