The Right Metrics For Measuring Corporate Event Success

There has to be some form of measurement in place; otherwise, how would you know how well your event went? You need raw data and lots of it in order to determine whether the event met expectations. This provides a measuring stick or set of standards for future corporate events.

With these points in mind, you need to make sure you are using the right metrics to measure the success of your event. Let’s take a look at how you can accomplish this.

Determine event type

You need to determine the type of event you’re hosting. Is it a B2B conference, a black tie gala, a tradeshow with multiple booths, etc.? This is a key performance indicator even though it doesn’t appear as one. Once you have an event type or theme established, you can also identify the demographic that gravitates towards that particular event type.

If you host a tradeshow, for instance, then you can record the turnout activity of each booth or workshop. This gives you a better idea of the booths that had long lines vs. the ones that saw very little consumer activity. You can modify future events to include more booths that performed exceptionally well.

Define Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

You need to clearly lay out your KPI before the event planning phase even begins. Of course, there are plenty of KPIs, and you should stick to more than one or two. Some common KPIs include:

Revenue vs. overhead cost
Ticket sales
Social media activity
Number of products sold at event
Social media contest participation
Company sales following the event

Remember, there’s far more to event success than just filling seats. It’s also about bringing in profit, creating brand loyalty, and eliciting social media discussions. These all need a different set of KPIs for determining degree of success and whether benchmarks were met. In fact, you should have, at a minimum, three KPIs and preferably more.

Furthermore, you should also have last event’s metrics. This way, you can set goals to help you exceed the numbers from the previous event. If you have held both free and paid events, then metrics should be compared. This was the case with the UK retro gaming company Reztron.

Free events, unsurprisingly, had far higher attendance numbers but also far higher last-minute no-shows. It wouldn’t make sense then to have the same parameters of success for a free event compared to a paid one.

Post-event survey

A sold-out event doesn’t automatically entail a success. If attendees in general didn’t think it was all that and a bag of chips, then can you really say that the event went well? You need to know how the attendees felt about various aspects of the event. How did they feel about the main presentation, the venue, the booths, the food, the swag, etc.?

Surveys should be sent within 24 hours of the event. This can be via email or via popup from the company site. Let the responses be a gauge for determining general attendee satisfaction. This can be simple “on a scale of 1 to 5” questions to make it rather straightforward and easy.

This was what one company did for its Total Summit event. Though the survey below was directed at staff members, you can do the same for attendees. Since “on a scale” questions are easy to complete, you can ask plenty of questions while still keeping the survey as a whole brief.

If responses indicate a general dissatisfaction, it does not automatically mean that the event is a bust. It’s just data that can be put to use for improving the next event, so don’t fret over a less than stellar review.

Collect mobile numbers and emails

During the event, each booth and/or workshop should have proactively collected names, emails, and mobile numbers to add to your subscriber list. The numbers alone are a KPI, but you also have to look at other factors, such as how many people unsubscribed upon becoming a subscriber, how many of the newsletters are opened and read, and how many converted to sales.

Of course, these are all examined well after the event. Measuring event success continues weeks after the event has ended. Post-event offers a whole new set of KPIs that are every bit as important as raw attendance numbers and revenue.

Monitor sponsor recognition

KPI measurement goes beyond the numbers acquired from your attendees. You also need to track the activity of your sponsors. Did your sponsors manage get enough exposure out of it? All the typical KPIs you applied for your own company can also be applied for your sponsors.

Of course, sponsors likely have their own set of metrics for measuring their success. Nevertheless, you should still look into your sponsors’ KPIs to see how well and how much they benefitted. This is relevant because sponsor success, or lack of it, determines whether they will be on board for future events. If you have the numbers to back it up, then you can present it as a reason for sponsoring your next event along with plans for improving the numbers next time around.

Track social media activity

Social media also has its own entire set of metrics. This area, in fact, is helpful for determining the success on the promotion and marketing side of things. The number of metrics here are endless, and you can adopt a specific set of KPIs for each social network.

For Twitter, for example, metrics can include the number of tweets using the event hashtag, or the number of retweets with that same hashtag. Likewise, if a promo video was uploaded, then metrics can include total number of views, comments, and thumbs up.

Reception on social media with respects to this area can determine the direction of your online presence. Perhaps it means the official Facebook event page could use a facelift, or that the company LinkedIn page would benefit from being active on more groups.

Conclusion

Being present at the event does not tell you the whole story. You need to analyse the raw data to determine whether short-term goals were met. Establishing metrics also helps you keep your eye on the bigger picture and what you hope to get out of planning such an event.