The Business Development Institute (BDI) is an award-winning, account-based marketing agency that helps its clients reach more customers through targeted events. Before COVID-19, BDI hosted roadshow-style events in different cities across the U.S. But like most companies, they had to make the transition to virtual events at the start of 2020. Suddenly, beyond attendees busy schedules, they had a new obstacle deterring event attendance: Zoom fatigue. 

BDI started using Grubhub gift cards to incentivize invitees to become attendees. When guests who registered for the event showed up at the event, they were rewarded with a Grubhub gift card or the option to donate the funds to a charity of their choice. The incentive was helpful, but imperfect. BDI's team had to manage, organize, and administer the gift cards or donations manually, and it was a time intensive process. BDI also couldn't brand the Grubhub cards to show they were a gift from BDI's client rather than from BDI itself. 

Then, they made the switch.

"We're using Hoppier for all our virtual events for all our clients and have been for the last few months. Why: branding for our clients, choices for the attendees, ease of administration from the backend." –Steven Etzler, Founder & CEO of BDI

Creating a Streamlined, Branded Program

Hoppier allowed BDI to set up an online program and send virtual gift cards to attendees. They no longer needed to issue or track gift cards manually. With Hoppier, they only needed to upload attendee email addresses, and they could send all the cards at once.   

BDI could also personalize the cards with their client's logos and colors.

Hoppier's virtual credit cards added value for event attendees, too. BDI was able to offer a wider variety of vendors and let attendees decide how to spend their incentive. And because Hoppier cards offered a built-in option to donate to charity, BDI no longer needed to collect donation requests individually and make the donations manually. 

After each event, Hoppier's backend interface made it easy for BDI to track spending on the gift cards. With the traditional gift cards that BDI had been using, the money couldn't be recuperated regardless of whether attendees used the card or not. But with Hoppier, BDI could have unused funds returned to their account.

"One of the greatest things about Hoppier from a budget perspective is it actually saves us money compared to just purchasing gift cards up front." –Steven Etzler, Founder & CEO of BDI

By using Hoppier cards, BDI was able to incentivize attendees to not only register, but to show up at events. They created a branded experience that helped further promote their clients, and they saved money on every event.

Simpler Incentives, Greater ROI

Since making the switch to Hoppier, BDI has seen improvements in all or their event KPIs — with increases in the quantity of attendees, the ease of attracting them, and the attendance rate.

"Hoppier is an outstanding branded solution to help incent attendees to register and show up to events." –Steven Etzler, Founder & CEO of BDI

Over the 23 events that BDI has hosted with Hoppier, their ROI has increased by 54% on average compared to using Grubhub gift cards. They've also saved an average of $468 per event because of their ability to recuperate unspent funds. So far, they've saved $10,764 on the 23 events they've hosted. Because BDI hosts 100 events each year, they're on track to save $46,800 from their annual budget. 

Hoppier has helped BDI provide a better experience for both their clients and event attendees. To find out if Hoppier can help boost the ROI of your virtual events, schedule a free demo.