Event Tech of the Week: @InteractionQ

Today, we’re talking about: Interaction Q

Company/Tool Name: Interaction Q

Website: http://www.interactionq.com/event-planners

Twitter: https://twitter.com/InteractionQ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interactionq

What is the “problem” that your tool seeks to solve?

The mobile app dilemma: Events are only seeing a 35-44% adoption rate on average for their mobile apps, meaning the majority of attendees are not even downloading the event’s app, much less engaging with it. This mobile app failure is stemming from a wide variety of reasons that will be noted below, most of which are solved by Interaction Q’s mobile solution (the Mobile Event Hub). Hence, we provide the alternative to mobile apps for events.

What is the best audience for this tool? Corporate events? Social? Other? Large? Small?

All of the above! Interaction Q’s unique mobile content delivery and engagement tool is the perfect mobile solution for events of all shapes and sizes. Our offering is incredibly flexible, which makes it capable of meeting any event planner’s budget and specified needs. Any event that does not currently have a mobile app needs our product. Any event that does currently have a mobile app should strongly consider replacing it with our product for the reasons stated below.

What does your tool help event planners do better?

Interaction Q helps event planners engage attendees more effectively on their mobile phones. Our Mobile Event Hubs provide a quick and easy method of informing attendees and promoting the event’s agenda, speakers, sponsors, featured exhibitors, etc. Using our product, an event can also send text message notifications to the phones of all attendees (and exhibitors) who have accessed their Mobile Event Hub. This feature is important to note because text messages receive the highest open rates of any digital marketing method at 96% (yes, that’s higher than a mobile app’s push notification feature). This allows an event to effectively reach attendees on their phone before, during and after the event with important information and announcements. Additionally, our product can be a profit center for event planners, providing them with numerous ways to monetize our mobile solution to either recoup their costs or make money by selling featured space on the Event Mobile Hub.

How is your tool different from/better than the competition?

Mobile apps are currently our primary competitor as it pertains to event planners. However, our mobile offering provides nearly all of the same benefits of a mobile app while also eliminating many of the flaws that inherently come with an app. For instance, unlike a mobile app, our product does not require the user to download anything to their phone, nor does it require them to update anything on their phone. Many people are skeptical of the privacy concerns associated with downloading/updating an app, not to mention the amount of valuable storage and data that an app uses up on the user’s phone. Since our Mobile Event Hubs do not require a download, these concerns are eliminated from the user’s mind. Additionally, mobile apps can be difficult to locate and download on the different app stores even if the user is interested in doing so. Our Mobile Event Hubs are simply accessed via text message, which is a method of access that almost every user is familiar and comfortable with. Lastly, our custom Mobile Event Hubs have a quick development time ranging anywhere from 5 business days to 1 month (depending on the features an event planner wants to employ), whereas a custom event mobile app can take several months to develop. Oh, and did we mention that our Event Mobile Hubs work on all mobile phones (cross platform), while mobile apps require you to have one version for Android phones and another version for Apple iPhones? True story.

What is the single coolest feature of your product?

Interaction Q’s Mobile Event Hub provides all of the benefits of a mobile app without the user needing to download or update anything on their phone. That is our coolest feature, and it’s a hugely significant one. Research has shown that a majority people download 0 (yes, Zero) new mobile apps onto their phone each month. They have already decided which apps they want on their phone, and they don’t care to add any more to that mix. Additionally, people have a tendency to only download mobile apps to their phone that they will frequently use, such as news, banking, sports, games, and social media. However, the majority of people do not want to download a mobile app to their phone that they will only use a few times, or for a few days. Such is the case with event mobile apps, and that explains why only 35-44% of attendees are downloading said event apps even while they are right there in attendance at the event.

Anything else we need to know?

We’ve already stated that we offer an alternative to mobile apps for events. But what if an event already has a mobile app and is tied into a multi-year contract with an app company (which we don’t require by the way)? Well, that’s quite alright because our product can also work hand-in-hand with a mobile app. Since our product provides an easier way to find and download an event’s mobile app (through the Mobile Event Hub), our product will actually help to increase mobile app adoption rates. And what’s more? Our product will also provide the event’s most important info (agenda, speakers, map, announcements, etc.) onto the mobile phone of the majority of the attendees who are not willing to download the event’s mobile app. Providing our alternative mobile option while you have a mobile app is a win-win, because it will increase your reach by catering to the different mobile preferences of the attendees.

Text the keyword View to 95577 on your phone right now to view an example Mobile Hub, and to experience how it is accessed (text and data rates may apply).

This weekly series spotlights a new tech tool that is designed to help make planning events much more seamless. Whether it’s using event software to track every detail from start to finish or mobile apps that deliver content to attendees’ fingertips, these technologies allow planners to divert their stress to more critical issues like deciding which napkin color looks best.