Findings offer insight into how technology can help organisers prove the value of their overall events programme to internal stakeholders 

Seven in ten in-house corporate events organisers identify data measurement and proving return on investment (ROI) as top challenges they want to address to enhance their event programmes in 2020, according to new research published today by ICE, the In-House Corporate Events community in collaboration with Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider.  Research participants^[1] also cited a need to incorporate meetings and events into the overarching company strategy and a desire to increase communication and data-sharing between internal stakeholders. 

Most events are currently analysed based on data which includes attendance and customer satisfaction, yet non-event metrics such as future customer behaviour, impact on brand awareness, and company benchmarking, were cited as ‘extremely important’ in helping to more effectively demonstrate the value of events to internal stakeholders. Nearly nine in ten respondents (86%) also focus on the impact of the event on future buyer behaviour, although less than a quarter (22%) are currently able to measure it. In addition, more than three quarters (77%) of respondents cited that measuring the impact on brand awareness after an event was important in proving value, but only 21 percent actually used this metric.

Other highlights of the research include:

• 64% of respondents said that using technology to streamline processes and enhance data collection was a top priority. The majority of event professionals measure attendance and feedback through registration and customer feedback tools but want new and innovative technology solutions that can help measure the true business impact of their events. 

• The survey also addressed size of teams in relation to technology adoption and found that teams of 6 -10 event professionals have the highest adoption rate when compared to both larger and smaller teams.

• Research also indicated that there is a correlation between feeling valued within an organisation and being a proactive, responsive team that works diligently to delight attendees at events. When asked if the event team proactively takes the lead on the events programme, nearly 80% of those who felt valued stated this was true. For those who felt undervalued, only 1 in 3 found this statement to be true.

To download the full report click here.

“These findings are a real insight into the minds of event organisers and their frustration over measuring and showing the impact of the events they create,” comments Anita Howard, CEO and Founder of ICE. “It should be reassuring though that most feel the same way, and it definitely suggests an underlying need for creating new methodologies for measuring events – something we at ICE are working on over the next few months.”

 “We are seeing an increasing professionalism in the way that in-house teams are thinking about what they do, and at ICE, we want to help organisers not only demonstrate the value of what they do, but also be able to prove it to both internal and external stakeholders,” comments Howard.

Judy Elvey, director of marketing for Cvent adds: “Demonstrating the value of events to internal stakeholders has been an ongoing challenge for many in-house corporate event planners and this research provides valuable insight into what next steps can be taken to improve data collection and measure ROI. Meetings and events play an integral part of an organisation’s success and at Cvent, we provide the tools our clients need to prove not only the value of events, but also the value of the event organiser role. It is our goal to help elevate the in-house community and help them earn their seat at the boardroom table.”

^{[1] Respondents work in 10 industry sectors within the in-house corporate events industry including; Banking, Charity, Energy, Financial Services, Government, Healthcare, IT & Telecoms, Legal, Manufacturing, Media, Retail, FMCG, Other}