Imagine this: you’re applying for a job at two different companies. One only requires you to upload your CV, and it automatically fills in your work experience and personal details. The other asks you to fill out every detail, including work experience manually. Which company would you instantly apply to? That’s how your target audience feels about manual event registration.

Manual event registration especially for events with a large number of attendees can become frustrating for both you and the attendees if they have to manually fill in every piece of information. It makes your registration longer than it should be and leads to a high form abandonment rate.

However, with form lookup, you can simplify your event registration process by auto-populating form fields like location, name, address, and more. Let’s explore how you can use the form lookup feature to create a seamless event registration process.

Understanding Form Lookup

Form Lookup lets you automatically populate fields in new forms based on information from previously submitted forms. This helps you to cut down the time attendees take to answer questions, making your event registration process more efficient. It also helps you to prevent common errors attendees make while filling out their information.

For example, if an attendee has registered for a previous event, they don’t have to manually type in their email or phone numbers, lookup helps you to display their details. You can also prefill other information that will help you effectively plan the event such as dietary restrictions, accessibility, etc.  

Read: 15 Most Common Event-Planning Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Introducing Formplus: A Solution for Event Organizers

Formplus is a user-friendly form-building software with so many user-friendly features including, form lookup. It also has various form templates for different use cases, including an event registration template to kickstart your registration process.

Here are the steps to implement form lookup in your Formplus event registration form.

1. Sign in or create a formplus account
2. Get started with the event registration template or click on create new form on your dashboard.

3. Edit your form fields using the drag-and-drop builder to fit your event registration goals (you can edit questions or add new ones).

4. Go to Secondary fields on the left sidebar, scroll down, and click on lookup

5. Next, connect your existing attendee database with your event registration form. It should be in spreadsheet format (xlsx).

6. Specify the fields you want to be auto-populated by the existing database.

7. Save your settings.

Benefits for Event Organizers

Here are some ways using form lookup helps you improve your event registration process:

A. Reduced Administrative Workload

1. Pre-filling attendee information: Form lookup auto-populates your event registration form with attendee details, so they don’t have to re-enter their details every time they sign up for an event. So, unless they want to change their information, such as an updated phone number, or email address, they can effortlessly register for events.
2. Reducing manual data entry errors: Also, automatic population with form lookup makes the process seamless for attendees, reducing their tendency to get overwhelmed by the process and make mistakes.

B. Enhanced Attendee Engagement

The reason why people aren’t registering for your event is not necessarily because the registration fee is too high or you are targeting the wrong audience. Your marketing strategy, form design, and event fee may be perfect, but your event registration process just needs a little tweak to be more user-friendly.

When you implement the form lookup feature, attendees don’t have to go through the entire process of entering their details all over again, making the event registration process shorter and less overwhelming, for them. 

You can also engage your attendees with questions outside the current event since they would be going through the registration process very quickly. For example, you can add an NPS Survey to measure their satisfaction with previous events without it being too overwhelming or out of place.

C. Improved Data Accuracy

Also, using form lookup also ensures your information database is accurate and reliable, allowing you to build relationships with attendees effectively. For example, you can send them newsletters and updates about upcoming events.

Benefits for Attendees

Form lookup does not just make event registration smoother for you, it also provides a great experience for attendees. Here are some ways form lookup helps improve event attendees’ experience when registering:

• Faster registration: People registering for your event spend less time filling out forms, making the process easy and efficient. If you have a long event registration form, you could also create a multipage form to make it less overwhelming or collect only important details in the form, and follow up with an email or survey for secondary information.
• Data accuracy: attendees don’t have to manually type in there, giving them more time to properly confirm their information before submitting. It also reduces the cognitive stress of having to fill in every detail manually.
• Satisfaction and Personalization: Having form lookup automatically fill in preferences such as allergies, dietary restrictions, and accessibility demonstrates how you care about attendees’ experience. This makes them much more likely to book and recommend your event planning or management services for future events.

Case Studies

The following are examples of event registration you can improve with form lookup:

• Conferences: Using form lookup can help you reduce registration time save attendees valuable time and boost satisfaction.
• Annual Non-profit Fundraising Event: Instead of attendees having to input their details every year, form lookup helps you simplify the event registration process, saving attendees time, and allowing you to reach more supporters.
• Recurrent Workshops: You can also use form lookup for workshop registration to allow attendees to effortlessly register and participate in the workshop. This way, attendees don’t have to spend time filling in their details, instead, you can engage them with media about past workshop success, the value of your workshop,  and what they can look forward to during the workshop.

Tips for Effective Implementation

• Create Simple Forms: Design user-friendly forms with clear instructions. You can also add descriptive text to help respondents easily understand the details you want from them. For example, for a pledge field on a charity event registration, you can put a descriptive text of “How much would you like to donate to this cause”
• Preview and Test Your Form: Before sharing the form with your target audience, test the form lookup to ensure it’s user-friendly.
• Use Conditional Logic: You can also use form logic to personalize the registration process based on attendees’ past attendance or preferences. 

Addressing Concerns and FAQs

Is Form Lookup Secure?

Yes, Formplus encrypts all its forms to ensure no one has unauthorized access to your respondents’ data while they are filling out the form and when they submit it. Formplus also has access control features so only authorized users can access attendee information.

Does Form Lookup Require Technical Expertise?

No, Formplus is a no-code form builder, you don’t need any technical expertise to implement the form lookup feature. Simply follow the steps in this guide to implement the lookup feature in your forms. You can also contact our support team if you have any further queries.

How Does Form Lookup Impact Mobile Registration?

All Formplus forms are mobile-responsive, so your attendees can register for your events on their mobile, PC, or tablet.

Conclusion

Form Lookup enables you to streamline your event registration process, making it easier for attendees to register, and eventually increasing your event registration success rate. It helps you save time on registration, allowing you to focus on engaging your attendees and making sure they are satisfied with the event.

We hope this guide helps you seamlessly integrate form lookup into your event registration form and optimize your registration process!