Today's conference audiences are consuming content and media in increasingly diverse and fluid ways.

They use smartphones, tablets, digital notebooks, laptops, desktops, eReaders, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and more. They expect content to flow seamlessly across devices and media platforms. Our customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding.

Mobile Devices on the Rise

According to eMarketer, more than 107 million people in the US use a smartphone and 55 million own a tablet. eMarketer estimates that by 2015, there will be 148.6 million smartphone users representing 58% of the mobile phone users. By 2014, the US tablet users will reach 89.5 million users. They will make up 36% of Internet users.

These surges in adoption have fueled demand for content consumed on these devices. Conference attendees now want traditional conference content such as agendas, attendee lists, education sessions, exhibitors, schedules, speakers, sponsors and more accessible via their mobile devices.

With device adoption on the rise and consumer behavior trending toward increased use of digital media on those devices, savvy conference organizers are seizing the opportunity to capture audience share now with a conference mobile app.

Conference Mobile App Metrics Take Center Stage

Measurability has always been one of the selling points of digital content. Champions of digital content have long argued that site visits, social media postings, online video views, click-throughs and other interactions are more measurable than the effects of TV, radio, print and outdoor ads.

The conference mobile app gives organizers a unique ability to track in real-time data about the conference attendees' experience. Here are some things you can do with the data that you measure through the conference mobile app.

• Download data tells organizers how many conference mobile apps have been downloaded and to which devices. This lets you know which devices your attendees are bringing to your events. That's good information for future decision-making on all things related to mobile and the web.


• Itinerary planners allow organizers to see which rooms might have the most attendance as people choose sessions to add to their personal schedules. This can help you pick topics for future events as well.


• Real-time session evaluations give organizers instantaneous feedback about speakers and topics that succeed or may need additional coaching before their next presentation.


• Exhibitor profile click-throughs give organizers data that will help them re-sign and upsell future participation.


• Notes sections give planners anecdotal data on what topics, points and content were important during specific sessions.


• Social stream data about what people at the conference are discussing, including how attendees feel about the conference experience.


• Sponsor ad click-throughs give organizers real-time data that helps quantify sponsor ROI.


• Engagement data tells organizers how much activity and engagement attendees have had with each other through how many texts they've sent, which documents they've shared and what meetings they've set up. This is great to track how connected attendees are with others and how engaged they are with the content, the conference stakeholders and the conference experience.

Ultimately, online channels provide feedback that offline can't. The conference mobile app can provide organizers new data sets that can be mined and used for future planning. Organizers that track this data will have more detailed metrics on how attendees are engaging with and responding to the conference experience.

How can the data collected from conference mobile apps help meeting professionals tailor future experiences for their stakeholders? What are the barriers to conference mobile app adoption by attendees?

Learn more about how you can use a mobile app to make your event more popular and check out this free eBook to see how you can improve mobile app adoption for your event.