The Key to Setting Up Event Goals for Success

Measuring the success of your event marketing programs begins well before your first attendee checks into the event venue (or logs in online if we’re talking virtual events). The event ROI and measurement process begins before you’ve even sent your first email reminder. It starts by setting the right goals.

Here’s an example of how not setting the right goals can really throw you off course. Let’s say you hire a personal trainer to improve your fitness. Specifically, you want to enter a weight-lifting competition. Well, if your trainer sends you on long road runs, then you may very well improve your fitness from a cardiovascular perspective, but you’ll be out of luck when it comes time for that weight-lifting competition.

All this to say - goals matter! And specific ones, at that.

Getting your ducks in a row

Before you get going on your event planning, determine why your company wants to host this event in the first place. Ask yourself and your team some of these questions:

• What is our company trying to accomplish in the next year? Launching a new product? Attracting a new customer base? Merging with another company? Cementing our market leadership position?
  
• Is there a specific audience we’re trying to reach? Executives? Enterprise companies? Prospects? Internal stakeholders?
  
• What is the event format? An in-person networking dinner? An in-store community event? A hybrid sales kickoff meeting? A product launch webinar?

Beginning to think critically about these higher-level questions and where the answers overlap will help you frame up your goals and get after those KPIs that make the most sense for your business.‍

And these questions can’t be discussed in a vacuum. Getting buy-in from various stakeholder groups at your company – whether it’s senior executives, sales team members, account managers, or your marketing colleagues – will help to plug any potential ‘holes’ in your event marketing plans.

Breaking out the calculator

Well, first off, hopefully, you’re using a streamlined event marketing platform like Splash to help track and report on all of these juicy event metrics in one place (and not a calculator or Excel… no offense to either, just may take you longer!).

Measuring event ROI is not a one-size-fits-all exercise. Your event’s success depends on your unique goals, which are aligned with company strategy and revenue goals.

Here are some examples of event types that are paired with some of the relevant KPIs that apply:‍

SaaS platform virtual launch event:

• Registration-to-attendee attrition rates
  
• Percentage of attendees from target audience
  
• Attendee dropoff rates
  
• Net-new leads generated
  
• Number of demos/meetings held after the event
  
• Freemium accounts created

Happy hour event outside of a large industry conference:

• Number of net-new contacts added to your database
  
• Number of attendees from companies currently in pipeline
  
• Average length of sales cycle (pre-event vs. post-event)
  
• Number of demos/meetings held during the event
  
• Social media activity (shares, event hashtag usage)
  
• Win-rate improvements

Annual customer conference:

• Number of recurring attendees from past years
• Number of new members of a customer advocacy group
  
• Product usage (pre-event vs. post-event)
  
• Renewal rates
  
• Retention rates
• Net new leads generated

Popular KPIs across many different event types:

• Event attendance and engagement
  
• Event-specific feedback
  
• Satisfaction and NPS scores
  
• Referrals
  
• Social media activity
  
• Website traffic/downloads

There are many KPIs and metrics to look into when measuring your event’s success – which may sound daunting at first, but it is actually a good thing. You don’t have to evaluate every metric under the sun in order to determine if your event gets a ‘thumbs up’. Just focus on the ones that tie to your goals, and you’ll be good to go.