Event Success Metrics – Top 10 Metrics for Measurement

Event planners must know which metrics to track for measuring events’ success. With event technology continuously advancing, you can easily focus on the right metrics, allowing smaller teams or single event planners to make data-driven decisions.

Here are the ten event success metrics you should look out for:

1. Demographics of event attendees

Demographics tell event planners relevant information that could contribute to other event success metrics, like utilization and event ROI. Knowing the age range, gender, and other demographic variables can help you tailor your event to the right audience and ensure it reaches its maximum potential. 

Cross-referencing demographics gives you valuable insights into your audience’s needs and interests. For example, you can combine event registration data with event survey responses to better understand your audience. Are there more women attendees than men? Are most event attendees in their 30s? You can utilize the data for segmentation and further analysis.

2. Event registration ​activity​

Registration not only tells you who and how many are attending but can also hint at marketing performance and ROI. Be on top of pre-registration activities such as peaks to know how your marketing efforts are paying off. Some questions that your registration activity may answer include the following and more: 

• How much time passes from the event advertisement to event registration? 
• Are there any differences in event registrations using different marketing tactics, like digital campaigns or referrals? 
• Which event marketing platform yields the highest event registration? 
• What is the event attendance rate? 

Registration activities can show where and how people find you and indicate event interest. It’s a crucial metric for understanding event reach and attendance. If you aim to have people register as early as possible, you can use the metrics to help understand how and when people are signing up. 

Based on your analysis, develop event strategies such as targeted campaigns or discounts to drive event registration.

3. Event ​attendance​

Apart from pre-registration activities, it’s best to also track event attendance. Knowing the attendance rate compared to pre-registration numbers gives you an insight into people following through with their commitment and actually making it to the event. 

​​​Audience attendance can also be helpful, especially when you have previous events to compare it with. It’ll give you a deeper understanding of the trends and support you in developing strategies to increase attendance for future events. 

Tracking attendance is also vital during the event. If you have different speakers or sessions, track event attendance closely to get an idea of how your event is performing. This tip will allow you to make swift decisions if necessary. Which session had the highest event attendance? Which one had the lowest? Why could that be?

4. New and ​r​eturning ​participants​

It’s also ideal to investigate new and returning participants. This indicator can help event planners acknowledge their success and identify new opportunities. If you hold the same event frequently, having an idea of returning participants can help you measure relevance and throw ideas around to make it more engaging. 

If most of your event participants are new, it may mean a broad event reach. You are ​successfully​ marketing your event, so the next challenge should be retaining these participants. If you have many returning participants, it’s a sign of event success and loyalty. 

Take a good look at these numbers to develop event strategies that will help you improve event engagement. If the number of returning participants increases, you can confirm that your event is on the right track!

5. Social ​m​edia engagement

Social media has undeniably become a ​critical ​platform for event promotion. According to Market Reading, 60% of virtual event planners leverage social media to gain valuable registrations. Of course, billions of people use social media, so reaching potential event participants, especially the younger generation, is almost effortless. 

You can use social media to increase event engagement before, during, and after your event. Measuring event success in social media helps identify event interest, engagement, and reach. Tools like analytics, event hashtags, and keyword searches are all helpful in measuring event success through social media. 

A good example is tracking your event hashtag. It’s a great way to measure event exposure and engagement. It also allows you to monitor mentions, discussions about event speakers, topics, and ​feedback about how the event is received… and perceived.​

6. Email ​marketing​ ​interactions​

Despite the popularity of other marketing platforms, email marketing remains one of the most popular event strategies. ​According to a recent article featured in ​Forbes​, ​email marketing is still relevant because of the following reasons: 

• Reaching more people compared to other platforms 
• Staying in touch with current and potential participants 
• Streamlining different event marketing strategies 
• Cost-effectiveness 
• More personalized messaging 
• Useful data insights 

Tracking your mail opening or click-through rates can​ provide further insight into what made your event​​ a​ success. If people are clicking through your emails, it’s an indication of event interest and relevance. On the other hand, if you don’t get any clicks or event sign-ups, it may be time to switch event strategies and create more targeted ones.

7. Event app ​usage​

If you have an app programmed for your event, event success measurement should include app download and usage. This metric helps you further understand event participants’ needs and interests during the event. 

Apps for events help you save on costs and time. You don’t need to allocate a budget for event materials, as information is readily available in the app. Additionally, event participants don’t need to wait for event staff to get event-related details. It’s also a great way to measure event success because it allows you to track engagement and trends and even analyze the event from a broader perspective. 

Look into ​which ​features and information your event participants often use, which pages they spend the most time on, and any feedback or comments submitted through the app.

8. Event revenue

Perhaps the most crucial piece of data for event success measurement is revenue. An event budget and revenue can help you determine event ROI in terms of time, effort, and money. ​Revenue is ​key to monitor data such as registration completion rates, ticket sales, new and returning attendees, and marketing performance. 

You can track event revenue by looking into ticket sales, sponsorships, event merchandise sales, and exhibitor fees. Pay close attention to the event budget to ensure you stay within ​the bounds of ​what your event can bear. Tracking event revenue is critical, as it can help you customize events and make more strategic event decisions. 

Understanding where your revenue comes from ​reveals where your event shines,​ which you can use to invest in future ​​vent strategies to maximize event ROI.

9. Postevent survey feedback

​​Another critical event success metric is post-event surveys. ​​​ 

Event surveys give event organizers valuable event feedback and help them understand the event from participants’ perspectives. You can let your participants answer your surveys through email, event apps, or event websites. Prioritize surveys to make the event better next time. 

The surveys should be relevant and well-designed to ensure that you capture the event’s strengths and weaknesses. ​They ​should also cover event satisfaction, goals and objectives, highlights or disappointments, value and engagement, speakers, venues, technology, and marketing. 

What your audiences say about your event will tell you a lot about its success. This metric will be your steppingstone toward future event success.

10. Intangible metrics

Lastly, event planners must track what’s beyond numbers and events data. These intangible event success measures include event networking, post-event conversations, community engagement, and any event influence. 

Events are places where people learn, share their experiences, and make valuable connections. Intangible measures include event conversations and buzz. What do you hear from event participants during and after your event? Are they talking about it? Verbal feedback can be an event’s most powerful marketing tool and success metric. 

Measure new opportunities that your event created, such as partnerships and collaborations. These intangible event success measures are just as important as event numbers, if not more. 

Configure successful events with Configio 

Event success measurement is the key to event optimization and improvement. Event organizers can measure ROI and performance and, most importantly, configure more successful events in the future. Successful events can also look different from event to event, depending on your event goals and objectives. Regardless, you must use event metrics to measure your successes or setbacks, progress, and improvements. 

Configio is a business management and registration platform that provides event technology for event lifecycle optimization. We cater to different markets, supporting events and conferences with effective event management. We believe that event success starts with a great platform, and we provide that for event planners like you. 

Every event can return an overwhelming amount of information. All the data you gather is valuable, but when it comes to event success, you need to know the right metrics to track. With Configio, you can measure event success in real-time and take your performance to the next level. Contact us today!