Explori Blog | Insights for corporate event organizers

Don't Waste Your Event Content: Here's How to Repurpose it for Maximum Value

Dec 4, 2023

As event professionals, we know the effort and resources that go into creating engaging content for our events. But what happens to all that content once the show is over? Do we just pack it away and move on to the next event? Or do we keep milking it for more value? The truth is, there's still so much value in that content waiting to be unlocked. Not only is repurposing event content a sustainable practice, but it also allows you to reach a wider audience and extend the lifespan of your content. In fact, according to the State of Content Marketing 2023 report by SEMrush, 42% of marketers reported that repurposing content increased the success of their marketing campaigns. In this article, we'll explore real-life examples of successful post-event content repurposing, creative ways to repurpose event materials, and best practices for a winning event content strategy. Don't let your valuable event content go to waste, keep reading to discover how to repurpose it for maximum value! Skip to: Why should I repurpose my event content? Creative ways to repurpose event materials. Best practices for a winning post-event content strategy. Why should I repurpose my event content? Repurposing event content is not just a trend, it's a necessity in any industry, especially in the event industry where almost every event program costs a fortune. By repurposing your event content, you can unlock its full potential and extend its lifespan, resulting in numerous benefits for your business. Here are eight reasons why repurposing event content is so important for your business: 1. Generate More Quality Leads: There are countless individuals who are interested in the topics and insights you shared at your event, but for various reasons, they couldn't make it to the event. Repurposing your event content allows you to bridge that gap and bring your valuable information to them. By resharing snippets of your event content, you can pique the interest of your audience and generate quality leads for your business from non-attendees. This approach allows you to leverage the power of your event content beyond the confines of the physical event itself. 2. Establish Thought Leadership: Repurposing content not only positions your brand as an expert in your industry, it also establishes a strong reputation and gains the trust of your audience. When you share valuable insights and knowledge from your events, you demonstrate your expertise and showcase your ability to provide valuable information. With content repurposing, you have the opportunity to go beyond the surface-level content that was presented at the event. You can delve deeper into the topics, share additional insights, and provide more in-depth analysis. This allows you to showcase your expertise and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field, attract a loyal following, gain the trust of your audience, and open up new opportunities for growth and collaboration. 3. Maximize Your Event Budget: Repurposing content is both a cost-effective strategy and a way to maximize the return on your event investment. Rather than starting from scratch and creating new content, repurposing allows you to tap into the wealth of existing material you have already created, saving you valuable time, effort, and resources. That way, the value of your content doesn't end when the event is over. Instead, you can continue to share valuable information and insights long after the event has ended, keeping your brand top of mind for your audience. So why let your valuable event content go to waste when you can repurpose it for maximum value? 4. Boost Search Engine Optimization Effort: One of the key benefits of repurposing event content for SEO is that it allows you to target different keywords and phrases. By creating content in different formats, you can optimize each piece for specific keywords that are relevant to your target audience. This diversification of content helps you rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for a wider range of keywords, increasing your chances of being discovered by potential attendees and customers. Moreover, when you distribute your repurposed content across various channels, such as social media platforms, industry forums, and online communities, you expand your reach and increase the likelihood of attracting backlinks. Backlinks are essential for SEO as they signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy. The more backlinks you have from reputable websites, the higher your website will rank in search results. 5. Engage & Provide Value to Your Audience: By repurposing your event content into diverse formats such as captivating videos, visually appealing infographics, and informative blog posts, you can effectively engage your audience across multiple platforms. Recognizing that individuals consume content in various ways, repurposing allows you to cater to different preferences and capture the attention of a wider audience. Moreover, this strategic approach enables you to continuously provide value to your audience. By creatively packaging information and presenting it in fresh and unique ways, you can offer new perspectives and insights that may have been overlooked during the event itself. 6. Extend the Lifespan of Your Content: Instead of letting your event content gather dust after the show is over, repurposing allows you to breathe new life into it. By repurposing event content, you can continue to share valuable information and insights long after the event has ended, keeping your brand top of mind for your audience. Creative Strategies for Maximizing the Use of Your Event Material The possibilities for repurposing event content are endless. Creative thinking and exploring multiple content formats and platforms will help you maximize the use of your event materials and engage with your audience in new and exciting ways. Below, we've listed 9 creative strategies to consider, and some real-life examples as well. These strategies cut across both in-person and virtual events. 1. Blog posts: Transforming event presentations or sessions into informative blog posts is a great way to provide your audience, who may or may not have made it to your event, with in-depth insights and valuable information. With that, you can offer a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter, further engaging your readers. Summarize key takeaways from the presentation or session, focus on a specific theme, and enhance your blog post with visuals such as images, videos, or charts that reinforce the concepts discussed in the event. Visual aids not only make the content more visually appealing but also help readers grasp complex ideas more easily. Finally, include quotes from the event speakers or attendees where necessary, as it adds a personal touch to the blog post and allows readers to connect with real experiences and perspectives. In the screenshot above, Explori creates a dedicated page that houses summary blog posts for its virtual event. Tap the image to visit the page. 2. Email marketing: Another effective way to repurpose content for events is by turning it into engaging email newsletters or updates. By sharing highlights, key takeaways, or exclusive behind-the-scenes content with your subscribers, you can keep them informed and engaged even after the event is over. Just as it is with blog posts, in your email newsletters, you can summarize the most important points from the event and provide additional context or insights. This way, your subscribers can get a taste of the valuable information that was shared at the event, even if they couldn't attend. It also helps attendees remember the impact of your event and get a hold of any part they may have missed. This can also be made into workflows, to ensure each attendee goes beyond the summary of your event, but also get relevant information about other related resources you may have to share. 