5 Surprising Benefits of a WordPress Event Registration Plugin

Have you ever helped with organizing an event that used paper registrations? Did you find the registration process frustrating from having to keep track of stacks of papers? Or from manually collecting and inputting data entries from registration forms?

If so, you aren’t alone. Luckily, there is an easier way to handle attendee registrations for your next event.

Here are five benefits that may surprise you when you use a WordPress event registration plugin.

1. A system that runs for you around the clock

A system is a way to reach a result or outcome. A well-designed system produces the desired results that you want. We use systems every day in our lives.

Think for a moment about:

– How you prepare your morning cup of tea or coffee, so it’s just perfect.

– The spot in your home where you place your keys, so you never have to scramble around looking for them.

– Even the way you pay your bills each month.

Other systems in your life offer convenience around the clock, such as your air conditioning unit maintaining the ideal temperature in your home. In the same manner, a WordPress event registration plugin can also offer peace of mind.

In the words of the lecturer and writer, Mark Twain: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.”

Imagine you are organizing a conference that celebrates community gardens and allotments. If we break down the conference registration into smaller parts, then it could look like this:

– Create a conference registration page

– Set up an event registration form to collect details from attendees

– Securely process credit card payments

– Send a registration confirmation email with a unique ticket for conference check-in

– Add attendees to an attendee registration report so you know who is attending

And for attendees who start a registration but don’t pay, an abandoned email can go out to remind them to finish paying to sign up for the event.

No more keeping track of paper registrations or following up on “checks in the mail.” Instead, your event registration plugin can automate tasks like collecting attendee details through an event form, secure processing of card payments, and sending an attendee a confirmation email with their conference ticket.

The beauty of a system like the one above is that you invest some time upfront. Then it runs automatically for you even while you are sleeping.

2. Manage your events in one place

One of the most advanced things that a business or organization can do for its culture is striving to keep things simple. To illustrate this, think about what the following means to you:

A simple business or organization that I truly understand.

To get more concrete, simplicity fuels growth. When things are simple, you can move faster by 1) building a team, 2) training your team, 3) using strengths to overcome challenges.

So how does this apply to a particular area of an organization, like hosting events?

Rather than piecing together a bunch of random products, you can cherry-pick just a few world-class products and use them together. WordPress powers your existing website. When you add a WP event registration plugin, it enhances your website so you can sell event registrations or tickets. And because you are already familiar with WordPress, you find the event plugin intuitive and easy to use.

Plus, you can quickly teach your team how to manage your events through your WordPress dashboard when your team grows.

3. Quickly scale your events

Scaling your events means rapidly organizing more events. Let’s loop back to the earlier example with the conference for community gardens and say it was sold out and was a hit! Now you want to organize more gardening conferences in different areas of your state/province.

Is there a way to jumpstart setting up another conference event? Can I still receive credit card payments from attendees?

Yes, and yes!

A flexible event plugin for WordPress will let you duplicate an event to create a copy. It is faster than starting from scratch since event details are copied. In other words, you can reuse the event’s structure and update the details that change, like the title, description, dates, and event location.

The merchant account details for credit card payments that you used for your past event will also be ready to go, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

4. Versatile for different types of events

Many people approach problem-solving logically. For instance, pretend you have ordered a small birdhouse kit for your backyard. The package arrives a week later, and you open the box. You see the pieces of wood that make up the birdhouse, along with some directions. The parts of wood won’t magically put themselves together. You need a tool to do that!

Here are some tools that could be used to get the job done:

– Use a hammer to nail pieces of wood together.

– Apply wood glue to the seams of the wood. Temporarily secure using painters tape. Remove the tape after the glue dries.

– Use a screwdriver to screw the various pieces of wood to each other.

Each tool solves the problem of building the birdhouse in a specific way.

What compels us to search for an event registration plugin is finding a tool for a specific event — perhaps a conference, class, or course. We soon realize that a WordPress event registration plugin is like a swiss army knife for selling event registrations or tickets from a WP website because it is adaptable for different events.

Seminars, workshops, and festivals are just a few more examples of the types of events that an event plugin can help with. It can even handle virtual or online events, which means your organization can have a more significant impact by reaching attendees worldwide.

5. Help attendees create meaningful connections

Organizing events can position your organization as an authority on a topic. However, there is another positive effect. There is something deeply profound about bringing together people with similar interests. You likely felt this energy at your last event.

Brené Brown, an author and professor at the University of Houston, touches on the value of feeling connected: “Connection is why we’re here,” she said. “We are hardwired to connect with others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and without it there is suffering.”

As social creatures, events are valuable for creating connections through smiles, laughs, and a sense of belonging. And after your event, you can use an email marketing campaign to keep attendees in the loop about exciting events in the future.

Five exciting advantages of a WordPress event registration plugin are:

1. A system that runs for you around the clock
2. Manage your events in one place
3. Quickly scale your events
4. Versatile for different types of events
5. Help attendees create meaningful connections

Open your upcoming event for registrations faster by choosing a WordPress event registration plugin like Event Espresso. You’ll save time over the archaic way of handling paper registrations, avoid headaches and hassles, and know exactly who is attending your event. Plus, your team will be able to help manage your event registrations from your WordPress site and make it a success!