Tips & Tricks | Estimated Read time – 7:13
The more tools you have in your toolbox, the better events you’ll be able to organize.
At Race Roster, our goal is to give event organizers everything they need to deliver exceptional participant experiences. That’s why we’re continually evolving and updating our platform with features designed to help you.
As a result, it’s possible you’re not using some of the most beneficial features on our platform, or if you are, you might not be aware of their full capabilities.
So, we’ve compiled the need-to-know info on five Race Roster features we recommend you start using in 2024. We’ll help you understand what these features are and how you can use them to organize the best events possible.
1. Tracking Links
What it is:
With Race Roster tracking links, you create custom Urchin Tracking Modules (UTMs) that track registration, fundraising, and store traffic revenue.
These UTMs generate in-depth statistics that measure the performance of your digital marketing tactics—like email campaigns and Facebook ads, for example.
When you’re using tracking links, you can easily access metrics for clicks, conversions, and monetary value of each referral source on your Race Roster dashboard.
With these valuable statistics in hand, you’re now able to make informed decisions about your event’s marketing strategies to create more revenue, drive more registrations, and grow your event.
Learn more about Tracking Links | How to create a Tracking Link
What is a UTM?
An urchin tracking module (UTM) is a piece of code attached to the end of a URL that collects data about website traffic. The data gathered by a UTM helps you understand user behavior, gain insights into engagement and conversions, and track the effectiveness of marketing efforts so you can make more informed decisions.
How you can use it:
Campaign content, terms, and a description can be added as well. See which pages on Race Roster can be used with tracking links.
Track the success of email campaigns — Find out if your event’s emails are driving registrations, fundraising, or store purchases. Add a tracking link into a call-to-action (CTA) to see how your recipients are engaging with your emails. Insert a custom link into your abandoned registration email campaign to measure how many potential participants finish their sign-up, or insert a UTM into an email announcing your event swag to track store value and total revenue.
Measure social media engagement — See how your social media posts are performing beyond likes and views by including a tracking link in the caption. How many donations are you generating for your fundraising partner through organic or paid Facebook posts? What’s the value of a promotional post from one of your event sponsors or partners? Using tracking links will help you answer these questions, and adapt your social media strategy accordingly.
Include QR codes on printed materials — The impact of tracking links can tell you how traditional marketing tactics, like signage, are paying off. Adding a QR code with a custom URL to registration signage offers valuable insight into how well this tactic is performing. You can also use QR codes with tracking links during your event to track sponsor promotions, donations, or sign-ups for your next event.
2. Photo Gallery
What it is:
Race Roster’s photo gallery allows you to collect photos from your event in one place. Here, they are easy to manage and organize so your participants can relive their favorite moments.
This feature makes it simple for you (or a photographer) to upload the photos from your event into the gallery. You also have the option to create an open gallery and encourage your participants to upload their photos.
Utilizing our automatic bib tagging technology makes it easy for participants to search for their photos by name or bib number. When turned on, the bib tagging technology can read legible bib numbers in photos and tie it to the information in your results or participant list.
Learn more about Photo Galleries | How to create Photo Galleries
How you can use it:
Run a photo contest for your event — Hosting a photo contest is a fun way to engage your participants and helps build a great collection of photos from your event. When your photo gallery is open to participants contributors, their name is displayed so you can scroll through each submitted snapshot and easily pick your winner.
Collect photos for future promotion — Your event photos can be more than memories—they can be used to market future events! By encouraging your participants to submit photos, you’re collecting engaging and authentic content you can use to promote your event in future social media posts, email campaigns, and more.
Highlight sponsors or fundraising organizations — Photos are an effective way to bring attention to your event partners thanks to our watermarking tool. This easy-to-use feature allows you to upload your partners’ logos onto gallery images so that your event partners benefit when participants share photos.
3. Email Campaign Tool
What it is:
The Race Roster email campaign tool allows you to effortlessly build impactful email campaigns that speak to your audience with more intention, more frequency, and more effectiveness.
Your email campaign possibilities are virtually endless thanks to the range of features this tool offers.
You can craft emails your way with a custom campaign and template or choose from our pre-made options. You can connect with participants whenever you want with campaign scheduling. You can talk directly to specific participants thanks to a wide range of triggers and merge tags. Then, when your email is sent, you can see how it’s performing on the in-depth metrics page.
Learn more about Email Campaigns | How to create an Email Campaign
How you can use it:
Share important event information — Provide a smooth experience by keeping participants up to date on everything they need to know. Send emails that explain your check-in and packet pick-up process, supply participants with event and course maps along with a detailed timeline, or call attention to sponsors and fundraising partners.
Segment your email audience — Deliver the right email to the right participants at the right time. Using email triggers, you can send targeted emails to specific groups of participants. For example, you can send a helpful 5k training plan to registrants for your 5k sub-event, or a friendly reminder to those who abandoned your registration form. Here are five effective email campaigns you can send using our triggers.
Add a touch of personalization — Create a more personal participant experience and enhance engagement using merge tags. These allow you to speak directly to your participants, by name, and include information that gives individual participants a more memorable event experience. Personalized emails often include bib numbers, confirmation codes, fundraising details, and much more.
4. Participant Search
What it is:
Time is valuable when organizing an event and the Race Roster Participant Search is designed to help you and your staff be more efficient.
Participant search gives your administrative or customer service team the ability to look up individual event participants without having to work through the entire participant list.
New in 2023, the feature includes a smart search bar that auto-populates the closest results as you type in the participant’s first or last name, bib number, or confirmation number. Once you find the participant you’re looking for, you simply access or edit their registration details.
Learn more about Participant Search | How to use Participant Search
How you can use it:
Quickly edit participant details — Once you’ve found the participant you’re looking for, you get easy access to their participant data, including registration details, personal information, registration questions, and more. Within the search tool, you can edit and save any of this information in just seconds.
Perform quick actions — As event organizer, you can use participant search to take several different actions, such as checking in a participant manually, editing their bib number, resending confirmation number, or transferring registration. You’re also able to search for and edit any participant’s sub-event bundles.
5. Postback tool
What it is:
The Race Roster postback tool allows you to seamlessly communicate data and share valuable insights with your event partners.
Postbacks are a one-time communication of data sent when a specific trigger or set of triggers are met. They are commonly used to share data with an event partner or third-party platform.
Postbacks can be most useful when you want to share one-time data that doesn’t need to be updated if information is later changed by the participant (or can’t be updated by the participant).
Learn more about the Postback Tool | How to set up Postbacks
How you can use it:
Please note: We recommend working with a legal consultant when collecting and sharing information to ensure compliance with privacy laws.
Add value to your sponsors — What information would be helpful for your sponsors to know? Asking your participants a question related to your sponsors, or creating the opportunity for participants to opt-in and be contacted to learn more, can add marketing value to your sponsorship partners.
Automatically add participants to a mailing list – Create a question to add participants to your marketing mailing list and have participants added as they opt-in!
Send orders to vendors — As your participants select specific products, you can automatically send those details to the appropriate vendors.
As an event organizer, your ultimate goal is to deliver a memorable event experience that will keep your participants coming back, and grow your registrants, year after year. The five Race Roster features we’ve broken down in this article, along with the rest of our helpful tools, are designed to help make that goal easier for you to achieve.
What’s new at Race Roster?
Visit our what’s new page for the most noteworthy Race Roster updates!
