How to Measure ROI for Your Meetings and Events 

In today’s dynamic economic climate, planning and evaluating the success of meetings and events for bottom-line value is increasingly vital, especially as capital expenditures are monitored closely. Demonstrating return on investment, or ROI, for events is more important than ever.

“Focusing on ROI is an important element of meeting and event planning because it helps planners work backward to create programming that will deliver value to both the attendees and the main organization backing the event,” says Phoenix Porcelli, SVP of Global Sales at Convene and a certified meeting planner. “Attendees want to learn something new, sharpen an existing skill set, or network, and will seek out events that cater to these needs. Organizations are looking to drive attendance at internal events to generate educational opportunities and up-level employees, or be seen as an industry leader in hosting external events that can also be monetized.” 

No matter the event's purpose, demonstrating a keen understanding of how it will perform allows planners to maximize event ROI.

Clarify event objectives 

To accurately measure event ROI, meeting and event planners need to first identify clear event objectives. What is the purpose of the event? What do you want attendees to take away from the program? Once these questions are answered, you can start to outline the best delivery to your audience and develop an agenda that helps accomplish your goals. ROI is then measured by how successful you were in achieving the objectives. 

By identifying your objectives and tracking both quantitative and qualitative results, you can measure the ROI of an event. This helps you determine if the event was a success, identify areas for improvement, and justify the investment for future events.

Map out measures of success

While all event programming should level up to your defined objectives, it should be noted that attendees’ motivation for participating may not be in perfect alignment. Event agendas should be strategically structured for maximum appeal, but with the ability to accommodate different skill sets to ensure various attendees understand the value of the event.

When measuring event ROI, you want to make the process as simple and seamless as possible for your event attendees to provide feedback. Here are some ways you can measure event ROI: 

• Real-Time Event Feedback: It is important to think about capturing feedback in real-time to get accurate results. A good way to do this is to have QR codes available to scan at the end of each session or iPads available upon exit of the event. The shorter the real-time survey questions, the better. Event planners should also be on-site to observe attendee behavior to extrapolate how elements of the event are being received. For example, instead of a survey question about the food, walk through the food service area; if a catering dish is empty, guests enjoyed it.
• Post-Event Surveys and Recap Meetings: Surveying attendees allows for quantitative feedback on attendee satisfaction and experience, while recap meetings after the event concludes provide more in-depth, qualitative insights that surveys cannot capture. Both are important for measuring ROI.
• RSVPs and Attendance Rate: Be sure to track the final number of RSVPs along with the attendance numbers to get an accurate count. Both metrics are important, especially to show year-over-year improvement and as a key measure to entice sponsors to participate.
• Revenue Outcomes: If your event was held specifically to generate direct income, such as a product launch, sales conference, or trade show, be sure to track ticket sales and product sales made during the event. Additionally, track the number of leads generated and the number of leads that are eventually converted into paying customers.  

The future of Event ROI

Meeting and event ROI is no longer just about a return on investment but a “return on interaction.” Bringing people together in person is about driving engagement.

Having a venue that can unlock maximum potential for attendees is becoming a key element in generating event ROI, as well. In addition to exposure to natural light and comfortable seating arrangements, planners should look for a space that allows for a customized room setup to ensure the best medium for information delivery. 

“The best way to do this is to allow attendees to have multiple experiences at your event,” says Porcelli. “Try alternating between sitting sessions, standing sessions, and interactive sessions to keep guests immersed in the content. Offering ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ breakout sessions and sessions that cater to varying levels of expertise can also help attendees have a personalized experience that generates goodwill towards the event. Make them feel special and heard.”

If you are interested in booking an upcoming meeting or event and maximizing your ROI with Convene, reach out today.