3. Webinars: For in-person events, hosting webinars with the existing event content as a foundation is an excellent opportunity to continue engaging with your audience in a live and interactive setting. During the webinar, you can expand on the key takeaways and themes discussed at the event, allowing participants to gain a better understanding of the topic discussed. This also gives you the chance to address any questions or concerns that may have arisen from the event. By offering expert commentary and insightful responses, you can provide valuable guidance and support to your audience, further establishing your thought leadership and expertise in the industry. This is a major strategy that not a lot of brands are leveraging yet, but can help further drive more conversation and generate more leads for your business. 4. Case studies and testimonials: Another creative way to maximize the use of event material is to showcase positive experiences from your event through case studies and testimonials. By highlighting real-life examples of how your event has made a difference in people's lives, you not only demonstrate the impact of your event but also build credibility and trust with future potential attendees. Case studies provide an in-depth analysis of specific individuals or companies that have benefited from your event. They delve into the challenges they faced, the solutions they found through your event, and the results they achieved. By sharing these success stories, you not only inspire others but also provide concrete evidence of the value and effectiveness of your event. Testimonials, on the other hand, offer personal accounts of attendees who have had positive experiences at your event. These can come in the form of written testimonials, video interviews, or even audio recordings. By sharing the words and experiences of satisfied attendees, you create a sense of trust and authenticity that can be incredibly persuasive to potential attendees. SubSummit is unlike any other conference, according to @jasonnmyers of @bold_commerce! 🎉 #subsummit #networking #businessconference #liveevents #businessevent #digitalsubscription #dtcsubscription #subscriptions #subscriptionconference #networking #subscriptionindustry pic.twitter.com/yQMjv9ewUF — SubSummit (@Sub_Summit) June 7, 2022 5. Social media posts: Break down event content into bite-sized recap pieces and share them across your social media platforms. This will help increase the chances of your content being shared by others, even after the event. Doing this creates more opportunities for your audience to interact with your content. They can like, comment, and share these snippets, which helps to amplify your message and reach a wider audience. Additionally, when your content is shared by others, it increases the chances of it being discovered by future potential attendees or customers who may not have been aware of your event. This can drive traffic back to your website or blog, where they can find the full content or learn more about future events or any other relevant content. View this post on Instagram A post shared by River Beats Colorado (@riverbeatscolorado) Other creative post-event content use: 6. Podcast episodes: Convert event presentations into podcast episodes. This allows you to reach a wider audience and provide valuable insights in an easily consumable format. 7. Explainer or how-to videos: Create short videos that explain concepts or provide step-by-step instructions based on the event content. Visual content is highly engaging and can be easily shared across various platforms, thus, it will help you reach more people across multiple platforms. 8. Infographics: Create visually appealing infographics out of your event data and statistics. Infographics are highly shareable and can help you reach new audiences on social media platforms. 9. Quizzes: Repurpose event content by turning it into interactive quizzes. This engages your audience and allows them to test their knowledge while also reinforcing key concepts learnt from your event. By utilizing these creative strategies, you can make the most of your event materials and continue to engage with your audience long after the show is over. Best Practices For Creating a Winning Post-Event Content Strategy Creating a winning event content strategy requires careful planning and execution. Here are some best practices to consider: 1. Set clear goals: Before repurposing your event content, define what you hope to achieve. Whether it's generating leads, establishing thought leadership, or increasing brand visibility, having clear goals will guide your strategy. 2. Understand your audience: Know who your target audience is and what kind of content they prefer. This will help you tailor your repurposed content to their needs and preferences, increasing its effectiveness. 3. Prioritize quality: While repurposing content allows you to save time and resources, don't compromise on quality. Ensure that your repurposed content is valuable, informative, and well-crafted to engage your audience. 4. Be strategic with platforms: Different platforms cater to different types of content. Consider the strengths of each platform and repurpose your content accordingly. For example, use blog posts for in-depth analysis, social media for quick snippets, and videos for visual storytelling. 5. Maintain consistency: While repurposing content, maintain a consistent brand voice and style. This helps create a cohesive brand identity and builds trust with your audience. 6. Encourage engagement: Use your repurposed content as an opportunity to engage with your audience. Encourage comments, ask questions, and invite feedback to foster a two-way conversation. 7. Analyze and optimize: Track the performance of your repurposed content and analyze the results. Identify what works and what doesn't, and make necessary adjustments to improve your strategy. By following these best practices, you can create a winning event content strategy that effectively repurposes your materials and achieves your desired outcomes. Remember, it's all about delivering value to your audience and maximizing the impact of your event content. Make the most of your event content by repurposing it for maximum value and wider reach. Don't let all that effort and resources go to waste – let's explore how to breathe new life into your content post-event.

