There’s never been a better time to work in events, with more tools and technology available to help event professionals gather data and utilise it to improve their events. Here, Aventri chief revenue officer Michael Burns explores three ways new technology helps prove ROI and drive growth.
This is an incredible time to work in meetings and events. Why? Because we live in a world where technology provides unprecedented insight into event performance and return on investment (ROI).
These insights are valuable win-win options for organisers and marketers. For organisers, technology helps gather information to improve attendee satisfaction, boost sponsorship sales and prove – with hard data – events are moving the needle and driving growth.
For marketers, it helps better justify their event investment, bolster sales and marketing and spend their budget more wisely. How do recent innovations help you accomplish all this? Let’s take a look…
More data
Proving ROI is a leading challenge for event professionals, according to a 2017 Aventri survey, which comes as no surprise. In the past, event professionals had limited data to determine event impact.
They relied on metrics like attendance and lead retrieval but didn’t have tools to measure many more touch points. Fortunately, things are changing for the better. New advances in event intelligence platforms make it possible to prove event ROI with a high level of confidence.
As attendees move through sessions and across the show floor, engagement tools capture a goldmine of data. We’re talking about mobile event apps, smart badges, RFID wristbands and more.
In addition to attendance and leads, these tools track dwell time (sessions, exhibitor booths); digital networking; foot traffic; repeat visits (exhibitor booths); performance (sessions, exhibitors, speakers) and more.
Keener insights
Real-time analytics platforms centralise the data on a simple dashboard. Colourful graphs, charts and icons show an overview of event performance so organisers can drill down quickly on key points and spot trends.
So, what can you glean from event data? Dwell time in sessions tells you a lot about content relevance, while session selection and repeat visits to exhibitor booths provide insights into attendee interests.
Meanwhile, booth performance information enhances exhibitor packages and foot traffic helps you understand the value of your show floor. This business intelligence empowers organisers to optimise events in real time and make future events even stronger.
Better outcomes
According to a 2016 report by Forrester, chief marketing officers spend one quarter of their budget on events. The reason? They know leads convert to paying customers.
However, with marketing budgets shrinking, showing ROI is crucial. CMOs need to ratchet up due diligence and justify every dollar they spend. But here’s the catch: most advertising models don’t include face-to-face interactions.
Marketers miss a big piece of the puzzle without tools to measure the customer journey during onsite events. The good news is new event intelligence platforms provide crucial insights into what people actually do in the real world that drives conversions and seals the deal.
As sales, marketing and events become more aligned, professionals can track digital and event marketing using the same metrics. The opportunity for digital marketers is they now have a wealth of data points around events they could never access before.
This enhances their understanding of how to reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message. The bottom line is, events today are the critical piece of the Martech stack.
Leverage the latest innovations to gain customer insights, spend your budget wisely and drive growth.
As Aventri chief revenue officer, Michael Burns brings more than 20 years of sales, marketing and event management experience to his role in leading Aventri’s global go-to-market teams to deliver the best possible customer experience.
