The First Step to Measuring B2B Events is Alignment and Technology
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Written by Esther Chung

@esthermchung
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The First Step to B2B Event ROI is Alignment and Technology

February 15, 2018

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The First Step to Measuring B2B Events is Alignment and Technology
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Written by Esther Chung

@esthermchung

The First Step to B2B Event ROI is Alignment and Technology

February 15, 2018

Event ROI is simple, right? Value of (business won - amount spent) / amount spent.

 

Hold your calculators. Every organization looks at event success differently, and you need to make sure yours is properly set-up for event measurement.

 

We're here to help. In our newest ebook, we share common event ROI measurements and processes for B2B event marketers from the brains of B2B event marketers. We dig into it all: different event types, partnering with sales, the most common event attribution models, and the top KPIs and metrics being tracked right now. 

 Get your hands on our freshest, newest ebook, and access leading measurement tactics and strategies from the best in the biz.

 

Download now.

 

But before you do that -- before you measure the impact of your events program and knock your boss's socks off -- you need to have the right foundation in place. That means, understanding and aligning with the metrics your company already uses, and making sure you're tracking every bit of data coming out of every event.

 

Here's how.

1. Understand and Align with Key Company Metrics

If your goal is to uncover the impact of events on buying behavior, you need to understand the metrics your company uses to track prospects, opportunities, and new deals. Here are the most common ones:

a) Average duration of the sales cycle. This helps determine your influence window for events. 

 

For example: Say your average deal cycle spans 30 days. If you host an event 90 days prior to a deal closing -- and prospects from that account attend -- that event probably didn’t influence the sale considerably. On the other hand, if you host the event 15 days prior to close – when prospects are weighing and evaluating their options – that event likely did influence the deal closing.  


b) Average deal size. Understanding this metric can help you forecast event ROI before deals even close, using the formula Deal Size X Number of Prospect Accounts in Attendance.

 

For example: if your average deal size is $50,000 and your event draws 100 different prospect accounts, you could forecast that the event could impact as much as $5,000,000.


c) Average conversion rate. To be more precise with your forecasts, you need to understand average conversion rates. This is the formula: Deal Size X Number of Prospect Accounts in Attendance X Conversion Rate.

 

For example: say your average account-to-deal conversion rate from event attendees is 15%. The calculation would be $50,000 (average deal size) X 100 (accounts) X 15% = $750,000. In other words, you can forecast confidently that your event can help drive $750,000 in revenue.

Understanding these high-level company metrics  will help you forecast event success more accurately. If you are on the hook to help generate a certain amount of pipeline or revenue, you can back up the number of events and attendees needed to hit that goal.


2. Organize your data and simplify data-tracking

Without the right data in the right place, you can’t effectively calculate ROI.

Before you dig into the measurement process, make sure you’ve got what you need.

 

Here’s what data to look for:  

1. Do you have interaction data from all events (registrants, attendees, no-shows)?
2. Do you have complete business contact information for all event registrants (first name, last name, company, job title, business email address, phone number)?
3. Does your event data live in campaigns within your systems of record (e.g., marketing automation, CRM, etc.)?
4. In your CRM system, has your sales team accurately added event attendees to opportunities that resulted from (or were influenced by) your events?
5. Are you time-stamping opportunity stages so you can measure event influence – such as impact on pipeline velocity following an event – as opportunities move through the funnel?  

It’s difficult to wrangle event data when it lives in different systems, and especially when it’s on unclaimed paper name tags, business cards, slips of paper, Google sheets, etc.

 

It’s nearly impossible without the right tools – integrated ones – that enable automated processes and real-time data tracking and measurement. Make sure you put these tools and processes in place to calculate event ROI continuously and consistently.

3. Determine Your Actual Event Investment 

ROI measurement isn’t one-size-fits-all. It starts with determining your actual event investment, which is often more complicated than it sounds. Make sure your organization knows all the costs associated with events, so everyone is clear on what is considered the actual investment.

 

What costs do you include in your investment?


ROI calculations become useless when the “I” isn’t consistent. Ideally you want to be able to compare apples to apples across events. For example, you don’t want one
event to include travel costs but another event to exclude it.

 

Here are a couple common ways companies think about calculating their costs:

• Only hard costs (don’t forget shipping, even if it’s on the
company’s account!)
• Hard costs + marketing travel and expenses
• Hard costs + all travel for staff attendees (marketing,
sales, company leadership, etc.)
• Hard costs + time allocation + travel and expenses

You're almost on your way to event ROI. Download our free guide to get everything else you need: attribution models, event types, and more.

Event Marketing Budget Decisions

See how they built it:



Do you have what it takes to leverage event technology? Learn more from Matt Burton in this 20-minute video.

event-team-collaboration-app

Not only is it helpful to quickly solve any issues (and there are always issues), but it’s also helpful to communicate with your team inside the venue on the status of check-ins. Most importantly, alert your sales team that their VIP guests have arrived.

5. Dos-and-Donts for Not Breaking The Law: Keep Count Of Your Attendee Numbers

The last thing you want to think about is hitting capacity. Because hitting capacity for your event would be a good thing… right?


Unfortunately, not keeping track of the number of attendees, and subsequently, violating fire permit laws, is a common problem for many event planners. Avoid this by using an old-fashioned clicker or the Splash App using the “checked out” status -- that’s key for tracking who’s in and out of the space.


Pro tip: have the fire permit in hand and contract printed out. And have another person keep track of how it feels inside the event, whether it’s hot in the venue or too crowded.


A couple good questions to consider asking the venue manager about the space:


• How many people in the venue makes it feel full?

• How many people makes it feel empty?

• Where can lines form?
• How many people can be at the bar at a time? (A typical drink order takes about 2 minutes. Alleviate bar crowds by having cocktail waitresses holding pre-made drinks.)

Bonus Details:

Timing: Start Door Duty an Hour Before Event

Sure, attendees may arrive late. Sure, you may still be organizing right up until the last minute. But people will begin showing up 25 minutes after starting time, which means, security has to be ready for the flow of arrivals. Some people will also arrive early and if the door isn’t staffed, you don’t want these people sneaking in before it’s time.

Staff Up: The Golden 1:50 Ratio

To maintain organization, have a 1:50 ratio between the company and guests. This may vary based on how complex the on-site registration is.

Veterans know: there is no such thing as too many RSVPs

When I was a rookie planner, I remember being very nervous that there were too many RSVPs and the right people wouldn't get in.

 

As much as the experience at the door matters, remember: a packed event is a good thing. A very good thing. A line makes you look popular, and people don't really mind waiting (if it moves). Much worse than over crowding is UNDER crowding... no one likes an empty room.  And when someone on your team is stressing, tell them to chill. You got this.

author

Esther Chung

Esther is the Sr. Content Marketing Manager at Splash. When she’s not deciding what to eat for lunch, she leads content strategy for Splash, the leading event marketing platform.

About the Author

Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways.

Ready to measure event ROI? We make it easier.

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