First and foremost, make sure that late registrations aren’t happening because your registration process is too time-consuming. A big reason people may delay signing up is due to encountering a lengthy registration form with numerous fields to fill out. It’s safe to say that most of your event’s target audience have busy lives, packed schedules, and no time to sit around completing forms with unnecessary required fields that don’t allow them to move forward if left blank. In fact, many people prefer to register for events on the go, from the convenience of their phone so the shorter and simpler your event registration process, the better.

Sometimes life gets busy, and it’s easy to forget about an event that’s happening in a few weeks or even months. We’ve all been there, and often, a few gentle reminders can make all the difference in keeping us on track. The same goes for the event you’re organising, that’s why it’s essential to run marketing campaigns.

Email campaigns are great for when you’ve got lots of returning attendees, using data from past events to remind them about your upcoming event. Sending reminders a month, a week, and a few days before the event helps keep it on their radar. Additionally, social media and ad campaigns are equally as important to stay on top of. Eye-catching posts and ads can help target prospective attendees. While this might not eliminate late registrations altogether; it does help reduce the chances that your potential attendees might forget about or miss your event, increasing the likelihood that they’ll register in good time.

FOMO isn’t just a trendy acronym; it’s a psychological phenomenon that influences decision-making. It creates a sense of urgency and excitement that motivates people to move from being merely interested to becoming registered, active participants. Leveraging FOMO can be a powerful strategy to boost engagement around your event, driving attendees to sign up quickly to avoid missing out.

This can be implemented in a few ways:

Nothing shouts “register before it’s too late” more effectively than a countdown. A live countdown timer on your event website serves as a constant reminder of the approaching deadline, creating a visual sense of urgency that’s hard to ignore for clients or prospects who visit your company’s website regularly. As the seconds tick down, potential attendees are subtly nudged to take action before they miss out on the opportunity. Many organisers use this tactic to great effect, strategically placing the countdown on key pages of their website to keep the upcoming event front and centre in the minds of visitors. The countdown not only highlights the limited time available but also reinforces the exclusivity of the event, encouraging hesitant prospects to register sooner rather than later.

Additionally, you don’t have to stop at your website; you can extend the countdown to your email and social media campaigns as well. Whether it’s a live countdown timer or a regular reminder that your event is just a month or a week away, these gentle nudges will keep your event top of mind for your audience, encouraging them to sign up before it’s too late.

The next best way to encourage attendees to register sooner rather than later is by introducing an early bird discount. Here’s how it works: launch your registration form with an early bird campaign offering a limited number of tickets at a discounted price, available for a limited time only. This creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity, making your visitors more likely to snap up their discounted tickets as soon as possible. To take it a step further, you could include a countdown for your early bird discount, where the ticket prices increase each day during the discount period.

Incentives are a powerful tool to amplify FOMO and reduce the number of late registrations for your event. A popular incentive that organisers might use includes offering exclusive webinars, new product demos, or special micro-events only accessible to those who register within a specific time. Not only is this a great way to tackle the issue of late registrations but it can also get the ball rolling for other upcoming projects, building excitement for current and future events. What’s not to love?

Some event registration providers (like us!) offer convenient form features that allow your attendees to invite a colleague to register or even register multiple people on their behalf. This means that once a visitor has completed their own registration, they can simply add their friend or colleague’s details to the form, and that’s it! A confirmation email will be sent to the relevant parties, and your event will have gained multiple registrations in one go. It’s an easy and efficient way to boost your registration numbers—talk about killing two birds with one stone!

One way to encourage timely registrations is by getting ahead with ‘Register your interest’ forms. This allows attendees to express interest early and receive reminders when registration opens. Not only does this keep potential attendees engaged, but it also prompts early sign-ups, particularly from returning visitors. By a ‘Register your interest’ option to your pre-event registration process, you can better gauge attendance and ensure smoother event planning.