Attendee engagement plays a central role in virtual, in-person and hybrid event marketing for multiple reasons. On one level, it transforms a webinar, seminar or conference into an interactive experience – creating an opportunity for attendees, hosts and sponsors to create connections and build relationships. Often, this is what determines the difference between a memorable event and a forgettable one – and compels attendees to return for future events.
On another level, attendee engagement offers businesses the rich and unique insights necessary for growing relationships with customers and prospects and driving pipeline. Having the technology to capture event-based buying signals is critical to determining buyer intent, which can improve subsequent communications and personalize event experiences. Mapping those insights to what you already know about your attendee’s buying journey can create more meaningful interactions, plus greater efficiency and velocity of your revenue-generating efforts.
Defining Engagement Metrics
Metrics pulled from your event technology solution(s) after the event will not only allow you to measure the success of your event and engagement strategies, they’ll also help optimize future events, increase customer and prospect intelligence, and give you a clear measure of your event ROI.
Defining your metrics for success will change depending on whether you’re hosting a fully in-person, hybrid or virtual event. Consider these engagement metrics to help measure the outcomes of your event:
Use Engagement Insights to Inform Personalized Follow-Up
Now that your event has ended, compare the data you’ve collected from this event to your last event – what learnings can you take away? How do attendee engagement behaviors differ based on the event format, and how can this inform your future events? Hone in on repeat attendees and evaluate how their intent or interests have changed – what does this tell you about not only their own motivations, but their company’s potential pain points or interests as well?
Balance what users told you prior to the event with what they actually did—what they attended, downloaded and said in live polls or on discussion boards. This will allow you to develop more rounded profiles of your clients, and to target follow-up messaging and offers based on those profiles.
Unlocking Event ROI
There’s a reason why 49% of marketers point to audience engagement as the biggest contributing factor for a successful event – because above all, event engagement is the key to unlocking your event ROI. The more engagement data that you are able to capture, the greater the insights you have to power your marketing efforts and nurture leads down the funnel.
Check out Certain’s Event Engagement Data Playbook for more insights on how to drive, capture and act on attendee engagement data for your in-person, hybrid or virtual events.