Event attendance doesn’t equal engagement — and without engagement, your event fails its true purpose.

Nowadays, event attendees are sharper, more selective, and more digitally fluent than ever before. They’re not just looking to show up; they expect to connect, learn, and experience value at every moment. If your engagement strategy isn’t evolving to match their expectations, you risk losing them — even if they’re sitting right there in the room.

Annual research from Content Marketing Institute reveals that 82% of top-performing B2B marketers attribute their success to a deep understanding of their audience. The same principle applies to events: knowing your audience is the foundation of meaningful engagement.

In this article, we’ll break down five common mistakes that could be sabotaging your event engagement — and, more importantly, what you should do instead.

Common Mistakes That Fail Attendee Engagement at Events and How to Avoid Them

1. You Only Start Engaging During the Event

Why it fails:

Waiting until Day 1 to engage is like showing up late to your own party. Without any build-up, there’s no buzz, no anticipation — and no emotional investment from your audience.

What to do instead:

Start nurturing engagement weeks before the event begins. You can create pre-event teasers, run social media promotions, and send interactive emails that invite attendees to participate early. Light pre-event activities, like a casual networking session can also warm up your audience before the main event.

Use tools like Jublia pre-scheduled meetings to help attendees start connecting and planning their event experience in advance. Supporting features like bookmarks and favorite sessions allow them to curate their journey even before they step onsite. This is how you can turn passive registrants into active participants from day zero.

2. You Only Cater to One Type of Attendee

Why it fails:

Not everyone shows up for the same reason. Some attendees are there to learn, others want to network, and many are chasing business leads. If you design a one-size-fits-all experience, you risk leaving large parts of your audience disengaged.

What to do instead:

Personalize the experience. Segment your audience by their goals and interests, and craft engagement paths that match.

Using personalized recommendations, attendees can build their own event journey based on what truly matters to them – whether that’s attending certain sessions, meeting specific people, or exploring business opportunities.

Tools like Jublia AI-powered recommendations help match attendees with sessions, exhibitors, and networking opportunities tailored to their real interests and behavior — keeping engagement high and satisfaction even higher.

3. Networking is Left to Chance

Why it fails: 

Hoping attendees will just “bump into” the right people often leads to missed opportunities — and lonely coffee breaks. Networking is one of the biggest reasons people attend events, and when it feels random, it feels frustrating.

What to do instead:

Take the guesswork out of networking.

Use intent-based business matching to connect attendees who share common goals, making every meeting purposeful and valuable. Jublia offers multiple types of business matching, from AI-driven recommendations to curated matching to allow you tailor networking experiences based on event’s needs and goals.

Support these connections with lead generation tools like Jublia Scan, which not only allows attendees to exchange contact information but also captures richer, actionable data for future follow-ups.

Here’s why it matters even more:

According to the Amex Global Business Travel Meetings & Events 2025 Global Forecast, AI ranks as the top technology that 50% meeting professionals plan to use at their events. It solidifies AI-driven networking isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s becoming an expectation.

4. Your Event Platform Isn’t Mobile-Friendly

Why it fails:

In a digitized society, everything happens on mobile. If your event experience isn’t smooth and intuitive on mobile, attendees might quickly disengage — or worse, leave altogether.

What to do instead:

Prioritize a mobile-first platform, not just one that’s mobile-compatible. A mobile-friendly design ensures that all features — from browsing sessions to scheduling meetings — work seamlessly on smartphones.

This isn’t just about attendees convenience. Event organizers benefit too, with 89% of businesses that use event technology reporting time savings of around 200 hours per year (Research Nester).

Consider investing in a native app to create a truly smooth, easy-to-navigate experience that keeps attendees engaged and helps organizers manage the event more efficiently. It’s even better if the app offers offline mode, so attendees can stay on track with their agenda—even without internet access.

5. You Treat Post-Event Like the End, Not the Beginning

Why it fails:

Engagement doesn’t end when the stage lights go off. If you ghost your attendees afterward, they’ll forget you just as fast.

Post-event engagement isn’t just important for attendees — it’s equally crucial for organizers who want to build lasting relationships and momentum for future events.

What to do instead:

Keep the conversation going beyond event days. Send personalized  post-event content such as session highlights and relevant follow-up opportunities.

Leverage tools like Jublia Performance Snapshot, which provides data-driven insights to attendees about their event experience — helping them reflect on the value gains and encouraging them to stay connected.

Orchestrate Meaningful Engagement at Your Events

Great events aren’t just about great speakers or flashy booths — they’re about orchestrating meaningful engagement from start to finish. Avoid the common mistakes, and you’ll move beyond just filling seats — you’ll create real connections, real value, and real success.

Ready to turn your event engagement strategy from guesswork into a science? Book a demo with our Solution Specialists today and see how Jublia Engagement Hub can elevate your event from Day Zero to beyond the last session.