Steve Messenger, Managing Director of RedRoute International, explains how your event data can drive future sales.
Data is the world’s most valuable resource, and the types of data you collect at your event have a significant impact on the value you get from the event overall. The majority collected at events is about the running of the event, focusing on operational aspects such as ease of access or quality of services available. Steve Messenger, Managing Director of RedRoute International, explains there’s more to
As well as reviewing the operational concerns post-event, it is also vital to explore the impact your event had on your delegates: “The kind of data you can collect depends on the nature of the event. I think, generally speaking, event organisers can limit themselves to collecting data on the operational aspects of the event, but if you’re running an exhibition or a marketing event, you can also measure the payoff of the event. It’s not just: ‘Has the event gone well?’ You want to expand the question to what impact you’ve had on people and also potentially what the client got out of it, in terms of either financial or some other benefit.”
Impact data falls under three main categories, as Steve lays out: “We would normally classify the types of data you’d collect into three types. The first is reach, so how many people did you actually expose the event to. The second is what we call impact information, there are two levels, did people become aware of the messages you were trying to put across, and if so, how did they change their attitudes or opinions as a result of that? And then finally, a little bit more of a challenge, is to look at the return-on-investment information.”
Being able to report back on the impact your event had has valuable marketing potential, allowing you to use these data points to encourage clients to rebook, or even to attract new business: “In our view, the primary objective for event organisers should be to use the data to get clients to buy again, or some again next year, or do some form of repeat purchase, and attract new clients to the event, and hopefully therefore boost the attractiveness of the event going forward. You can use the data to really create positive stories, which is where the event impact information begins to become useful, because you can actually discuss and create stories about how the attendees felt as a result of attending the event.”
“You can use the data to really create positive stories, which is where the event impact information begins to become useful“
Events may not always turn a profit, and that isn’t the main goal of most corporate events, so it is important to have another metric by which to measure your event’s success: “Many events are run not with the objective of boosting sales, but with another objective in mind. And I think that the ability to get something back about what the event did is something that all event organisers should be putting on their checklist, and not having it on there is a missed opportunity.”