How to Plan an Event Successfully in 2023

Nov 21, 2023

Are you looking to plan an event? Whether it's an exhibit program, a corporate conference, or a charity fundraiser, the event planning process can easily become very overwhelming. However, with the right tools and strategies, you can successfully plan an event that meets all your goals and expectations. In this guide, we will break down the seven stages of event planning and also provide you with a comprehensive event planning checklist to ensure that your event is quite successful. So, let's dive in and learn how to plan an event effectively this year! Why is Effective Event Planning Important? Effective event planning is crucial for the success of any event, regardless of the type of event you're planning. It is the first step, as without proper planning, you run the risk of facing numerous challenges and setbacks that can ultimately hinder the success of your event. It allows you to carefully consider all the necessary details, from venue selection and budgeting to logistics and marketing strategies. It helps you create a clear roadmap for your event, ensuring that you stay organized and on track throughout the planning process. Additionally, effective event planning helps you anticipate potential challenges and devise contingency plans. It allows you to allocate resources efficiently and prioritize tasks based on their importance and urgency. The Seven Stages of Event Planning and Why They Matter Planning an event is a complex process that requires careful consideration and strategic execution. The seven stages below are crucial to ensure the success of your event. Let's dive into each stage and explore why they matter. 1. Define Your Objectives: Before you can plan any event, it's important to clearly define your goals and objectives. This will help guide your decision-making process and help you stay focused on what you want to achieve. 2. Budgeting and Financial Planning: Planning an event requires careful budgeting to ensure you stay within your financial limits. By utilizing carefully-curated event budget, you can track your expenses and allocate your budget efficiently. 3. Selecting the Right Venue: The venue sets the stage for your event, so it plays a crucial role in its success. Consider factors such as capacity, location, and amenities when choosing a venue. Also, consider the best central location for your target audience. Also, speak with multiple venue providers, so you see the one that aligns most with your preferences, especially your budget. Doing this can help you narrow down your options. 4. Vendor Selection and Management: From caterers to audiovisual technicians, choosing the right vendors is essential for a seamless event Create a robust checklist to keep track of vendor contracts and deadlines. 5. Marketing and Promotion: To attract attendees, you need to effectively market and promote your event. Utilize social media, email marketing, and other channels to create buzz and generate interest. 6. Logistical Planning: This stage involves coordinating all the necessary logistical elements, such as transportation, accommodation, and event timelines. Your event planning checklist can help you stay organized and on track. 7. Execution and Evaluation: The day of the event is when all your planning comes together. Monitor the event closely and address any issues that may arise. After the event, measure and evaluate its success and gather feedback for future improvements. The Importance of Event Measurement During Planning When it comes to event planning, measuring the success and impact of your event is just as important as the planning itself. Event measurement allows you to assess the effectiveness of your strategies, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate the value of your event to stakeholders. It provides valuable insights into attendee satisfaction, engagement levels, and overall event outcomes. So, how can you plan your event with measurement in mind? Start by defining clear objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your event goals. This will guide your planning efforts and ensure that you gather the necessary data to evaluate success. Consider incorporating surveys, feedback forms, and analytics tools to collect attendee feedback and track key metrics throughout the planning process. This will allow you to gauge attendee satisfaction, measure engagement levels, and assess the impact of your event on participants. Ways to boost attendee engagement before, during, and after the 2023 event Here are some strategies on how to plan an event that keeps attendees engaged before, during, and after the event. Before the event, create excitement and anticipation by leveraging social media platforms and email marketing. Share sneak peeks of what attendees can expect, highlight keynote speakers or special guests, and encourage them to spread the word. During the event, incorporate interactive elements such as live polling, Q&A sessions, and networking opportunities. This allows attendees to actively participate and feel connected to the event. Utilize event apps or platforms that offer features like gamification or virtual exhibitor booths to further engage attendees. After the event, keep the conversation going by sending out surveys or feedback forms to gather insights and improve future events. Share post-event content such as recordings or key takeaways to provide value even after the event has ended. Stay connected with attendees through social media or email newsletters to keep them engaged for future events. By implementing these strategies, you can ensure that your event is not only successful but also leaves a lasting impression on attendees, increasing the likelihood of their continued engagement and attendance at future events.

