After successfully hosting an event that took months to prepare for, event planners constantly look for new ways to make their next event more successful than the last. But after the event has wrapped, how do planners know whether or not they succeeded? Establishing a set of measurable goals prior to the event makes post-event analysis much smoother. Knowing the event’s goals helps keep the project on track and can also provide insights for future events. Here are some ways to measure corporate event success.
Send Attendees a Post-Event Survey
One common way to measure corporate event success is by how many tickets were sold, or how many people registered for the event. The issue with this method is its inability to collect constructive feedback. Can an event be considered a success if the guests who attended felt the event was just “meh”?
If you want to learn more about attendees’ reactions to the event, just ask them. The simplest way to do this is through a post-event survey. Asking for feedback after the event helps you judge its effectiveness and highlights any problems that need to be resolved for future events. Provide delegates with a form that prompts them to evaluate factors such as quality of speakers, relevance of the topic, or quality of the facilities and catering. Before sending out that survey, make sure you’re asking the right questions. In order to increase your survey response rate, take the time to think about what information you really want to know, and keep it concise.
Here are some examples of questions to insert in your survey:
– What did you think of the event location/facilities/menu?
– Would you recommend this event to a colleague?
– How could the event have been improved?
– Are you more or less likely to attend the next event?
While many people ignore requests for surveys, there are ways to increase your survey’s response rate. For example, you could offer participants an incentive to complete the survey, such as a free white paper download or a discount on the next event. For best results, be sure to send your post-event survey immediately following the end of the event. The experience will be fresh in their minds and they will be more likely to remember the details.
Compile Media and Press Mentions
Do you know exactly how many publications or media outlets might have covered your event? What about the impressions and readership of those outlets? Finding answers to these questions is a great way to measure corporate event success. Many local publications will send a reporter to get coverage of an event for the local column on their website. You can guarantee coverage by contacting local media and letting them know about your event, even inviting reporters to come out.
If the event was not open to the media or you couldn’t secure any pre-event press coverage, there are also local publications that will publish event photos and highlights days or weeks after the event took place. Remember to contact those outlets as well, and offer them event photo highlights. You can also take the opportunity to let them know that your clients or colleagues are available for interviews for a more inside look. Getting your event publicized in the media will not only help increase attendance and sales ahead of time, it will also boost your chances of getting noticed for future events.
Monitor Social Media Mentions and Activity
Before, during, and after your event, you should closely monitor social media platforms. If your event aims to drive awareness, sales, or general interest, measuring the reach across social media platforms will be important. These days, with social media management tools like Facebook Insights for your company’s Facebook page and Tweetdeck for Twitter, analyzing social media trends has never been easier.
It’s a given at this point that your company should be active on social media in the days and weeks leading up to your event. This will generate excitement and discussion about it among attendees and help spread the word to potential attendees. Creating an event hashtag that attendees can incorporate in their posts makes it easy for you and your guests to search and analyze a compiled list of tweets or posts that have your hashtag. Are the posts full of praise? Were there more than a few common complaints? You can use all of this information to get a good sense of how everything turned out.
If someone tweets that they had a great time at your event, you could direct message them on Twitter and ask for specifics about what made their experience enjoyable. Similarly, for negative feedback, you can respond to the user and ask them to expand on their thoughts. This is a great way to gather feedback as well as apologize for any misunderstandings or inconveniences they experienced. Positive feedback should be published on your pages for your followers to see that attendees had a great time, and encourage them to consider coming to the next one.
Analyze Post-Event Sales and Leads
After the event, measuring sales or leads that result from an event helps assess the event’s success as a marketing tool. List your new prospects and track progress towards a sale. The best way to use sales as a tool to measure corporate event success is by grouping the results by category. A few examples of categories include prospects converted to customers, prospects intending to buy, or prospects to be qualified. Compare the results from the event you hosted with those of other marketing campaigns to see what works best for your company.
You can also measure the number of email or phone call inquiries you received during and after the event. These bits of information indicate an interest in your business and are a direct connection to your target client base. Positive influxes in your inquiries can be an indicator that your marketing efforts are working.
Lastly, do you already have the next event planned and announced after the first event? If so, are people already reserving their tickets or indicating an interest? These are clear indicators your event was a success and people will be coming back for more.
Do you have other ways of measuring corporate event success during or after your events? Let us know in the comments section below!
