How to Increase the ROI of Your Events

October 28, 2015 by Jaynie Schultz

In an October 21st article for Ad Age, co-founder and CEO of the Splash event marketing platform Ben Hindman offers 5 tips to help marketers better track
the ROI of their events.

The Event Life-Cycle 

According to Hindman, properly executed events provide planners with up to 15 opportunities to connect with their audience. In addition to the actual event itself, activities such as the invitation, save-the-date reminders, follow-up emails and earned media represent unique opportunities for planners and event marketers to build brand awareness and provide their audience with content that’s tailored to each phase of the event life-cycle.

Involve Your Entire Organization

He also urges planners to think cross-departmentally, and states “the best marketers step out of their silos and make event planning a company-wide initiative.”  A good example of the benefits of this approach is the guest list, which he claims is the most important part of the event.  Instead of assigning the invitations to a single person or department, he recommends involving the entire company, and offering incentives for results.

Rethink the CPA 

Hindman also recommends that event planners and marketers rethink the way they calculate the cost-per-acquisition of their events. Instead of calculating the CPA as the cost of the event divided by the number of attendees, he recommends focusing on making your events so “unmissable” that people will talk about it on their social networks. “If the event is so good that people are willing to talk about it on social,” says Hindman, “then you’ve just cut your CPA down significantly.”

Beyond Monetary Considerations

As I mentioned in a recent post about the ROI of events a lot can be learned by observing the group dynamics during the event. It’s extremely important to hold retreats and events at locations that are conducive to the desired outcome. If, for example, the goal of the event is to promote deeper bonds with the host organization, or among the attendees themselves, try to find a retreat venue that offers the right amenities and activities in the appropriate setting. 

Although the tips offered by Ben Hindman are targeted toward corporate sales and marketing events, the takeaways are applicable to virtually any type of event, and are well worth reading.  Click here to read the Ad Age article.

By Jaynie Schutlz
Co-Founder, Retreat Central Jaynie Schultz created Garrett Creek Ranch with her mother more than 20 years ago. She served as the founding Director of Sales and Marketing and is involved in many non-profit organizations and leadership development programs. 

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