The Value of Customer Service: Black Hat Cybersecurity

Oct 3, 2023

Let's explore the Service in SAAS, using a case study of the Black Hat team, a division of Informa. It's been talked about before, but the real benefit of true SAAS platforms is in its service. Well, service and trust! Since day one, Explori, the events industry survey tool has invested heavily in its customer service team, and by ensuring this, we were able to provide personalized support, seeing an outstanding increase in retention and loyalty among our clients including Richard McCarthy, Senior Marketing Director at Black Hat who has been a customer for over eight years. "The consultative nature of the relationship and, and frankly, just the amount of work that Explori does for us has been fantastic," Richard commented. Richard and his team have been utilizing Explori's survey tools and services since 2014 on the Black Hat Cybersecurity Event series which consists of three international shows based in the US, Europe, and Asia as well as a number of smaller events and conferences. The Black Hat team welcomes thousands of visitors and exhibitors annually and at the start of the relationship with Explori, the Black Hat team, a division of Informa, were "voluntold" they'd be using the survey tool. From Voluntold to Loved — Explori's Journey with Black Hat Skeptical at first, as many users are when new software is introduced, Richard and his team were soon won over by the ease of use and customer support provided by Explori. When asked about the relationship with the customer service team at Explori, Richard said "after eight years, Explori has really proven themselves, and I really, really like working with the team." Richard discovered very quickly that it was more than just the software that they valued in this relationship. From front-end usability, back-end customization, and cross-tab reporting capabilities plus a very consultative approach to understanding and delivering on requirements, it was unlike anything Richard or his team had used before. Before long, Informa started to adopt the platform across its event business using the software and service. But as Richard says, it's the team behind the technology that makes the real difference. Data Security Due to the nature of the events, working in Cybersecurity, the Black Hat team has to take data security very seriously and Explori has not only met their requirements but have gone above and beyond in understanding the specific needs of the industry. So much so that Black Hat will now be sending emails directly from the Explori dashboard to survey its customers. This enables the team to integrate better its data with registration to truly understand their aggregated data from survey responses to know exactly what each of their event personas thought of the event and how they could then improve on those experiences. "What job function said that? Which industry was that subset of data in? It's this level of data and insight that we've simply not had before" commented Richard adding "Explori has proven that we can trust them". Understanding Black Hat's Audiences It can be a real challenge to truly understand attendee, sponsor, or exhibitor intentions and perceptions through using purely traditional data points such as that of registration. Registration is often where questions are asked so that sales, marketing, and operational event teams can fulfil a service; deliver a badge, promote spaces and build relevant show features. Utilizing Explori has meant that the Black Hat team can truly understand different personas at their events and what matters most to them. For example, receiving feedback from an individual could seem like the whole event is against them when up against it onsite, but with validation through surveying, the team can see if it's just that particular individual or if there are multiple people feeling the same way. This helps them to take corrective action, whether that be through better communication on-site or post-event, improvement to event features, or even how they plan and communicate their events or sessions going forward. Explori helps Richard and his team really understand what worked, what didn't, and what they should keep doing because attendees loved it and equally, what they should change because certain areas didn't work so well. INSIGHTS FOR EVENT ORGANIZERS What does success mean for your event, organization or market? Clive Morris, Research Director at Explori, shares his thoughts on measuring event success and how to turn the numbers into valuable action-led insight across your organization. Download Guide Accessing Data-Validated Feedback The validation that the team received on real-time show feedback helped the Black Hat team have better, data-led conversations with their suppliers. At a recent event, they understood onsite that there was a paint point around exhibitor entry to the event on build days, not something that's always easily visible onsite. Through surveying their sponsors and exhibitors they were able to get to the heart of the problems raised, understand that it affected a wider audience, and take corrective action when speaking with their supplier on how to do better next time. The relationship with Explori has helped the team to build better, more transparent relationships with their suppliers. In summary The Black Hat Cybersecurity team has been able to grow its survey program and improve event experiences for attendees with the help of Explori. Their data security requirements have been met and exceeded, and they are now integrating their data with registration (and other vendors) in order to understand attendees’ perceptions and intentions at a much more granular level. The team is also utilizing Explori to validate feedback received onsite in real-time so that they can have more data-led conversations with suppliers and partners, improving experiences overall. Asked about the relationship with the Explori team, Richard commented "Clive is just fantastic. He’s a great partner and has been looking after us for a long time. His role may not be our day-to-day manager, but the fact that he always jumps in to help, is just another great reason we’re working with Explori."  Check out how Explori can help increase the value of your customer service. Get started with Explori, let us set you up with benchmarks that provide insights to guide your event measurement and innovation to increase your ROI. Book a demo with our events specialist today.

