Events have, in recent times, become heavily reliant on data. Event attendees are constantly feeding event professionals highly insightful data that can help them get closer to what their attendees are looking for at live sessions. However, recent studies have shown that event professionals often fail to capture and utilize data sufficiently. But why has it become important to analyze data from live sessions?
Live sessions are hives of information. But capturing information from live sessions is only half the battle. Utilizing insightful data and creating a plan of action is where the challenge lies. Here, we look at a few ways organizers can create actionable insights from tracking sessions at events.
Accurate prospect personas: Attendees at events constantly crave stimulation. They are hungry for relevant experiences that can make their lives easier. Live sessions, therefore, are a great way to understand their expectations and what they value. For event organizers, the information and feedback that attendees give them can prove invaluable to understanding motives, character, and interest levels. This can further help them strengthen their messaging and help the brand reach out to customers better.
Content performance: Tracking sessions and their engagement can tell event organizers what attendees are most interested in. Depending on how the content performs, organizers can use this information to understand what kind of content works better and center their content marketing strategy at events based on what has resonated with their audiences.
Check-ins and registrations: The registration rates for every session can tell event organizers the sort of topics their attendees are looking for. This can help organizers initiate relevant conversations with attendees as and when they interact with them at the booth. Analyzing check-in rates can also help organizers plan agendas for subsequent events. Planners can provide better performing sessions (those with the most number of check-ins and attendance) and speakers a prominent time slot for the next event. This ensures increased attendance and participation.
Qualitative data and engagement: The most important aspect of tracking sessions is that they come with a ton of qualitative responses that can drive great insight and conversations. The way customers and prospects react to certain stimuli and how they interact on social media can also tell organizers a lot about what to talk about. They can use this data to understand what worked and what did not and implement changes for subsequent events.
Related: Five tips to collecting customer feedback at B2B events
Easier lead qualification: Attendees are constantly engaging themselves at the event. Everything from the number of sessions they attend, the people they interact with, product demos they sit through, and the booth they step into can tell event professionals all they need to know about the attendee. This information can help target these personas more accurately and shorten the lead qualification process for marketing and sales. By qualifying leads early, it becomes easier to understand which opportunities sales team needs to concentrate on.
Impact on sales: Engagement can have a profound impact on sales. By tracking attendee behavior after sessions conclude, organizers can tell how many leads came from live sessions. This can not only attribute the impact of live sessions on the sales pipeline but can help organizers substantiate success against sales objectives and goals.
Attributing ROI: Exhibiting at events and engaging large audiences comes at significant cost. And since large expenses are involved, it becomes important to attribute returns. Tracking sessions can help organizers do just that. By analyzing the number of product demo requests and deals closed that follow a session, it is easy to determine the impact of these sessions on the sales pipeline.
Related: Event ROI: Five ways to win your money back
Events are busy times for organizers. There’s so much going on and keeping track of everything is extremely challenging. But with the data-centric approach that events are taking, it has become even more important to track and analyze patterns and leverage them. Armed with the data from tracking live sessions, event planners can create events that are not only personalized but highly goal-oriented and effective.
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