So your corporate event has come to an end, the last guest has gone home, there were no significant blunders, and the sentiment seemed great overall. You’re feeling pretty good about how it went—but how can you tell if your event was a true success for your business? While you may have a general idea of how things went, there are ways to quantify your event’s success and know without a doubt if your efforts are worth the investment.
Align Your Event Goals With Your Business
To measure your success, you first need to define what it is. Aligning your event goals with your overall business goals is the key to ensuring your event works toward your bottom line. Take a look at what you’re trying to achieve as a business in the long run, and make your event work for you.
At Best.Day.Ever., we take your business KPIs and tailor your event to meet them. By aligning your goals, you get a clear picture of what you’ll want to measure— does the guest list include the right stakeholders? Are your guests receptive to your follow-up communication? Do you have the right technology in place to gather feedback from attendees? Does the program content align with your objectives? Understanding your business goals as they relate to your event from the beginning allows you to focus on what matters and frees you from getting caught up in the small details that don’t make a difference in what you want to achieve.
Mark Your Progress
Now that you have laid out what is most important to your business and what success looks like for you, you can start tracking your progress. It’s imperative not to wait until the event is over to begin analyzing your success— setting benchmarks at every step of the event planning process will ensure you are on track to meet your goals. By keeping tabs on your progress, you increase your likelihood of meeting your set goals because you now have the opportunity to make shifts in how your event is executed as it is unfolding.
For example, if your goal is to grow your client list, you’ll want to ensure that the right stakeholders are RSVPing for your event. If you notice your responses are lagging, it may be time to pivot to another mode of communication or advertising for your program. Maybe reaching your audience via email isn’t cutting it, and you turn to social media or pick up the phone.
Perhaps the number of emails you collect during the event is lower than you hoped, and you need to switch up your information collection process. Or maybe no one is opening and clicking through your email follow-up, so it’s time to change your messaging.
Even better than identifying a pivot opportunity is proving you are doing everything you need to be successful, allowing you to confidently shift your focus to another aspect of the event.
Analyze Your Results
As your event unfolds and you track your progress toward your KPIs, you will collect a large amount of valuable data that you can analyze once the event is over. Data tells the ultimate story, so by setting clear goals from the onset, you’re ensuring you are collecting the information that tells you the right story. Having a form of reporting set up post-event will allow you to easily see patterns and understand the true ROI from your event.
It’s important to remember that success doesn’t always mean a perfect event; measuring success can also highlight areas where you need improvement, which will help you find better ways to execute your corporate event in the future.
Find the Right Event Partner
The key to measuring your event’s success is developing a system of metrics and goals that work perfectly in line with your overall business objectives for you and your team. While time-consuming, taking these extra steps is essential—not only to measure your success but to learn, grow and guarantee future wins. Finding a knowledgeable and experienced event partner can provide beneficial reporting and keep tabs on your progress so you can stay focused on logistics and event execution.
At Best.Day.Ever, we will work with you to help identify your goals and KPIs, create strategic programming, streamline logistics, and perfect event execution to ensure your objectives are met or exceeded.
With our to-the-point reporting and consistent follow-up post-event, we do everything we can to ensure you see the direct ROI of your event efforts.
Are you ready to see measurable success at your next event? Let’s get planning.