IMEX Frankfurt Seminar: Data wins arguments

Apr 21, 2023

Ahead of her education session at IMEX Frankfurt month, we asked Chloe Richardson, VP Corporate Relations to give us a sneak peek into what attendees can expect from her session. IMEX Frankfurt, one of the MICE industry largest events, returns next month, and the Explori team will be there! Chloe Richardson, VP Corporate Relations at Explori, will be taking to the stage on Wednesday 24 May to discuss the importance of data and measurement within corporate events. Ahead of IMEX Frankfurt, we asked Chloe to give us a sneak peek into what attendees can expect from her session. *** “It has been years of uncertainty for the meetings and events industry, and with an upcoming recession, increasingly time-critical sustainability expectations and a talent shortage unlike any we’ve seen before – it isn’t going to get any easier for corporate event leaders. In fact, our organizations are already looking for quick ways to tighten the purse strings. Where can we cut budgets? How can we redistribute resources? Which department is most dispensable? And let’s face it – meetings and events functions have not always prioritized how to present performance in a way that the wider business understands. We’ve been so busy doing our day jobs – juggling a multitude of skills for stakeholders whilst drowning in irregular working hours and travel schedules that defy time zones -- that we’ve yet to really leverage the most important thing when it comes to evidencing value and impact – the science. Sure, we’ve GOT data. Even too much of it perhaps. With an accelerated worldwide digital transformation and the increase in event technology platforms, obtaining data is no longer the challenge. The struggle is collecting the RIGHT data, and then effectively interpreting it to evidence that events are a valuable business channel. In fact, in an Explori study into the long-term challenges faced by event planners, measuring (and thus communicating) event performance came top with 68%.  With case studies from corporate event leads, practical tips and actionable insights, this session has been designed to help you make sure you’re collecting and using the right data to win arguments.” *** Don’t miss Chloe’s session Data wins arguments: What should corporate event leaders be collecting to evidence the impact of their program?taking place at 13:00 on Wednesday, 24 May at the Research Pod. Can’t wait until May? Book a discovery call with Chloe today. Chloe Richardson VP Senior Corporate Relations

