Are you actively tracking and evaluating the success of each of your marketing events? You should be. One really pivotal change to your process can be the indicator of success and the predictor for your future success: an Event Scorecard. This survey provides valuable market insights and allows you to assess various metrics such as goals, spending, and brand awareness. Follow along to read more, or watch the discussion on our show here.
Tailor Your Surveys for Flexibility
We know that event scorecards can have a huge impact on understanding the success of each of your events. But with so many events that your company may be involved in, it’s vital to compare them to some degree. One of the key features of an Event Scorecard survey is its flexibility. Different events have different objectives and outcomes, therefore, the survey you use for each event has to be tailored to cater to various types of events, including large-scale events, tier 1 events, and more. Whether it’s a large-scale event or a tier 1 gathering, the adaptable nature of these surveys ensures that you can gather valuable insights and make informed decisions based on data-driven analysis. By utilizing event scorecards, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of your events and pave the way for continuous improvement.
Use Predetermined and Open-Ended Questions
When creating an Event Scorecard survey for your company, be sure to utilize a combination of predetermined questions and open-ended answers. The predetermined questions help gather specific data points, while the open-ended answers allow respondents to provide additional insights and feedback about the event. This approach ensures that you can capture both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understanding of each event’s impact and gaining actionable insights for future improvements.
Key Insights to Focus On:
By utilizing the Event Scorecard, marketers can gain valuable insights into the success of each event. Here are some key areas that the survey helps us assess:
1. Did you meet the goal of the event?
The predecessor to this question is making sure you have a specific goal for the event. (Reference our Top 5 KPIs blog for more info). For most events, this surrounds leads or other touch points with your customer. Understanding the number and quality of leads generated from an event is crucial. The Event Scorecard survey allows you to define what constitutes a lead effectively for each specific event. This enables you to attribute success correctly based on the touchpoints used in the event, whether it’s through booth visits, demo requests, or other interactions. Determine the goal, then determine whether you’ve achieved it.
2. What was the spend? Were you within budget?
Effective budgeting is crucial for event marketing success and for being able to access the funds in later years. So make sure you can back up how it was helpful. The Event Scorecard enables you to track the spending associated with each event and evaluate its return on investment. By analyzing the survey data, we can make informed decisions about future budget allocations and optimize our event marketing strategies accordingly.
3. Overall, do you feel like you accomplished what you wanted at this event?
This question comes out differently than the overall goal for your event. This can be a “softer” less numbers-focused goal such as messaging, influencing, etc. Events provide a platform for showcasing your expertise and establishing thought leadership. The survey helps you to measure the thought leadership gained from each event by asking respondents about their perception of our brand’s expertise, knowledge, and industry influence after attending the event. In turn, this can help you gauge the impact of your event marketing efforts in positioning your company as an industry leader.
Use The Data!
Perhaps the most important bit of advice is not to let the information you’re collecting from surveys go untouched once submitted. Use the data! In order to ensure that your event marketing strategies are practical and effective, make recommendations for how to adjust going forward. These recommendations help bridge the gap between insights and actually actionable strategies. By analyzing the data collected through the Event Scorecard you can provide valuable recommendations for improving future events and maximizing their impact.