Allenby Advisory reposted this
Event Technology Specialist helping large scale and scaling events to implement platforms, apps and digital tools to improve revenue and customer NPS.
Are platform integrations really that important to #eventprofs? Or are they just something for the vendor or the IT team to sort out? I am interested in your views! Here is a clip from my recent guest spot on the CTRL + ALT + Events podcast talking about why for me integrations have become a key part of your event strategy. Without them you have clunky processes and are missing out on opportunities to create better experiences in the moment and understand more about your audiences. However I might be overplaying their importance because I am thinking about them day to day. For those of us that are spinning a lot of plates just to make events happen, are they really that essential to success? Here is the full podcast: https://lnkd.in/eZFbXiKC
Heather Holst-Knudsen 100% on your comments here! This questions always seems to be asked the wrong way around ‘Do you need integrations’? Integration is just a technical term! But do I want (or now must have these days) some insight into my data to support decision making and deliver better experiences? YES How can I achieve that? Probably some kind of automatic transfer of data will help (hint thats an integration!). That’s more reliable and will save me tons of time. I may drown in data otherwise. BUT I see…have seen for years …and continue to see ‘Integration with x & y z system’ on requirements documents that nobody seems to want to own, or really knows why its there, or the real specific details of what it’s supposed to achieve not been defined. From the supplier side, your tech partner can and should provide some insight into what’s possible, example use cases etc. but cannot define the unique value you want to get from that integration as a business. That has to be owned. How do we change this and get things the right way around!?
Comment #2 I find it extraordinary that certain event tech companies have not addressed the integration piece better. It was quite frustrating when I engaged with event tech on a frequent basis and heard the reasons "why" they didn't do it. If you are looking at any SaaS platform these days, the two most visited pages are.....drum roll........ INTEGRATIONS & PRICING Why? If you do not integrate with my stack and you make my workload harder and more costly so I can get the data and insights I need, I do not want to work with you. If you cost too much and I can't afford you, no need for us to engage. In the media and events where data is such a massive part of the value equation, making integrations difficult may no longer be tolerated. And, with tech and data stack consolidation happening to reduce complexity and costs, many players need to really think about this carefully.
You bet I look at integrations; it is one of the pages I look first. I am tired of importing and exporting my data. I am tired of trying to piece meal reports together to see how my marketing campaigns are performing. If you are an event tech company and you can't take the time to integrate...then maybe I can't take the time to watch your demo. ...and Zapier IS NOT an integration.
I think event professionals might consider the term "integration" less important because they lack context. However, when you focus on the results this brings - less repetitive tasks, higher ROI, better data and insights in your processes, a more efficient team, better user experience, etc.- then it all becomes a lot more important ;)
If the event organizer cares about first-party data, customer experience, personalization and relevance, data integrity, data hygiene, and activating data to drive results, then yes, integrations are critical.
Integrating different data sets is imperative for understanding the attendee journey and the engagement of events. Great topic Ade! Using an event data analytics platform to provide the insights solves the challenge of integration and manual spreadsheet mapping. Event marketers don’t need to be data scientists, they just want the insights presented in an actionable way that they can share with their stakeholders.
Integrations can/should solve problems but if you haven't defined what the problem or value you are trying to create then it's just an IT issue and tickbox. Process/Problem - first - Tech Second
Integrations are so important. If the process isn’t streamlined and efficient I’m looking for an alternative.
Founder of Smart Event Academy | Obsessed with an exceptional digital attendee experience | Digital Event Strategist | Technical Project Management
9moThese are never black and white questions for me. If it affects the attendee experience -- like having to re-enter reg data in the app or scheduler, then absolutely the integration matters. Or, if you are forcing them to use multiple logins, again, the integration matters. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE first party data and will also say that this is where you can potentially skimp out on integrations. If we're not talking about huge volumes of data and a one-time non-time sensitive export and import will accomplish the same thing as paying for someone to integrate it, let's do the export/import. And, if you are integrating a dataset with the idea that maybe some day someone will use it -- then just don't. We already all have more data than we can use, and more isn't always better.