How to improve and measure the return of your event?
What makes a kind of a technology company events to talk about ROI?
In spite of being associated with computer science, my training and aptence is in finance, and for 14 years I worked in Marketing in a business group. So I was on the client side of the buyer talking to agencies to create events.
In this sweater that I saw six years ago, I started to be on the side of suppliers, who are asked to create memorable, innovative events.
Sometimes on a daily basis, it is not possible for me to ask the sacrament question: What are the objectives of your event?
Defining goals and metrics in an event
In many events we speak of tens or hundreds of thousands of euros, in renting spaces, AV, catering, team management on the ground, weeks and months of proposal preparation, brand concepts, involving tens or hundreds of people.
In many events we are told that the goal is to make a conference, show a new brand or concept, pass on internal messages to employees … But will not these goals be similar to those we have on December 31, for the next year? Something vague and not measurable?
Do you talk about SMART goals in the company’s projects – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and defined in time – and will the events be thought of in this way?
There is the budget, of course, there are a set of tasks to perform in the event, checked …, but is not something missing?
How do we evaluate an event? By the number of participants? By the impact of sales in the following x months? By the number of contacts and business generated by the commercial teams? For the KPIs that are shared between teams in an internal meeting? By the interaction with stands / speakers / points of contact with the brand?
Have we defined objectives for each heading?
Do we have reliable and useful assessment systems for the business?
Do we have all the information about the participants actionable in the future with your authorization? Do we know your profile?
How do we evaluate supplier performance? How do we compare against the established?
How do the agencies, and other agents involved, drink this information from the end Customer so that everyone knows what is most relevant?
Simon Sinek, very fashionable in recent times, talks about the importance of why.
Why do we do this event? What objectives do we propose? How to measure them?
How to share them with other partners? How to measure your return (investment vs. revenue p.e.)?
What is not measured is not managed, and can be “only” in the end the taste of food, the space well chosen, and a good sound system.
An event is much more than that and does not end when the last participant leaves.
In many events, having a follow-up results after-event care is what allows you to evaluate the success of it, your contribution to the strategy of a brand, a company.
Forgive me for the title to talk about how to measure the event, and the article be composed of a set of questions and not of answers, but these depend on each of the Clients, and what they seek.
Is technology in events a means or an end?
“We want something innovative”
“We want to involve people”
“What’s new in terms of technology?”
Augmented Reality, Chatbots, Messaging, Digital Q & A, Apps, Gamification. Requests succeed each other in an attempt to be unique and memorable.
Involve attendees, increase the visibility of a brand, position as relevant, cause a “wow” effect in the middle of reminders, emails, feeds. Make the event an experience.
Few want to be left out. In a highly competitive period in terms of technology, is this the means to an end in an event, or the end in itself?
One would think that, by sailing daily in a technological sea, we respond to all requests. That will be fantastic and that participants will consider it unforgettable.
But is it really unforgettable? And what makes an experience unforgettable, a moment?
I make the reflection in the form of a question: Do we prefer a good gift once a year and lasciviousness, or consistency in the relationship and treatment we have on our part?
Consistency for most people. We want to know what we have. And in relations with brands, with institutions is very similar this feeling.
We have already witnessed events with a great technological apparatus, by entities with which the day-to-day is bureaucratic, “heavy” and soon after the event, when the cloth fall again this way.
We have already seen the Digital Transformation themes of brands that deal with us with excess paper, archaic processes, difficult to contact, but that for the event created virtual assistants and fantastic robots.
Technology in events should serve several purposes, some of them neglected:
To provide fluidity in the relationship between the participant and the promoters, from beginning to end; provide feedback, facilitate entry and entry, give useful information, involve;
Allow the promoter and organizer to have information and knowledge in all phases, freeing time (and money) and gaining data quality for interaction, be it institutional or commercial;
“Breaking ice” with the conception of steps that appeal to the emotions, to the curiosity of the participants;
Create moments to improve communication and get a message across. An event is a time of exchange of time and attention between who organizes and who participates to result in something. Quantifying this objective is essential;
Allow tracking of a relationship. The event does not end in the disassemblies, the event depending on its nature should serve as a touchstone for the continuation of a relationship, be it the brand, the institution, a concept;
The sharing of measurable goals, the involvement of partners in a concept, the promotion of a relationship with the participant from the invitation to the post-event, clarification of the logic of a technological gadget, emotional rapprochement with the participant, and much more should be taken into account when using the technology.
On its own, it can cause a first impact but it is worth out of context, being quickly forgotten. Properly thought out, and with a well-crafted script can be the icing on the cake, in the center is the relationship, communication, and consistency.
Nuno Seleiro, Director Asserbiz
Sources:
- http://www.eventpointinternational.com/pt/item/9-opiniao/3771-como-melhorar-e-medir-o-retorno-do-seu-evento
- http://www.eventpointinternational.com/pt/item/9-opinion/3611-a-tecnologia-nos-eventos-e-um-meio-ou-um-fimij