written by Alice Hancock
ROI (Return on Investment) has become a staple buzzword in the event industry. Everyone uses it. Everyone expects it. But do you really understand what it means? And how to get your hands on it? The thing is it’s different for each event, which maybe is why a clear consistent meaning is so elusive. But one thing’s for sure. If it’s that important, you need to consider it as early as your event concept. If you don’t, you’ll never get your hands on it.
ROI isn’t just a numbers game. There can be so many desired outcomes from an event, and for simplicity here they are divided into two camps:
- Hard ROI
- Soft ROI
Hard ROI is easily measured through data collated before, during and after the event using event tracking technology. It could be as simple as increasing attendance to increasing website traffic.
Soft ROI is harder to quantify. It could be ensuring your guests leave the event feeling appreciated, inspired, informed; where the simplest measurement tool is a survey sent with your ‘thank you for attending’ note. You may also run follow-up events and the guests who felt inspired are more likely to attend. Networking on the event with a particular client or prospect may lead to a meeting shortly after and ensuing incoming business.
When setting out ROI objectives we use the SMART acronym:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Trackable
Keep your SMART ROI plan simple by sticking to a maximum of 3 main objectives.
For example:
- each sales team member to secure 10 new business follow-up meetings
- to increase attendance by 15%
- drive more traffic to the website post-event
Then, ensure you have the right members of your team at the event and brief them fully on their objectives. If the objective is to secure more sales meetings from the event, it makes sense that the sales team are briefed and allocated key attendees to connect with on the event.
If your objectives rely on data capture, invest in event registration technology, giving you live reports during the event or data that can be collated after.
To summarise, here are our top ROI tips:
- brief EVERYONE and make sure the right team are present at the event
- use SMART to set simple ROI objectives
- ensure your budget matches your objectives
