Creating great events begins with clear event objectives.
The challenge – how do we measure this?
As an event planner, understanding the strategic value of an event and how to measure its return on investment (ROI), will set you apart and position you as more than just an event planner.
If your event is set up exclusively for sales, it may be as simple as income less expenditure. But there is so much more to ROI than just profit. Measuring profit alone may overemphasise the value of money and overlook many of the actual factors that made it successful.
True success in events is measured by its ability to generate more value for the organisation than what was spent on it.
There are many more metrics to consider if you want an event that will grow year by year. In today’s digital age analytics are no longer a nice to have but expected. Guess work can be eliminated when using the right technology. For example, event apps offer a number of detailed analytics which can be used for reporting. You can measure progress in real-time.
Start by considering each stage of the event:
“True success in events is measured by its ability to generate more value for the organisation than what was spent on it.”
– David Wilson
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1 Pre-Event
Here you need to create demand and effectively promote your event. Using the right technology normally a combination of registration software, email CRM and your website you will generate the data you need to measure your effectiveness.
2 At the Event
After profit, engagement is the next most important metric. The experience you create for your delegates is what they are left with and what they will speak about long after your event is over, great engagement makes great events. Ask your clients what is important to them, make sure you have mechanisms in place at the event that capture the data you need.
3 Post-Event
This is where you will consolidate the data from the various tools you have used and create a clear picture of all your efforts with an event report for your client and hopefully meaningful data you can reference in planning your next event.
Calculating your success you need the right metric and the right technology.
It requires some planning and the discipline to do it.
Here is a list of common event objects that you are welcome to refer to when planning your next event:
- Achieve a profit
- Close sales
- Build awareness
- Gather leads
- Market research
- Influence brand perception
- Launch a product
- Recruit new partners, distributors or employees
- Build and retain customer relationships
Then to assist further here are some metrics you can consider using to measure your efforts:
Primary Objective | Associated Metric for Measurement | Tool or Mechanism |
Achieve a profit |
|
Accounting Software, Ticket Sales Software |
Sales |
|
Order Book, CRM Software, Event App |
Awareness |
|
CRM Software, Event App, Audience Response Technology, Social Media Monitoring, Printed Media |
Gather leads |
|
Event App, Audience Response, Registration Software, QR Codes |
Market research |
|
Event App, Audience Response |
Influence brand perception |
|
Experiential Marketing, Event App, Audio Visual effects, Social Media Monitoring |
Product Launch |
|
CRM Software, Event App, Self-reporting from Sales Reps |
Recruit new partners, distributors or employees |
|
CRM Software, Self-reporting |
Build and retain customer relationships |
|
CRM Software, Self-reporting |
If you need help measuring your event ROI or want to learn more about how to do so and what technology to do it with, reach out to us.
We’ll be happy to help with a complimentary in-person consultation.
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