Only 29% of senior event and marketing executives in the UK and Europe are capturing attendee data at more than one stage of the delegate journey.
That’s according to a recent Cvent survey of 2,100 senior marketers and planners from the UK, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Data is key to all stages of the event lifecycle. Most events offer multiple touch-points before, during and after, where data can be readily obtained in an efficient, secure and compliant manner.
It’s certainly surprising therefore that so few marketers stated that they capture data at multiple stages throughout the process.
There’s a whole host of ways to capture data before and after the event. For example, session interest and sign-up forms, pre-event marketing campaigns, competitions and post-event feedback are just a few ways to keep the data flowing beyond the actual event itself.
Some 25% of those surveyed only capture data post-event, 11% only capture beforehand and 1% don’t capture any data at all. So there’s a real opportunity for marketers to improve upon their existing data capture processes.
The advent of technology to track engagement at virtual and hybrid events has given marketers and planners more data points to understand buyer preferences, which in turn helps curate better leads.
Consider the data-capture possibilities at each step of the event experience and you’ll quickly find there’s ways to build out comprehensive profiles of your audience, often in very subtle ways without demanding reams of information.
Data profiles about your audience can be both from a macro level of understanding trends and averages, and on a per-person basis - creating fuller profiles of each of your individual attendees.
The wider, macro level can be used as a “temperature gauge” in positioning the brand or perhaps in planning the direction of future product or service developments.
Data's impact on sales and marketing strategies and lead pipeline
When asked about event data capture’s impact on sales and marketing strategies and lead pipeline, 29% of respondents cited creating more accurate customer targeting profiles as the most important outcome.
For those with this focus on profiles, it’s likely that the data being captured is well-utilised, with organisations using overarching data trends to carve out demographic specific campaigns and messaging for a more tailored brand experience.
Some 23% said the most important use of the data captured from an event was to help create the right type of events in the future. Almost 15% said its primary use was in supporting marketing efforts and 7% utilise event data to support the development of new products or services.
All this sounds great. But again, when you consider that only 29% of marketers capture data at more than one part of the event journey (pre, during or post), there's huge opportunities for many to gain further benefits by doubling down on their data capture efforts throughout the event lifecycle.
Of those not capturing data, 55% state lack of access to technology as the key reason.
For those in this situation, a simple (secured) excel spreadsheet on a laptop or tablet would be a start. Just remember with data, security and compliance is key.
Customer acquisition and onboarding
When Cvent's survey respondents were asked how events programmes are related to customer acquisition and onboarding, only 10% said that there was no specific consideration of the customer journey as part of events.
Of the 90% remaining, 12% said that the entire event programme is aligned to the customer journey with a clear understanding of how each event type impacts any stage it’s supporting.
Some 31% said that the events programme is mapped to the acquisition and onboarding experience, but commonly only to serve a single purpose, for example lead generation.
This is still a positive result and, in some circumstances, may be a more achievable expectation. If the key objective for your events is ultimately to drive sales, then at least you know that you can focus on just one key metric as a benchmark for success.
Many respondents (47%) said that they understood how their events were supporting their customer journey before and after the experience, but that they don’t document it.
This proportion of respondents could benefit from taking one step forward and at least mapping events to a single success criteria. It would provide real clarity about the events that are and aren’t working, allowing for a more strategic approach to event planning and management moving forward.
Cvent’s The New Event Marketing Opportunity Special Report provides further insights into how event organisers and marketers can better leverage technology to capitalise on the digitisation of events. To download the full survey findings, click here.
