How to measure the success of an event

Organizing events has become one of the most popular marketing tools of this day. However, many companies aren’t measuring their success. Some are lacking the proper tools, some do not see the value in it, and some do not know how to. However, every marketing campaign needs some success measure or KPIs in order for management to see what works well, if it was worth it, and whether it should be repeated. The same is applicable to an event, and there are clear ways to measure the success of it.

It is known that events, especially on a large scale can accumulate multiple costs, but the leads, sales, partners, and publicity are all gains that the organization may benefit from. These are some of the factors that can be used when figuring out the success of an event. The best way to stay focused on the market is to focus on the value creation process. The value creation process is defined by the purpose of each of the four elements: customer acquisition, retention, lead generation, and revenue generation.

If you look at the entire process, you'll see that most of the work gets done after the customer acquisition phase. After they're acquired, customers typically spend. Acquiring a customer is the most important step as it is the first one and it will kickstart the entire process. Even one buyer makes an impact as there will be word of mouth promotion being spread by them about your company, the reviews they will leave, the feedback you get from them, and the future purchases they might make again. Companies generally know their cost of getting a new customer. Organizing an event is a great way to attract a crowd, and many people generally like to share their experience and activities with others, for example with friends, colleagues, family, mentors, etc.. Therefore, it is likely that they would invite someone or multiple people to attend the event too. Although they may not be customers, it is likely they will become interested in your company and also tell their acquaintances about the event. In the end, a whole network of people have become aware of your company’s presence and some will attend your future events or become another customer. Rather than a simple advertisement, an event creates a memorable experience for the participants. This leaves a strong impression on them of your company, they further expand the network, and they are more likely to become a customer.

Customers attained during an event is a great metric for measuring the success of an event, but it is not the only one. During an offline event a participant can make a purchase from a stand, and during an online or hybrid event, they can buy from the in-app store which is available in an event managing application like Meetinga. The sales during and some time after an event are most likely results of the event, and calculating them will be an income metric for measuring success.

Additionally, another great measure could be the number of visitors for your company’s website or social media during and some time before or after the event. Checking the traffic on your websites can be used as an indicator for the amount of attention your company has received because of the event. Furthermore, Google Trends for example can be used to see how many times a certain keyword or phrase was looked up within a timespan. This is another indicator for checking the number of people interested in your event or company. Event applications offer in-app links you can attach to redirect the participants to anywhere like your website. Streaming your event online is an excellent way to get a wider reach and attract an even larger audience. Analytics integrated with your event application would simplify all the statistics and measures making it easily accessible from one area. Meetinga is an event organization and management application which is capable of doing all of the above as it is integrated with video conferencing as well as Google analytics and others.

A lead is about the halfway point to a customer, and is a person who wants to make a purchase but needs a nudge in your direction to finalize it. Leads are extremely important and are what a company should definitely focus on. It is much easier to sell to a lead than a person who might not even be interested. Identifying the leads is the first step, and during an event is when they can be acquired too.

Steps to measuring success

With all the points mentioned so far and possible ways of measuring success, it should be easier to see how to get started with this. However, following a simple guideline with a few steps would first be to set specific and attainable goals. Without them, it would be like walking in a labyrinth in hopes of finding what you are searching for. A goal creates a straight path where you can see it and know what you need to do to reach it. Second step is setting appropriate KPIs, and these are what you would use to see if you reached your goal. Next is to select the tools and methods for measuring the KPIs. As mentioned before, there are multiple ways to do this, and all provide adequate data about your event. Finally, analysing the findings as well as reflection of them is the finish line of measuring success.