Rob Prevett , director of growth , Totem , discusses how to effectively use data to influence an events strategy

emember the days when measuring event performance relied entirely upon sweeping up the leftover badges on the registration table , having a 30 minute post-event debrief with fee earners or sales teams ( if you were lucky ) and forwarding a few thank-you emails from clients and speakers ?

Covid-19 turned event reporting on its head by offering granular data on virtual audience behaviour . Fast forward to 2023 and in-person events have

returned with all the immediacy of face-to-face dealmaking but where is the data ? In a recent ICE survey , 41 % of in-person event organisers stated they did not have enough data to meet their goals .

The truth , of course , is that just because data capture is rich , does not mean it is helpful . This might be why in the very same ICE survey , as many as 26 % of respondents running virtual events indicated that they had “ too much ” data .

It ’ s a problem we hear repeatedly in the market ; the information we capture just takes too much time and effort to translate into meaningful insights , we know it doesn ’ t tell the full story and our data is fragmented across multiple software systems .

But it doesn ’ t have to be this way . What if the data we collected really could inform the next step of the audience journey ? What if we could measure how engaged our key accounts were weeks or even months after the event ? Smart events ( where interactive technology is interwoven throughout the event and beyond ) offer more personalised , data-driven experiences for attendees . Here are five ways they can drive value .

“ By monitoring which content an individual interacts with before , during and after an event we can build a deeper picture of the topics that most interest them .”

Personalise your audience journey By monitoring which content an individual interacts with before , during and after an event , we can build a deeper picture of the topics that most interest them . Modern event apps and virtual event platforms offer many more ways to capture this , from QR codes for session check-in to downloadable slides , supporting videos and on-demand content .

Once we know what they are interested in , we can invite that individual to a digital community and offer access to thought leadership articles , pdfs , videos etc . specifically on that topic . We can navigate them through an entire sequence of webinars , roundtables , social gatherings and other micro-events in their niche , with increasingly focused content .

At every stage , we can track what they are reading or watching , which discussion tags they are following , events they are attending and what they are clicking on . This helps us determine when they might be ready to open a conversation with a fee earner .

Tracking content like this opens up more personalised marketing possibilities , from providing data for specific retargeting campaigns to flagging sessions in future events if they match a delegate ’ s