Anyone with experience in marketing knows an event can generate leads. Particularly in the B2B setting, events generate more leads than any other marketing initiative. The problem is what happens to those leads? Unfortunately, a vast majority of leads generated from events do not turn into sales, leaving marketers with the challenge of figuring out how to justify the spend on future events. Marketers must take the time to find insights and data that help justify the spend on events. Why? According to a recent Forrester report, events make up nearly a quarter of annual budgets. To help marketers secure the budget they need for future events, I compiled four insights that marketers can leverage to CMOs to justify event spend.
Number of quality face-to-face engagements
Much of the world has gone virtual, but that has not erased the need for face-to-face meetings. Strategic meetings are B2B meetings that have the opportunity to generate real business outcomes. For large deals, in particular, these meetings are best done in person. Strategic meetings often include decision makers, so the more face-to-face strategic meetings that take place at an event, the more opportunity businesses have to close deals. Tracking the number of face-to-face meetings held at an event can justify the budget for future events.
Customer Retention
Often times events are full of existing customers presenting an opportunity for companies to upsell. With your current customers understanding the value of your product and your sellers understanding their needs/concerns, companies have an easier time upselling at events where face-to-face meetings can take place. The last thing a brand wants is high customer churn, as this has a negative impact on revenue flow and Net Promoter Score. It is important to measure the associated pipeline and growth with existing customers at an event because an event is not just about drawing in new leads, but also about strengthening existing relationships.
Brand awareness
Looking at brand awareness involves a few dimensions. While CMOs are typically more focused on sales numbers, they also care about brand awareness as it impacts the top of the funnel. There are a few key indicators of brand awareness to look at during an event and compare to previous events: footfall, website traffic, social media engagement, and any media coverage. Another great way to measure brand awareness is by having a survey at the booth during the event. Survey results can provide CMOs with year over year insights that can help improve future events and marketing campaigns.
Event ROI
The ROI of an event can be measured with a few different metrics. Consider utilizing an event technology that can help track all of the various indicators. In addition to all the things already mentioned, the best way to measure this is by tracking the revenue associated with each meeting and following the customers through the pipeline. By incorporating event technology into your stack, you can calculate the total revenue that your company obtained from the event.
CMOs will always be focused on managing budgets and finding where the best opportunities lie to drive leads, increase revenue and more. With events taking a large portion of the budget, marketers will want to track key metrics that can help justify or increase the budget for a future event. When marketers calculate ROI, they are 1.6 times more likely to receive higher budgets. So, next time your CMO is asking how an event went, be prepared to share more than the number of leads generated.
