event-surveys

What defines your success? Your attitude? Problem solving skills? Ability to see the opportunity in every setback? Surprisingly, the answer is none of the above. While those traits play an important role in your day-to-day dealing with co-workers and clients alike, the defining factor of succeeding in the cut-throat corporate world is the quality of your relationships.

You might have five degrees and an inordinately high IQ, but if you’re unable to relate to your clients, you’ll have a hard time convincing them to invest in your brand.

Changing consumer behaviour means that personable, authentic relationships are more important than ever before. A great product or an amazing offering isn’t enough – if you’re not relating to your clients in a way that garners their trust, you’ll have a hard time growing your brand.

We’ve chatted a fair bit about event surveys and their potential for providing your brand with essential information about your guests. What we haven’t touched on is how they also help you to facilitate personal relationships with them.

Without an event survey, the substantial amount of time and effort that creating, marketing and then planning an event requires is often laid to waste.

In order to nurture lasting relationships – and capitalise on them – you need to have data about your guests on hand. While your event may have been a roaring success, if you’re not using an event survey as a means for lasting relationships with your guests, their connection to your brand will be short lived.

An event survey is a means to establish a relationship with each guest; connecting you directly to the individual.

The beauty of an event survey lies in its ability to connect with your guests one-on-one. Personalised event surveys are far more successful than generic pop-up surveys or focus groups, as they talk to the individual only. This personalisation puts guests at ease, resulting in a willingness to participate and relay their feedback.

Event surveys are conversation starters – paving the way for future communication with your guests.

An event survey is essentially a litmus test of your guests’ experiences with your brand. This allows you to use them as a launch pad for further communication. Whether via email, social media, a newsletter or a blog, the information gathered via an event survey gives you insight into what your guests want from your brand, as well as the touch points that they respond to best.

Event surveys furnish you with relevant information about your guests, enabling you to provide them with further brand touch points that are relevant.

The power of an event survey ultimately boils down to the fact that it provides you with information that you otherwise wouldn’t have access too. Thanks to an event survey, you’re able to determine what your guests think and feel about your brand, as well as what they expect from it in the future. Relating to your clients boils down to knowing who they are – an event survey bridges this gap.

We’ll soon be launching a brand new eBook that talks about the powerful role an event that’s data-driven plays in your entire marketing strategy. In the meantime, have a look at what our event management software can do, here.

Event surveys are much more than just a means of gauging whether your event was a success with your guests. They also provide invaluable insight into a brand’s market, helping them to improve their overall brand offering, marketing strategies and customer satisfaction. The considerations below will enable you to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your event surveys as possible.

1. Ask the right questions, in the right way

In order to gather vital feedback from guests, event surveys need to include questions about the most important facets of an event from the perspective of the guests. This will differ by company, but some important aspects you might want to include are: venue, catering, entertainment and décor or theme of the event. In addition, in order to gain pertinent insight into your guests, always leave space for comments – this allows people to add in any additional information that you might not previously have considered as relevant.

2. Your event surveys need to be quick and easy to complete

If you want to get as much feedback from your event attendees as possible, don’t present them with a lengthy or complicated survey. This will only serve to put them off – leaving you without invaluable data about your guests. Keep your event surveys short and sweet – we recommend five questions at the most.

3. The more personalised your event surveys, the more valuable the data

Some brands who’re using event management software like ours, are taking their event surveys one step further by sending different surveys to the different demographics of their event attendees. By asking specific questions to specific individuals, they’re able to paint an even more accurate picture of their audience.

4. Timing is everything

The most influential aspect of event surveys is their timing. If you send them to your guests too long after an event – the chances that you’ll receive more than one or two completed surveys is slim to none. We advise sending your event surveys out just before an event ends, while the experience is still fresh in people’s minds. This is when they’ll be talking about your event – to their peers and on social media – making it the perfect time to pick their brains.  Once you’ve sent them out, follow up on your SMS or email surveys with a phone call the next day. As well as adding a personal touch, this allows you to consolidate your feedback, and ask any additional questions too

5. The success rate of your event surveys hinges on using the right technology

In an age where every single one of your guests is bound to own a smartphone, an SMS is a quick and efficient means of gathering information. The method you use to send your event surveys is only one piece of the puzzle, however. If your event surveys are linked to your overall event management software, you’ll be able to store this information and build up individual profiles of guests.

6. Information gathered from event surveys is useless if not put into practice

It’s pointless gathering information about your guests only to look at it once. Brands who hold events that see high attendance, engagement and ROI are the ones who carefully combe through their event surveys, and then tailor their future events around the data gathered. If they see that the majority of guests prefer an early evening cocktail party, they know to stop spending money on elaborate, night-long gala dinners. In the same vein, if they see that many of their guests weren’t happy with the vegetarian meal option, they’ll know to seek alternative caterers for their upcoming events.

Having detailed information about your guests and their event history is crucial for post-production meetings as you’ll be able to show your clients actual data – which in the world of events that entail substantial amounts of money – is priceless.

Image Credit: Respectful Workplace