Tools of Engagement: 5 Ways to Capture Customer Data

Oct 18, 2022

Regardless of what many corporate event planners think, post-event and meetings surveys alone are not enough to give you the kind of event data you need to understand attendee behavior and engagement. Instead, planners looking for real insight on customers and prospects should be turning to a variety of tools to source event data and make the most of its value. What are these tools and what can they do? Mitch Deeming, head of operations and customer success for Explori, identifies several that are valuable and explains how best to use them. Not all of these tools will be relevant for all events. Understanding your attendees’ objectives and your own will help you decide which are right for yours. 1. CRM A place where many event professionals and marketers will already have data on customers and prospects is the customer management platform (usually shortened to CRM). Records are generated in the CRM when customers engage with the company brand in ways that include signing up for something, purchasing a product or attending an event. Deeming recommends that planners continually populate and update their CRMs with relevant information, thereby gaining better understanding of customers and the segments they fall into. Important information for segmenting customers include how this person came to appear in the CRM; points of engagement you’ve already had with them, such as whether they have appeared at your events and in what capacity; their annual budget and the sector they work in. 2. Registration Platforms The event registration platform, which should be one that integrates with your CRM, is another important tool. Registration is valuable for collecting demographic data that enriches customer records and contributes to meaningful segmentation of customers, attendees and other stakeholders. It can answer such questions as why people came to the event—was it primarily for networking, educational content or purchasing? Which sessions did they sign up for? Deeming advises planners to be conscious of the customer data they already have in the CRM and to avoid making the registration form too long by asking for information they already have. He also advises planners to make sure the registration form is relevant to the event—should it have separate pages for buyers or VIPs? Another consideration is awareness of relevant data privacy laws in the event location. 3. Virtual Event Platforms Virtual event platforms are a valuable new source of engagement data. They can track which sessions people attended and for how they long they stayed. They also capture live chats, which are a useful source of feedback, and questions from the audience, which can be helpful in creating future content. Engagement metrics such as “likes” and sessions attended are available in real-time, enabling planners to report and act on them quickly. Virtual event platforms come with some caveats, however. Deeming cautions that engagement with sponsored content is often low, recommending that it be incorporated into the main content to ensure the audience views it. Other things to be aware of is who actually owns the audience data and whether the format of the data exported will be consistent with other platforms. 4. Mobile Event Apps & Event Websites While registration will tell you who your customers are, a mobile event app and event website (if you use a platform that allows) can help you determine what they’re actually doing at the event and their level of engagement. Mobile apps and websites can give you “passive” engagement data from just the way people are interacting with the platforms and “active” engagement data through activations and activities within the app itself. Apps also support other types of data collection by prompting users to complete surveys and providing instant feedback on various event elements. Specifically, apps enable you to gather data on what sessions and speakers attendees preferred, which exhibitors they visited and which attendees they connected with through the app. Apps with note-taking functions even allow you to see which sessions prompted the most note-taking. Many also support a suite of measurable activations within the app, including session polls and gamification. The major consideration with event apps is that their adoption rate is often low. Because of the valuable information apps provide, Deeming believes it is well worth encouraging adoption through support, promotions and incentives. 5. Surveys Sentiment data, which is key to understanding the hearts and minds of customers, is primarily collected through surveys. While surveys are traditionally done after an event, Deeming recommends also using them during the planning process, a useful way to determine the types of content and networking opportunities to provide. Among the benefits of surveys are their ability to provide direct feedback from customers. They can provide answers to important questions such as how your event compares with other channels for learning, purchasing and networking within the industry sector. Surveys are also useful for filling in gaps in the CRM on the information you may not already have. For effective surveys, it’s important to make sure that questions are consistent between events in order to allow for comparisons. Good response rates are often highly dependent on repeated promotion and intelligent survey design. More Tips On How To Use Event Data To Build Valuable Insights? Like this? Want more know tips and advice on how to maximize your event data to build valuable insights? Download our Event Impact Playbook designed specifically for corporate event professionals.

What Does Success Mean for Your Event, Organization and Market?

