Discover how Step 2024 turned attendees into advocates with Premagic

Background

Step Conference, Dubai's annual technology and startup festival, attracts over 8,000 attendees, including investors, industry experts, and startup founders, over a two-day period. With 340 speakers across 4 stages, 110+ investment companies engaging in pre-curated meetings, 50+ exhibitors, and 400+ startups showcasing their visions, Step Conference 2024 was an event of unprecedented scale.

Host

Step

Organizer

Dana Sakr,
Marketing Manager,
Step Conference.

Industry

Technology and Startup Events

The Challenge

Unlike other tech events, Step is an experience - it’s more laid-back and a great place for organic networking opportunities. Dana Sakr, Step’s marketing manager and her team aimed to create a memorable experience that goes beyond typical tech events.

"From a marketing perspective, one thing we're really focused on is keeping our audience engaged even beyond the conference dates, and this is where Premagic really helped us."

Dana Sakr

Marketing Manager
Step Conference

Step’s marketing team needed a way to convert attendees into active content creators and share experiences seamlessly across social channels, extending the reach and longevity of their event’s impact.

Dana and her team were keen to explore organic marketing solutions to achieve the same. “I strongly believe that organic marketing is essential for building a strong online presence and long-term relationships with our audience," states Dana.

The key was to make shareable content easily available to all the attendees. Like the event photographs. But when it comes to photo distribution, managing and distributing high-quality content for such a large crowd was time-intensive. Without a streamlined process, Step’s team risked missing an opportunity for increased social engagement and organic reach, which are essential in the events space.

"We have photographers on the ground taking pictures of speakers, investors, and startups, but it’s challenging to get these photos to attendees. Premagic made this seamless.”

The Solution

Step turned to Premagic to address the challenges they faced regarding their approach to attendee engagement and organic marketing. From the outset, Dana recognized the role that Premagic’s event tech solutions could play in keeping attendees engaged throughout the event's lifecycle.

With Premagic, Step’s team gained a user-friendly, streamlined system that allowed them to:

Seamless photo-sharing: Premagic’s platform enabled Step’s team to distribute the event photos among attendees, speakers, and partners seamlessly. "Premagic is easy to use—uploading photos is as simple as drag and drop, and the team was available for all our questions," stated Dana. The attendees could then quickly access and download their photos by submitting a selfie, making the process seamless and fast.

"Premagic has been crucial in converting
our attendees into content creators."

Dana Sakr

Marketing Manager
Step Conference

From photos to user-generated content: Premagic helped attendees easily access and share their event photos, transforming them into active brand ambassadors. This simple step multiplied Step’s reach on social media as attendees organically shared their experiences online.

With features that keep audiences connected beyond the event dates, Premagic extended Step’s engagement window, maintaining the event's momentum and maximizing its impact.

Throughout the process, Premagic’s dedicated customer support was a standout feature. A dedicated account manager guided the Step team from initial setup to event execution, including library creation, gallery design, and on-ground support. “The Premagic team made the whole process smooth and enjoyable, with excellent hands-on support,” Dana shared.

The Results

Step Conference achieved a fantastic attendee retention rate compared to the previous year's event. As Dana said, "This is validation that we're putting on an event that people want to come back to."

With Premagic’s tools in place, Step Conference also saw a significant boost in post-event engagement. Attendees quickly accessed and shared their photos, generating additional organic content and expanding Step’s online presence beyond the event itself.

"Premagic simplified attendee engagement and extended the event experience beyond the physical event itself."

Dana Sakr

Marketing Manager
Step Conference

Premagic proved to be a valuable asset for Step Conference, simplifying photo-sharing, enhancing post-event engagement, and allowing the team to focus on what matters most: creating a memorable experience for attendees that continues well beyond the conference doors.

Enhanced Attendee Engagement

Attendees had quick, easy access to their photos and were encouraged to share memories on social media.

Increased Organic Reach

With organic content generated by attendees, Step Conference’s visibility grew significantly online.

Enhanced Brand Visibility

High-resolution, watermarked photos were delivered in sleek branded AI galleries, aligned with the GITEX aesthetic and featuring face-search capabilities for easy access.

