So, you’re back at it with in-person events. Woohoo! After the last year and a half, every event marketing team worth their salt is chomping at the bit to get back out on the road and connect with customers, prospects, and partners in person. Hopefully, the time spent at home hosting virtual events has uncovered valuable lessons and insights that event marketing teams and executives can translate to in-person events.

Tracking event data

Historically, in-person event metrics have been notoriously hard to gather, track, and manage as part of a larger marketing strategy because they are so hard to pin down. This is especially true regarding ROI and the hard and fast ‘numbers’ in event marketing. Many marketing executives have found it challenging to integrate and understand in-person event marketing in relation to a larger cohesive marketing strategy because the data involved is not so cut-and-dry as, say, the number of downloads of a whitepaper or the number of link clicks on a website.

Metrics event marketing executives need to track

Just because something is challenging to uncover, however, does not mean it can’t be done. Event marketing executives must be fully aware of how in-person events perform to build an integrated marketing strategy and deliver the right results. Here are three metrics every event marketing executive needs to track as you get back on the road with in-person events:

1. Brand Awareness

In-person events are incredible for many different reasons, but one of the most important is brand awareness. With the right minds in the same room, your team has the chance to share your story, connect with customers or prospects on a deeper level, and spread your message. Brand awareness metrics include:

• Social media mentions, likes, or shares
• Online and website traffic (including searches)
• Industry media mentions and coverage

2. Engagement

One of the most significant differences between live and virtual events is that during live events, you can have a deeper understanding of how engaged your audience is. Engagement can mean different things to different teams, which is why executives need to have a clear definition of ‘engagement’ with their team before an event starts. Examples of engagement metrics include:

• Attendance at a booth or speaking session
• Q&A engagement during a session or at a booth
• Live demo requests during an event

3. Lead Generation (aka ROI)

And now the big daddy metric of them all: ROI. One of the main ways event marketing executives can continue to drive buy-in and support for in-person events is by proving unequivocally that these events drive new leads, help move deals through the pipeline, and contribute to the bottom line. By attributing a dollar amount to accounts or customers ‘brought in’ by events, your team can associate real returns to your event marketing efforts. Lead generation metrics include:

• New lead or customer acquisition
• Leads moved from one sales stage to the next
• Closed deals with an event lead source

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Optimize in-person events with Circa

With Circa, event marketing teams can have the same insight and understanding into in-person event metrics as they would for virtual events. From tracking online content engagement to integrating other martec solutions to measuring registrations and attendees, Circa helps your team do it all – without sacrificing visibility into data.

Curious about which events your competitors and customers are taking part in? Event Intel by Circa gives you total visibility into the strategies of others, helping you power your own event marketing calendar.