In our last post, we touched on experiential marketing and how it makes a deeper and more powerful connection with event attendees. Yes, generating highly creative experiences that demand attention are essential for establishing a lasting connection with your brand, but how do you know your efforts are paying off?
In this era of highly personalized engagement, we’re fortunate to have hard data related to almost everything a person does. On-site registration and giveaway signup numbers can influence business prospects. Event-specific hashtags can show engagement in real time. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social streams, show event planners and marketers real-time insights as to how consumers are reacting to and interacting with their brand. Even beyond individual engagement, the overall message and reach of social media data related to your event can reveal just how successful and impactful your event truly was.
So, if we know social data and on-site event interactions can act as KPIs for your event, how do you gather and analyze this data?
- Encourage Sharing
First and foremost, encourage event attendees to share their thoughts and experiences with friends and event staff through dedicated channels. Set up clear lines of communication such as an online form, event-specific app, or survey sent to the attendee’s email address (hint: adding the links to the HD display screen on your charging station is a great way to get this information out to your attendees). Be proactive and ask attendees about their experience at your event. Knowing which topics or events interested them the most or what relevant sessions they’d like to see at your next event will give you a good sense of which event aspects worked well and which were a dud. - Social Media Is Your Best Friend
The quickest and easiest way to gather attendee data is by using social media to your advantage. Offer some type of free services such as a green screen, photo booth, or charging station where the attendee only gets access after providing information such as their name and email address or connecting directly to your brand via social media. This way, you get access to more data rich information and also provide a fun, memorable amenity. - Don’t Let Session Data Go To Waste
If you host conferences or trade events, utilizing RFID or beacon technology can help you monitor who checks in to which sessions. Not only will you know who attended each session, but you’ll be able to see which sessions were the most popular, which had a high attrition rate, and even how efficient the flow of attendees from one session to another truly is. - Let Your Charging Station Gather Data For You
Our People Counter cell phone charging stations combine the appeal of a custom branded charging station with the power of tracking technology to provide valuable metrics such as age, emotion, gender, and movement of people around your charging station. We’ll gather the data and send you a report one week after your event so you can spend less time figuring out how to collect data and spend more time putting that data to good use.
