The process of event measurement can be quite detailed. It is an important practice to gauge the success of events and the efficacy of your marketing programs. Below, we offer a high-level explanation of the steps required.
Step 1: Setting objectives
One of the challenges EMMC members often report is justifying the investment - both time and budget - in event measurement. Let’s examine some persuasive talking points for anyone discussing measurement with event stakeholders.
Events may be perceived as expensive marketing investments, and are often the target of budget cuts. Marketers who want to protect or grow their event programs need measurement results which demonstrate value to the business.
The EMMC recommends two primary types of data be used when measuring events: perception data and behavioral data. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Perception data: Perception data refers to the way someone feels about something, oftentimes a brand and also, in our industry, an event or experience. These data points are typically collected through surveys and polls. Surveying people is an imperfect science, but well-crafted questions asked at the right moments are a best practice for understanding what people think. Look for shifts in perception prior to an experience and following the experience.
Read MoreWelcome to Event Measurement Fundamentals - an educational series from the Experiential Marketing Measurement Coalition. The EMMC is a non-profit organization focused on improving measurement across the event marketing industry.
Through this series we will cover a variety of topics, including:
What is event measurement
Defining common terms in event measurement
Types of data
Event measurement process
Why invest in event measurement
As a coalition, the EMMC is focused on standardizing measurement within the experiential marketing industry. Various marketing channels offer different data points. While there are different types of goals and objectives amongst brands, we ought to focus on understanding how the audience perceives the value of an experience, and how these experiences increase the propensity to take action.
Read MoreOn the whole, brands strive to maximize returns, whether that be higher revenues, more members, increased donations or another value-driving result. Marketing, in its many forms, is a critical conduit to realizing those goals. A key question is; how do companies know whether their marketing-mix is effective? And, more importantly, what within their marketing-mix is driving the most significant impact?
Read MoreEMMC members often sling stories around about cancellations or budgets severely cut by stakeholders, who just aren’t seeing the value for what they perceive (accurately) as a high-ticket item: events. Yes, events have the potential to be expensive. Yes, they often don’t reach the scale of traditional advertising. However, the value of events - tangible and intangible - goes well beyond scale and reach, and
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