Streamlined Event Management

Premagic’s user-friendly platform and exceptional customer support made the entire experience efficient and enjoyable for Step’s team.

The Future

Dana expressed her enthusiasm for Premagic's role in the event's success.

"To my fellow marketers, Premagic can really boost your organic presence and engagement during and after the event. I’d highly recommend it for any event business.”

Dana Sakr

Marketing Manager
Step Conference

In addition, Step’s team found Premagic’s new features particularly exciting for furthering their engagement goals:

Networking Module: This feature enables attendees to connect with others they meet at the event on LinkedIn, helping them build meaningful, lasting connections beyond the app.

Sparks: Similar to Google Memories, Sparks resurfaces photos and videos post-event, reviving engagement and encouraging attendees to re-share their experiences.

Event Marketing Posters: Premagic’s customizable “I’m attending” or “I’m speaking” posters provided a valuable pre-event marketing tool, allowing attendees and speakers to promote their involvement effortlessly. Dana stated, “Premagic’s event marketing posters, like the ‘I’m attending’ ones, are a fantastic feature for pre-event promotion, especially at events like Step.

As the Step Conference team looks ahead to the next iteration of their flagship event, they are confident in their decision to integrate Premagic as a platform for driving attendee engagement and fostering organic marketing.

Sneak peek of the event

#Step2024UGCHub

Empowering Attendees to
Amplify Your Event

Transform your event photo dump into engaging user-generated content on social media!

This week at the #Step2024 Dubai conference I had the pleasure of being on a panel with Medea Nocentini and Caroline Guyot, moderated by Saqr Ereiqat.

We discussed the investment landscape in the impact and sustainability across the MENA region. I am happy to note that there have been significant developments in the impact investment landscape in the past few years, which is very promising for the future. Looking forward to witnessing more advancements in this region.

Big thanks to Step for organizing such insightful and well-curated panels.

Alper Guven

MBA Canditate at UPF Barcelona School of Management

I had a great time participating on the secondary panel at #Step2024 Dubai this past week. As MENA matures, additional tools to facilitate the growth of the ecosystem will be needed and the opportunity for secondary investors will grow. Ion Pacific has participated in transactions in the region and will continue to search for additional opportunities

Thanks to Shinez Chalabi for facilitating the interesting discussion and to Zuhair Shamma, Divyat Rungta and Vittal Ramakrishna for making the topic come alive.

Michael Joseph

Founding Partner at Ion Pacific Limited

We've thrilled to attend Step 2024 in Dubai last week! It was a great opportunity to explore innovative ideas, and pave the way for future collaborations. Here are the snapshots from our experience! 🌟

Inodash

Build new businesses in a faster and cheaper.

Do you have an elevator pitch for your business?

At Step, founders pitched their startup ideas to investors in less than 3-5 minutes. Each start-up showcased the use of technology to solve problems that exist and persist daily.

A few pitches that stood out to me:

-Musajjel مسجّل: 📱 an AI-driven podcasting tool that seamlessly records and edits podcasts without involving any technical skills. With over 460 mn podcast listeners globally, there is massive potential in this industry.

-My Park Buddy: 🚗 a mobile app that will locate the closest parking and entrance to your destination. We all the know the struggles of finding parking spots in fast paced cities like Dubai. So here’s one app that’s going to make lives much easier.

Javeria Khalid

Tech Journalist and Writer | Reported for CNN & Fast Company.

Step Conference was yet again incredible, full of interesting people and ideas… It was great to talk (and learn) more about AI in education, crypto-philanthropy and making tech education accessible to all. Shout out to Dr Sheen Gurrib FRSA for moderating our EdTech panel and my fellow panelists Nada Sayarh Phd,,. and Shaikha Alnuaimi - very cool women!!

One startup you should check out is Cappella, whose app translates babies cries using AI up to 95% accuracy (vs average 30% accuracy among mothers) 🤯

Thanks to Marc Bou Mansour for your support!!

Clementine Brown

Co-Founder at CodeBrave | Deloitte Fast50 Impact Award

It's wonderful to be involved again after two years, to witness the growth of startups and reconnect with people gaining a fresh grasp of new emerging trends at #Step2024