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Spend It? OR Save It?

Planning meetings and events is fun, but there’s a reason we hold that gala or plan that corporate gathering. We want it to produce results — a return on investment. How much money your function generates is only one measurement. It also includes brand building, increased awareness, improved market share, and more. That said, below we explore the broad parameters of ROI, and best practices for increasing it that starts with where you should spend your budget and save it.

Q. How do you measure return on investment for meetings and events?

A. Factoring ROI involves evaluating the hard cost of the event versus the benefit. Sometimes that’s a return in dollars; oftentimes it’s about intangible benefits. Determining that involves measuring fees for such things as location, food and décor against the benefits measured from the standpoint of what and why your organization is holding this event.

For a non-profit organization, the annual gala may be the source for their entire year’s funding, so the event impacts outreach and the health of the organization in terms of funding. For a corporation, the event may impact the health and growth of the company in terms of customers and sales, as well as increased market share. For both non- and for-profit organizations, there are benefits to marketing and brand awareness. These aren’t simply hard dollar returns, but exposure in the marketplace for the brand. This is an intangible benefit as it impacts how the brand is perceived by customers, and in turn, how that will impact customers and sales or donations. This is not to say that the event itself cannot be a profit maker. Instituting a table fee or registration fee can generate added revenue.

Finally, it’s important to consider ROI to the secondary stakeholder — the meeting or event attendee. How are they going to feel they got their money’s worth? Is the event providing a “wow” factor? Educational content? Inspiration? Ideas? Networking opportunities? What are you offering that attendees will see as valuable?

Q. What are the best practices for increasing ROI?

A. First, make sure your organization is goal centric. Decide what metrics your organization is going to use to evaluate goals and objectives. For example, the number of customers in the sales pipeline, the amount of donations or pledges, or an increase in customer engagement. For non-profits, there is a quantifiable element in increased awareness of their cause. A perfect example is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that was ubiquitous on social media a few years ago. It’s a goal centric marketing effort in that it greatly increased awareness of ALS.

Secondly, either an indirect or direct revenue generated focus on developing and maintaining a strong attendee experience. For example, if networking is one of the goals, you’d want to design the experience to offer the attendee ample opportunity to have face-to-face connections between each other and your staff. In that way, they’ll see a direct benefit coming out of the event.

Q. What will give my event the best Return on Investment?

A. With a strategy-focused client base, track attendee demand and registration numbers for customer-targeted events. During event development, brainstorm with clients to help them think like their customers, e.g., “What is it they are seeking?” “What gives this event enough value that managers are willing to send their employees?” Using this approach, develop unique event experiences for attendees, such as opportunities to connect one-on-one with engineers and executives, hands-on time with products, and tailored, applicable education sessions. The returns will speak for themselves including a growing attendee demand for the event year after year. In addition, ensure that your clients are leveraging the tracking tools that can help them pinpoint qualified leads coming from the event and follow them through the sales’ pipeline. That shows direct ROI, creating a very quantifiable way to see event return.

ROI is also important in internal events. The attendee experience is truly key with these events; if the event or trip does not meet expectations, it loses its motivational power, and word will travel fast throughout the organization. Think through every detail, crafting “the experience of a lifetime,” and see it pay off handsomely for your clients measuring sales numbers increase consistently as employees strive to earn these rewards.

Q. When should I spend my budget and when should I save it?

A. It’s important to leverage the history you have with your customers. Reach out to past attendees and find out why they attended your event. Ask what they felt about it. Leverage that information and apply it to your next event. Often, attendees will remember the food (or lack thereof), the educational content and/or entertainment. They will also remember if an event was fun. This sets you up for success in the future.

Lastly, when planning, be sure to track all expenses related to your event and assign a value to each and make sure you’re helping your stakeholder understands the full breadth of benefits related to the event – increased revenue, brand awareness, and knowledge of your cause or purpose – even if it comes at a cost.

Casey Romano, Publisher | meetingpages | casey@meetingpages.com

Creator of digital platform meetingpages complete event planning directory and resource delivering leads and national, regional and local exposure for event venues, suppliers and destinations in MN, WI, IA & CO markets. In her free time, this 19 year industry veteran enjoys dance, group fitness, and training her young golden retriever dog in competition obedience and confirmation.