Many small businesses run annual meetings, host conferences or one-off events that can consume up to 25 per cent of marketing budgets. This is quite an investment for an organization with limited resources. All investments for cash-strapped businesses need to drive a clear strategic goal, which is especially challenging with events – where a comprehensive understanding of return on investment can be hard to come by.
Here are 10 ways to gain true understanding of the ROI your event is providing:
1. Tickets and sales targets. We can talk about metrics all we want, but when it comes down to it, the number of tickets an event sells can make or break its success. Taking a deep dive into data from past ticket sales can help you determine the most popular and effective pricing levels, packages, and timing of purchases, ultimately fostering more sales down the road.
2. The networking footprint. One of the best indicators of a successful event is a high amount of interaction between attendees and engagement with event content. When using an event app or other networking tool, you can track the number of messages sent, as well as the number of views and "likes" certain sessions received. This not only lets you know whether your event was truly engaging but also what types of content and speakers your guests found most interesting and relevant.
3. An event technology dashboard. Today there are plenty of tech tools to help run an event. However, this often means data is measured differently across these tools, making it harder to measure ROI. A single dashboard that connects data from email marketing, social sharing, ticket sales, the mobile app and a CRM can provide planners with a more complete picture of how their event fared.
4. Look at the big picture. If SMBs use a single platform for all their events, they can build their event history and compare ticket sales, engagement rates, email opens or any other KPI. This can ultimately lead to real insights about what works and what doesn't. What content is most popular? What ticket price ranges seemed most reasonable to attendees? How early should you begin event promotion?
5. Marketing channels. Event promotion and marketing typically involves many different digital channels, from e-mails, to social shares, to discount codes and flash sales. Once you've implemented an all-in-one event platform, you can begin to see which channels are the most effective for driving sales. When you've defined your target audience and see results in cold, hard ticket numbers, you can shift your efforts to the channels that truly work for you.
6. Feedback. Live polling is a fast and easy way to take the pulse of attendees and receive instant feedback on anything from their favorite speaker to what they'd change about the event. Instantaneous feedback could even help you align your event with your attendees' expectations on the fly– no waiting until next year!
7. Year-round buzz. If you've used the right tools to maximize engagement, buzz will be created not only right before your event, but people will be a part of the deeply engaged community surrounding your event year round. Don't just focus on the event dates, analyze social interactions throughout the course of the year.
8. Productivity boost. Did you save time and energy coordinating and planning your SMB's event? Eliminate using Excel spreadsheets as your contact database? You likely saved hundreds of hours, which ultimately equals money.
9. Referrals. If an online event solution is used, you can easily track the amount of referrals and identify your event's key influencers, generating new attendees to your event. As referrals begin to snowball, so too will the size of your event and number of new attendees.
10. More speaking requests. Have you noticed more professionals approaching you to speak at your event when you used to be the one putting out the feelers? This is a positive sign more people have begun to recognize the value of your event.
Alon Alroy is the co-founder and CMO of Bizzabo, the first all-in-one event management platform helping SMBs find success in each and every event.
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