How would you determine if your virtual event was a big hit? Are there any set measures to track the overall success of your event? With rising competition in the event industry, it is getting harder to pull off a successful event. A virtual event can be a lot of work, from determining your goals to planning and executing. However, there are certain key performance indicators (KPIs) that speak about the overall impact of your event. For instance, imagine you are hosting a virtual job fair. Now, the outrageous number of applicants joining in and applying for the job roles is a clear indicator of virtual event success. Else, if your event failed to receive the expected turnout, then your event sadly remained a flop.
Previously, tracking the data manually at a physical event was a tedious task. But, thanks to the virtual events platform, event metrics can be calculated quickly and accurately. The platform allows event organizers to push in KPIs and track data automatically recorded within the system. When you decide on your event’s KPIs, it is easier to track the progress and overall return on investment. It saves one from the trouble of documentation and provides complete event analytical reports. Take, for instance, you are hosting an employee networking event. How would you track the networking experience of your employees? Your event success here is determined by the rate of engagement among the attendees and overall attendee participation in event segments.
9 Ways to Measure Virtual Event Success
As an event planner, you must first chalk out your event’s goals, agenda and KPIs. This shall help build a clear virtual event strategy. But you need to ensure that your event metrics are; measurable, specific, realistic, achievable and time-bound. Rest, an automated system records the success factors and creates a complete success report. Here’s a list of event metrics that define virtual event success in one way or another.
1- Event Registrations Recorded at Landing Page
The first step to gauge the event’s success is the rate of registrations coming in. Prior to the event, you engage in a lot of event promotion and marketing. All the hassle is to encourage people to register for the event. The more you spread the word, the more registrations you can score. So, when it comes to virtual event registrations, the virtual platform allows you to create an impressive event landing page. Basically, the landing page is the first encounter of attendees with your event. This is where you get to welcome them, brief them about the event agenda and segments, and quickly receive registrations with a click. The process is seamless for anyone joining from anywhere in the world.
Thus, the more registrations you receive for your event, the more it guides you towards virtual event success. For instance, if you can score more registrations from your previous event, then it is a clear indication that your current event will be a bigger hit. Now is your chance to start speaking big about your event and attracting others who have yet to register. You can start marketing the event with strong affirmation so that all the registrants get excited to attend the event. You can also share a snippet of current registrations on social media to celebrate the pre-event success.
2- Number of Sign-ups on the Event Day
This is a great KPI indicator, as your virtual event success is actually dependent on the number of attendees that show up. Thankfully, the virtual platform keeps an exact count of all the sign-ups. So that you receive real-time information on the people joining in at any time. All your marketing efforts are well recognized at the time of event sign-ups.
In fact, the virtual platform also keeps count of sign-ups at the webinar sessions, live-speaker sessions or seminars. This way, you can determine which segment became a hit among the audience. Like, you can repeat those particular topics of discussion for your next event. Also, you get to learn the preferences of your audience.
3- Attendee Engagement at Booths or Speaker Sessions
Your virtual event audience is the real game changer. From the moment attendees sign-up at the event, they can either interact with your representatives at the booths or attend live segments. Basically, your audience is looking to experience, interact and get the most out of your event. Some individuals are interested in live 1:1 or group chats. At the same time, others may prefer to attend live or recorded webinar sessions. As soon as they engage in these live sessions, they start participating in your event. So you see, the success of your virtual conference is determined by the webinar visits, roundtable discussions or 1:1 attendee engagement. Also, check out ideas for a virtual conference in 2023.
The live engagement you are looking for from your audience comes in the form of the following;
- Webinar visits
- Booth activity
- Chat Engagement
- Q&A sessions
- Polls & Quizzes
- Roundtable discussions
- Games participation
- Photo booth visits
- Breakout sessions
With an on-site event, it is impossible for you to track each attendee’s engagement. You cannot keep a manual record of each attendee and their activities. But, with a virtual platform, you receive automated engagement metrics from start to finish. So, there’s no chance of error when we talk about a virtual platform event tracking system. The data is, without a doubt, 100% accurate, specific and detailed. The best thing is that it is recorded and displayed in real-time for you to determine your virtual event’s success. Also, check out eight tips to keep the audience virtually engaged.
