Q: How do you measure events?

A: If you can’t measure events, you can’t manage them. This (slightly modified) adage rings true for any experiential marketing campaign. We’ve put together a series of posts that explain the different ways experiential marketing campaigns can be measured and what they mean.

Since many different types of activations can fall under the umbrella of experiential marketing (festival sponsorships, sampling occasions, promotional experiences), it’s important to understand the right ways to measure them. In doing so, you’re not only identifying areas for improvement, but also finding the parts and ideas that work.

In this first post we’ve laid out the key event measures to keep track of and when they matter most when activating new campaigns.

Use these Metrics to Measure Events

On-Site Event and Attendance Measures (During)

Number of Giveaways
Number of Interactions
Number of Leads
Time to Capture Lead
Time of Average Engagement
Verbal Feedback

Social Media Overlay Measures (Pre / During / Post)

Social Impressions
Number of Pictures
Percentage of Pictures Shared
Total Reach

Promotional Tactic Measures (Pre / During / Post)

Number of Promo Codes Tracked and Redeemed
Number of Contest Participants

Because events happen on the ground, it’s important to understand the right ways to measure their success as opposed to more traditional marketing methods. With these metrics, you can approximately quantify the effort and build on strategies down the road. When activations are properly measured, you’re able to make more confident decisions about the workflow and strategy of any campaign, giving you the insight you need to tinker with it until you reach your goal.

For example, if the purpose the activation is lead generation, it would be important to consider the number of leads (likely customers) and how long it takes to capture them (to get their information for follow-up). These two metrics alone can better guide the type of campaign you can activate to achieve the best results.

In the next installment, we’ll dive into the metrics for the On-Site Event and how to separate the signal from the noise for the most effective performance indicators.

Update:

Part 2: The On-Site Event

Part 3: Before and After Event