Connect emotionally with your audience and make them feel valued and known by collecting and using event data more effectively. If you understand what makes your audience tick, your marketing strategy can adapt over time to become even more effective and efficient.
Every interaction you have with an event attendee is a potential data point that can be used to inform your next engagement with them, and to achieve your business outcomes.
But how do you collect that data? Take a look at three methods below you can implement immediately.
1. Direct and easy
What’s the best way to get something you want? Ask for it! Your event registration site is a fantastic resource to gather feedback from attendees.
They’ve already decided to register for your event, so why not ask for a little bit more information?
What is their favorite color, snack and drink? Do they have a preferred temperature for their hotel room to be set when they arrive? These kinds of questions may seem small, but if you act on responses and provide personal custom touches, it can have a big impact on attendees’ overall experience.
2. Subtle and fun
Quizzes are a fun, unobtrusive way to get attendees engaged pre-event and collect valuable data. Keep in mind: Gamification requires more planning ahead of time to determine what experiences you will be able to customize and what information you will need to collect in order to categorize people accordingly.
For example, attendees might be asked to fill out a quiz before registering to discover what their event profile and ideal event experience would be. Once the attendee profile is discovered, the registration site connects each attendee to the agenda track that their profile suggested they would most enjoy.
Related: To illustrate a simple quiz method of data collection, we invite you to discover how a deceptively fun, simple quiz can collect valuable personal information.
3. Creative and analytical
Historical data from past events can reveal which attendees engaged in which experiences, sessions, etc. Then, compare the data to future audience actions—did they become a lead, get a meeting, make a sale?
Segment data by the elements of an event: roles, technology, engagement, content tracks, session types, off-site activities, etc. Once the data is segmented, you can understand which elements were the most effective at producing the outcomes you’re looking for in a meeting or event. Were the attendees at a specific session more likely to become solid leads? If so, what did those attendees have in common?
This method requires more sophisticated analytics (and less direct input from the attendee) but is highly valuable to understand more than the pre-selected preferences of attendees. Plus, this method will create an ongoing data capture loop that will ensure a hyper-personalized and adaptive experience for your audience.
Bringing data collection to life
Armed with the right information, you can create meetings and events that emotionally connect with your attendees and make sure they feel seen, heard and appreciated.
Download the white paper to learn more about how data can inform not only personalized event engagement journeys but also your marketing strategy.