4- Direct Website Traffic Throughout the Event
Another great KPI bringing value to your virtual event is direct website visits. Once you are done with the live event, it is time to have a peek at the number of website visits. People are most likely to visit your brand, explore products and services and even interact with you via the website. This is the safe choice for your prospective leads to interact with your brand post-event. Therefore, we recommend creating an event-specific landing page or a web page. You can put all the information regarding the event, your agenda, and what’s in it for them.
Always remember that your website traffic is one factor that brings the most value to your organization. Therefore, your pre and post-event marketing efforts should focus on the means to bring people directly to your business website. Make sure you install CTA buttons to allow attendees to land directly at the event page or website. Let’s face it, the purpose here is to grow your network through hook or crook. So, do not shy if you have to link your website, social media or even your email when leading the traffic in the right direction.
5- Conversion Rates at the Live Event
What is the purpose of hosting virtual events? Today, the main purpose of hosting global events is to expand your reach, make new connections, and generate leads and conversions. With a virtual event, your brand is presented across the world. As a result, more and more people are interested in your brand. Now it is your job to mature and convert the leads. Thankfully, virtual events give you a chance to convert leads in an automated way. For instance, most organizations host virtual exhibitions, trade shows, sales events, and product launches to attract a global clientele. Your prospective clients show interest in your brand and engage there and then. With an online shopping cart, virtual attendees make purchases in real-time.
If you wish for your audience to stay immersed in your brand, then offer them a memorable event experience. It all comes down to how well you engage the audience within your brand. Thus, lead conversion helps measure overall attendee retention, indicating the event’s success in ROI.
6- Results from Polls, Questionnaires & Quizzes
If you wish to host a successful virtual event, then make sure your audience is well-immersed and engaged. Half of your audience is looking for a chance to start interacting or participating in the event. So conducting live polls, Q&A sessions, and quizzes are a great way to receive direct audience feedback. You can conduct polls on various subjects to keep your audience fully engaged. Whether hosting a webinar session, roundtable discussion or keynote speech, live Q&A will help your attendees share ideas, post queries or voice their opinions. Here are some webinar trends to look out for in 2023.
The responses received on polls, questionnaires, Q&A sessions, and quizzes speak a lot about your event’s success. Also, you can run a post-event poll to get honest feedback from your audience on their event experience.
7- Social Media Engagement Metrics
One of the best ways to measure virtual event success is through the social media hype. We all know that people most actively interact with social media news. Basically, when marketing your virtual event, do not miss the chance to post relevant information on social media. Social media analytics, such as the number of likes, comments, shares or saves, are easy to track. This shows how much interest people are taking in your event. Also, people who could not attend the event shared their thoughts or views via social media. You get to learn what people are talking about the event and what their perceived thoughts being an outsider.
Moreover, running an event hashtag helps your event rank for the right target audience. Then the number of followers you gain after sharing the posts tells a lot about the success of your overall event. We suggest you also post snippets from your live event or integrate a social wall within the event to get real-time responses from people. Not just that, your little efforts also create hype about your brand, and the interested lot ends up on your website. Thus, an increase in traffic search allows you to measure the impression of your overall event.
For reference, here’s a guide to effective virtual event marketing.
8- Amount of Revenue Generated
After all, it is all about the revenue your event generates. If you wish to measure the overall virtual event success, then calculate the revenue generated. With a virtual platform, you get real-time metrics reports on potential leads converted, successful sales and general income. Overall, the platform gives you the exact count of the tickets sold, funds received, other sales and profits earned through sponsorships. This altogether helps analyze how well your event did for your organization.
9- Feedback From Post-event Surveys
Your audience is the best source to receive honest feedback on the success of your event. The live polls conducted at the end of the virtual event speak greatly about what worked well for you. You can run these polls or survey forms to inquire about event segments, speaker sessions or discussions. So this becomes your guidelines on what to continue for your next event. On the other hand, your attendees feel included when you inquire them about their experience.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, the discussion above will guide you better towards measuring the overall event metrics. It is mainly the real-time analytics that speaks about the success of your event. We understand that keeping track of the entire event’s progress can be a daunting task. In fact, manual records or data are mostly lost in translation. But, with a virtual platform, you receive detailed and accurate reports on the overall ROIs. Although an important factor to consider here is that your event metrics solely depend on the type of event you are hosting. So, make sure you have a clear agenda, and KPIs chalked out. This will help you take things in the right direction and achieve the desired results.
Virtual Days Platform welcomes event organizers to host successful virtual events. From start to finish, our virtual events platform helps you track the event’s progress and overall impression. So take a quick demo of our platform features, and let’s start planning your next event.