Aug 1, 2022

Clive Morris, Research Director at Explori, shares his thoughts on measuring event success and how to turn the numbers into valuable action-led insight across your organization. *** As an organization that deals in event data and performance, we often hear "yeah, we measure the overall performance of our events, we get the Net Promoter Score". Well, that’s wonderful, but ultimately, it’s just a score. Understanding what’s driving that score, how it differs between your key segments, how it compares to your other events and your competitors that is prized macro data insight you can use to inform the strategic direction of your event. At the heart of this is benchmarking. Benchmarking applies to survey data and any other quantitative metrics collected by your business where there is a broad data pool that enables comparison and contextualisation. This could include, but is certainly not limited to: Registration to attendance conversion – or indeed any aspects of the marketing funnel Attendee event dwell time Engagement with online platforms, pre and post event Exhibitor and Sponsor re-book rates Attendee demographics – e.g., % who have purchasing authority Benchmarking in practice 77% of event organizers said they would like to benchmark events across their organisation but only one in five are currently doing it.* Let’s take NPS for example. You’ve just run your event, conducted the post-show survey and after the survey has closed, the results show that you have an NPS of +10. Cue fanfare in the building at the positive NPS! But what if the score last year was +20? And that over the last five years, there’s been a downward trend from +30 through to the present +10? Comparing the event against its previous iterations is the first level of benchmarking and applies to all quantitative metrics that, year-on-year, are being collected in a consistent matter. Put differently, what can the survey and other quantitative metrics tell you about the trajectory of the event – improving, declining, flatlining, or a bit like a roller-coaster? Although it is very important to understand an individual event’s trends, this doesn’t give any wider context. A given show may have an NPS of +10, and be on an upward trend – but how does this compare to others in that show's portfolio, and across the organisation more widely? The power of benchmarking across your business Understanding how your data compares to the average performance for an event in your organisation (the ‘company benchmark’) gives event teams access to insight that can help them make better decisions on event delivery. At a more strategic level, these key insights can help demonstrate the role events play in achieving wider business goals, improving customer loyalty and navigating an uncertain future. A key tool is to implement a company-level dashboard to ensure that all key metrics, from all the company’s events, can be seen in one place with easy access to, and visibility of, the data. For larger businesses or those with an extensive programme of events, this could be further split by portfolio so that both company and portfolio benchmarks are shown. When benchmarking across company, or portfolio, an important consideration here is that you are comparing like-with-like. The benchmark shouldn’t be a mix of trade shows, consumer shows and conferences - there should be separate benchmarks for each. Audiences also need to be treated separately, with different scores for attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors. How do your score compare? Understanding how your event compares to others in the industry, and more specifically in your sector, can be particularly illuminating and provide even more context. Valuable industry and sector benchmarks include: Running a global event – a comparison vs. all other events run across the globe On a regional basis – e.g. vs. all other US / EMEA events On a sector basis – e.g. if you run an event in the healthcare sector, vs. all other events in this sector. Your exhibit at a trade-show, vs. all other trade shows exhibits Through these industry and sector benchmarks, you will be able to address how your events really stand up against the competition, the targets required to ensure a better standing against the competition, and the reasons for any inherent differences in event performance. For industry comparisons, you'll likely have to rely on your survey provider, and choosing one that is dedicated to events is important. A platform that isn't set up to establish those benchmarks, either because it doesn't prioritise collecting the right information or because it doesn't track it at an industry level, is going to ultimately force you to do that legwork yourself, and it's not an easy task. At Explori, our industry benchmarks are based on thousands of post-show surveys across multiple sectors over the last nine years taking data from over 3 million responses. In Conclusion Data in isolation lacks the context needed to fully understand it and to help event professionals act on the results appropriately. To be able to fully comprehend what event success looks like, you need to have an understanding of what 'good' looks like. Benchmarks are your window into this, enabling you to compare, not just with other event editions,, but also across your business and the industry at large. They will help you recognize excellent performance and spur action on your poor performance. And they will also stop you from blindly cheering your NPS of +10...unless of course your know that the benchmark is -10. *** Like this? Download a copy of the Event Impact Playbook - a key tool to help you become a better, more data-centric event professional. And why not embark on the PCMA Event Data Strategy Certificate produced by Explori. Find out more here *ICE Insights Report

