Why Use an Online Registration System

I recently sent out a survey asking for preferred methods of event registration. I like to back up our recommendations with actual data so I plan to do surveys like this on a regular basis and this seemed like a good place to start. Many of our clients, especially associations, hold events throughout the year and are always looking for ways to increase attendance and make it easier to get people to register. Many of them are either accepting registrations with an online registration system or are considering it.

The survey was sent to a variety of people via email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and word of mouth. We got over 100 responses and here are the results:

Obviously, the results speak for themselves. Over 90% of people who responded prefer online registration. This is important to note for organizations that have events and are not yet taking registrations online. With such a landslide preference toward registration online, one might wonder how many prospective attendees are lost due to lack of easy way to register. Would those on the fence register if they could easily do it online?

What is also interesting to note is that the largest age group that responded was 46-55 with almost 1/5 of the responders over 55, yet the results were heavily weighted in favor of online registration. The notion that older people prefer traditional methods is apparently a misconception!

If you are currently not taking event registrations online, you might want to look at the data. Giving prospective attendees an easy way to register may just increase attendance.