Measurement Tip 13

A Year of Measurement Tips - A Review of Fundamental Concepts for Positive Event ROI!

One year ago I began this series of measurement tips with the theme of “How to become a manager of the business (not just of the events) by achieving and reporting accomplishments that address the profit equation of your organization.” I sincerely hope that most of your have found ways to do just that using some of the ideas and examples I have provided this past year.

Looking back over the twelve measurement tips provides a useful list of key ideas that we have shared and I believe should be an important part of your program and that will enable you to demonstrate direct influence on the profitability of the business:

1) Sales is your internal customer - Your relationship with sales will largely determine your success. (Tip 2 and 6)

2) What you measure will affect how you perform - Identifying what to measure about your event marketing program is an important step in putting your planning on the right track. (Tip 3)

3) There is more to a marketing event than leads - Cost savings and expense avoidance for your company can provide a large amount of event budget justification. (Tip 4)

4) Customer feedback is essential - The other arbiters of your program’s success are the customers and prospects themselves. They should be heard from regularly. (Tip 5)

5) Metrics such as indices allow you to compare and contrast events - Comparing events on an index basis, as with a payback ratio, is useful for identifying relative performance and improvement opportunities. New events that are only in the exploration stage can be compared to existing ones using a forecast of expected results. (Tip 7)

6) Critical Success Factors for event ROI, miss one and you are toast! - For marketing events to be successful and provide an adequate return on investment you must accomplish three things, in order: 1) You must attract enough of the right people, i.e. those with adequate responsibility of the action you expect of them, 2) You must persuade them to act through very effective messaging, demonstrations and environment, 3) You must tell them what you want them to do as a result of their visit and support them in taking that step. The count of those who take the prescribed step is most closely related to adequate ROI.
(Tip 8)

7) Your event staff is an essential ingredient of success - Staff must effectively engage and qualify visitors and persuade them to act. They are the ones who can best assess an event’s ability to provide a well qualified target audience, how well the environment worked to create persuasive interactions, and even how well your exhibit and activity compared with your competitors and others at the show. They can tell you best what should be continued or changed and even how best to participate in the same event next time. (Tip 9 and 12)

8) Nurture customers and protect the revenue base - Spending time and resources enhancing existing customer relationships and thereby protecting their revenue contribution from erosion or loss to competitors is a wise investment. (Tip 10)

9) Technology is our friend – Technology is making it easier to capture feedback, establish intra-event communication, build communities of interest and distribute meaningful content more directly and in new ways. Today, visitors come to trade shows and events with much more knowledge than they did in the past and expect a lot more from you when they visit. Mastery of digital and social media is essential and the use of technology for research is effective and cost efficient. (Tip 11)

10) Choose vendors who are interested in your success! - MC2 has been a good friend and partner with me in bringing a year’s worth of measurement tips to you through their eConnections Newsletter. They serve as a great example of a company focused on their clients’ goals. That is the nature of a strategic vendor, one that is essential to your organizational success. Thanks MC2!

I referenced all twelve measurement tips in this summary. You may find each one in complete detail on my ROI and event measurement blog: http://constellationcc.blogspot.com/

Best wishes for program and personal success!