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What You Need to Know to Effectively Measure Your Event’s Success
Defining Your Main Objectives
Before you can measure your success, you need to define what success means to you. This will vary based on the industry you’re targeting, the type of event you’re planning, and the short- and long-term goals of your organization. If you’re planning an incentive trip, for example, your main objectives will be quite different than if you’re planning a product launch or a non-profit fundraiser. By narrowing down your main objectives at the beginning stages of your strategic event planning, you can prioritize these objectives throughout the process, which means a much higher chance of succeeding.
Choosing Tools & Systems for Measurement
Once you’ve identified your primary objectives and priorities for your event, you’ll need to consider how to measure these objectives. Not all value is tangible, and while profits and registration numbers can be important signals of success, there are other, harder-to-measure values that can be incredibly important in evaluating the effectiveness of an event. If, for example, you’d like to increase your brand awareness, there isn’t one metric to track, but rather several factors that can help determine, at least to a degree, whether or not you’re successfully increasing brand awareness. This could include social media growth (i.e. shares, likes, followers) as well as PR mentions and number of first-time attendees.
Regularly Track & Implement Data
Data is useless if not analyzed and implemented, so keep track of the data at every step of the way—not just after the event is over. That way, you can implement changes as needed to help achieve your goals. Consider this example: If one of the main goals of an incentive trip is to let attendees recharge, and on the second day of the trip you start to hear mutterings that everyone feels their time is overscheduled, make adjustments in the remaining schedule to course correct.
Need help with data management and implementation at your next event? Vicki Johnson & Associates offers the expertise you’ll need to succeed!
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