While ROI is a powerful metric, only a few event planners are able to maximise and measure it well. A common question we often get from many people is, how do you maximise ROI in an event? It’s no secret that tracking, measuring, and increasing event ROI is critical for the continued success of your event. Yet, it’s tricky and quite challenging to get clarity and consensus on how to increase your ROI.
Good news! In this article, we’ll mention 6 effective strategies and tactics to get the most out of your events.
Summary
1. Keep focused on the ultimate business goal of your event
Setting regular goals and focussing on them propels your event to success.
What kind of experience do you want to offer? Are you trying to improve customer satisfaction? Offering ample networking opportunities? Or launching a new product or service? Do you want to reach a new global audience? Are you planning an event to support a cause? List all your goals and think about that specific goal that can make your event stand out.
Once you’ve a strategic goal, you’ll easily define the direction in which the event is aligned.
Always keep in mind that your ultimate goal should be in line with the mission and vision of your event. By hitting on each of these, you may even expand your attendee pool, as event goers may be compelled to refer coworkers and friends to the event.
2. Set your objectives long before your event takes place
Before you even think of planning an event, define your objectives and the purpose of your event.
Defining your objectives and the purpose of your event can help you stay aligned throughout the event planning process. Moreover, setting objectives enables you to avoid wasting resources because every coin you spend relates to your guiding purpose.
Probably, you’ve heard about SMART objectives. I’m going to explore SMART objectives and not goals. But what’s the difference? Well, event goals are the reasons you want to have the event, while event objectives refer to how you get there.
- Specific. Your objectives should be clear, concise, and straight to the point. Avoid ambiguity and know what you’ll do and how you’ll do it. For example, your objective could be framed as, ‘enrolling 40% of the total audience visiting my event’s website’.
- Measurable. Quantitatively evaluate your objective so that you know if you’ve achieved your goal. Some measurable outcomes of an event include; the number of attendees, generated revenue, overall return on investment, registrations, etc.
- Achievable. Create objectives that are within your reach and motivate you to succeed. While you may want to be too ambitious, ensure they are realistic so that you achieve them.
- Relevant. Ensure that your objective relates back to your business goals. If it doesn’t, don’t waste time pursuing it. Researching gives you an idea of what’s relevant to your audience and brand.
- Time-bound. Your objectives should have a defined start date and end date. This means that your objective is aligned within a specific timeframe, and anyone acting upon it or viewing it knows the deadline.
3. Identify your data points
Now that you’ve defined your goals and set your objectives, which data points should you measure for your event? Here are event planning data points that you should focus on for increased ROI.
- Number of attendees
- Social media stats and activities
- Web traffic and conversions
- Number of Food & Beverage sales at your event
- Pre-event surveys
- Post-event feedback
4. The tools you need to track event ROI
Armed with your data points, you’ll need tools for measuring your event’s effectiveness and success. Here are tools to help you track your event ROI.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM). A CRM software helps you manage and track customer relationships and the information associated with them. Even better, if you use a CRM specifically conceived for events, connecting the data from all your events, you will make sure to boost your revenue.
- Analytics tools such as Google Analytics. Analytics tools help you assess traffic data and track specific user activities, including downloads, link clicks, video plays, or form submissions. From this information, you’ll know which metrics matter the most for your event.
- Survey tools. You can collect subjective feedback from your event audience to gauge their experience and brand perception.
5. Analyse the results and determine your ROI
Gathering the event data is not all that is required for a successful event. You’ll need to go deeper, analyse and determine your ROI. Many event planners ask, what is ROI in event planning? The secret to a successful event is data analysis. In its simplest form, ROI in event planning is the total sales revenue minus the total cost of the event, then divide it by the total cost of the event.
The first step to knowing your event ROI is understanding the total event costs and knowing the most important returns to your business.
Analysing results and planning helps your event adapt for the future and get ready for transformational changes.
6. Sell your event tickets online
Drive your online sales by selling your event tickets to a vast pool of audience. When you enable your audience to book online you are making it simpler for them as well as getting a lot of interesting data. Also, note that the purchase of the ticket is the first point of contact of your audience with your event, so you should pay special attention to your ticket sale process and customer journey, including the ticket design.
7. Wrapping it up
To maximise the ROI of your event, you must align with the vision and goals of your business.
Defining the ROI of your event can help you make improvements for future events.
Your event’s strategy should be detailed and measurable as it’s the framework upon which the entire event is built. If you’ve the right strategy, your planning and execution will be easier, and you’ll ultimately increase your ROI.
It’s essential to consider your options and assess your existing plans before making any changes in your event planning approach.
If you are planning an event, check out how our ticketing, access control, cashless payment and CRM solutions can help you deliver a seamless experience to your audience while making things easier for you.
