Measuring the success of a corporate event is one of the fudamental tasks of an Event manager. Knowing the results is vital for any marketing plan in order to assess if the objectives originally established have been met and if the event has managed to generate the desired impact for our brand.
In this post we will show you the key fundamentals when judging if an event has been successful in terms of image, participation, engagement or even income, should the objective be to increase turnover. We will see what the essential indicators are to ascertain the impact of our event and to know therefore if we can describe it as a “success“.
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Keys for evaluating a corporate event
Below we set out a breakdown of some key points which will allow us to assess the success of a corporate event. Using these guidelines we can defend the result of the actions taken or take measures and decisions which will allow us to improve the results in the future.
Establish clear goals
There is a quote attributed to Seneca which says : “There is no favourable wind for he who does not know where to go“. Setting out clear objectives before the event begins is what will later allow us to quickly know if the objectives have been accomplished. In this way, we can know if our event has been a success or a failure. In other aspects we will go deeper to find the reasons for one result or another.
The objectives must be established based on SMART methodology: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. Our aim must be simple, measurable in an objective numerical way, realistically achievable for the company activity,relevant to the activity of the company and set within a time frame.
Participation and attendance
The number and quality of the participants may not be definitive but they are good indicators of the success of a corporate event. When we speak of the number of participants we will do this in percentage terms based on our initial objective. If we speak of the importance of the guests, we can establish a score range based on the importance we give to the profile of each attendee by setting an initial score objective.
Return on investment (ROI)
This is a mathematical method for measuring an event that seeks immediate profitability such as crowdfunding, a benefit gala, a sales showroom etc. The ROI is the Return On Investment and is based on the income and costs with the following formula:
ROI = (Income – investment) / Income *100.
With this formula we will obtain the earnings percentage based on the investment allocated to the event.
Attendee feedback
We can also directly ask the opinion of our attendees. This can be done by means of surveys with closed questions once the event has taken place.If we think that our guests are prepared to participate further with their opinions then we can send them open questionnaires or even make calls via a call centre or commercial department.
The most positive aspect of this is that we can go beyond the figures and draw qualitative conclusions, and obtain replies which in principle were not contemplated, or suggestions which may allow us to come up with ideas for the future. In this way we will have a far wider appreciation of the particpants view of the event.
Interaction and networking
We can also measure the success of an event by the number of relevant contacts we achieve from it. If the objective was to open new business lines with prospective clients, a good way to judge the success of the event is to count the number of leads or meetings obtained or even grade each prospect with a score. That grade can be based on the sector of the company contact, their function within the brand they represent or the turnover of the company.
Impact on the image of the company
Additionally, with the use of surveys before and after the event, you can assess how the perception of the users regarding your brand has evolved. By doing this, you can evaluate how the event has impacted on the users, strengthening your brand´s reputation, enhancing the commitment of the client and influencing the brand positioning in the mind of the consumer.
Analysis of other indicators
There are many indicators which may not be relevant but which however give a greater amplitude of the event´s influence on the attendees or persons who interact with the brand in one way or another. The quality of the presentations and workshops, the key messages communicated to the attendees, the media outreach, the engagement on social networks…
How to present the results of an event
Now that we have the data at our disposal, it is time to present it to the works committee, to our superiors or to the rest of the group that made up a part of the event organisation. In this case, we will give you the steps to follow in order to have a coherent and ordered structure which will allow you to present the results clearly.
- Try to organise the information hierarchically, from the most relevant information about the results to that which has least importance. Numerical, qualitative, quantative data… everything that is relevant to understand the magnitude of the event and its influence on our guests.
- Establish clearly the aim of the presentation with a central idea from which the rest of the ideas should follow.
- Highlight the key achievements first. They can be significant figures that clearly speak about the result of the event, testimonies… This will generate a greater impact with the audience.
- Use a clear and coherent structure. The information must be shown sequentially so that each piece of information connects with the previous one without generating isolated ideas which do not appear to have any relation with the rest.
- Use graphs and visual aids so that the information you present will be more striking and thus more easily understood. The graphs must of course be easy to understand.
- Show the conclusions at the end, summarising the key points you want your audience to retain.
- Allow time for questions and for the attendees to participate. This will be a way to approach matters which you did not address or to clear up any doubts related with the presentation.