Is Your Corporate Event a Success? 3 Strategic Benchmarks to Watch

Mar 1, 2022

The old standard for measuring the success of each event falls short when it comes to predicting the health of your event and brand. You need to view event performance in context to understand whether you're on the path to growth and future success. Many corporate event teams judge the merit of their event on ROI indicators for that specific event, like how much profit it generated, the number of attendees, or a straightforward customer satisfaction metric like the Net Promoter Score® (NPS). But these in isolation only paint a small portion of the bigger picture an organization needs to understand how well an event is really performing. Siloed event data relegates you to making strategic decisions about the future of the event based on a narrow view of how it performed. You may think that the engagement was good, but compared to what? To discern the true health and viability of the event and brand, performance metrics like these need to be viewed in context. This is because a business event doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There are previous iterations of the same event, other events within the organization’s portfolio, and in the case of a user-facing event, other events within the wider market to compare it to. The best strategy is to weigh its success in context with other indicators through benchmarking against Other iterations of the same event Other events in your organization’s event portfolio Other similar events within the market you serve Benchmarks allow you to go beyond the narrow ROI of a given event to determine how well it’s performing comparatively, and to establish trends that indicate where your event is going.  Event Benchmarks: Is the Event Actually Improving? Event benchmarks take a broader view of the data surrounding your event to help put its success rate in context with previous metrics for that same event. Rather than focus on the microscopic scale of whether an event made money or attracted the targeted number of registrants, tracking impact from event to event will better establish trends and show whether your event is continuing to deliver value over time or whether it’s being mired in habitual features and activations that eat budget without really adding anything. For example, let's say your first event in 2022 showed a 2% increase in engagement with your keynote. You might be thinking that you're on track. But if you look at your event’s historical NPS data and see that it drew a score of +63 in 2019 compared to this year’s +55, that could be a discrepancy worth examining. And if, upon examination, you were to discover that the score in 2018 was +68, and +70 the year before that, the trend is actually that your event has been delivering less and less value with every iteration, and that your current formula probably leaves something to be desired by your stakeholders. Establishing a trend helps you to begin to think about whether you delivering on the goals for the event, and whether changes need to be made to preserve its future. Organizational Benchmarks: Is the Event Carrying Its Weight? Organizational benchmarks compare the performance data of your event to an organization’s wider portfolio of events. There are a variety of reasons for a comparison against the benchmarks of the whole organization. How an event compares to others in the same portfolio determines whether it’s pulling its weight, how valuable it is for the organization, and whether it justifies the costs. The comparisons can also be used to influence your strategic decisions about that event, or indeed whether to even hold it going forward. If you have a quarterly sales meeting to keep your sales team apprised of the next quarter’s developmental pipeline, but the summer meeting consistently shows lower engagement because it interrupts a peak season in the sales cycle, you might consider alternative formats for disseminating the necessary information. Or maybe it makes sense to push it out and add a recognition element to keep people motivated. And if it’s a customer-facing event, could it potentially damage the brand reputation of the overall organization if it doesn’t meet the standards of the other events they are holding? There also could also be something to learn from other event teams within the organization. If your team is meeting its targets but trailing behind another department’s or another event series, it might be worth an audit and a knowledge sharing session to see if the performance can be improved using existing resources within your organization. Industry/Sector Benchmarks: Is the Event Resilient to Changing Market Factors? Industry or sector benchmarks provide market data that helps you understand how your event performs against other options in the market and how valuable or indispensable it is for the market it serves. Especially for user-facing events like product launches and user conferences, the best data points for establishing whether an event holds a robust position in the market are those that focus on what the customers think, like CSAT (customer satisfaction) or NPS. Explori uses a combination of sentiment and loyalty metrics to perform an analysis that determines whether people are coming to your event because meets their needs, or just because they feel like they have no other option. Attendees that fit into the latter category, labeled “hostages,” will switch as soon as another option pops up. If you have too many hostages, your event could be vulnerable to competitors discovering a need you are not satisfying and filling that void. But it’s critical to be able to appreciate these metrics in the context of the wider market so that you don’t prematurely pat yourself on the back for a positive NPS score that actually falls short of the industry average, or panic about the existence of hostages when other events tend to fare even worse. How Do You Establish Industry Benchmarks? The challenge is establishing these industry benchmarks. As individual events tend not to publicize their CSAT and NPS, how can you access a sample size of data that is big enough to be representative in your market? And in a time of relative upheaval, how reliable are these benchmarks anyway? The secret is in the supply chain. Tech and other suppliers support thousands of events across multiple sectors every year. They are often sitting on a wealth of data, and their databases are growing and replenishing constantly. For example, Explori’s industry benchmarks come from over 4,000 events across a range of market segments, and these form the basis of our performance analyses. This means that suppliers can establish robust benchmarks quickly and use all the historical data at their disposal to support their analyses. So Is Your Event Data Strategy Working? Benchmarks help you to set your event targets within the context of a trend so that you can go beyond whether an event was worth it this year and determine whether it’s on the right path in general. Event managers who neglect to track data over time and across a wider scope than the event itself are making strategic decisions without a view of the bigger picture. This can in turn make an event vulnerable to external market factors like competitors and alternative formats. Improve the resilience of your event brand by taking learnings from events in your portfolio that are doing well. Don’t assume a positive NPS or engagement score is a guarantee of success in future iterations, but don’t panic just because you have a few unhappy campers either. Use the data available to make an educated assessment of your performance.

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