Data collection may seem like a hot topic today when it comes to privacy and information, but in fact, for most of us, data collection happens almost every day. From sales data to email capture forms to CCTV to website cookies, our world is capturing data at all times. According to 2024 marketing trends, contextual advertising and personalization are on the rise — and both require data collection to function properly.
Of course, privacy is an important topic, and we should ensure that we’re collecting data ethically and with permission. But in the world of events, data collection is a valuable tool that helps us build gatherings that stand out from the rest and craft a successful post-event marketing strategy for those events.
Data analysis, simply put, is the process of using data to learn information. This helps professionals in many spheres make informed and strategic decisions — and this is especially true in the world of marketing. Data plays a fundamental role in shaping the future of an organization’s events. Event data and technology help us understand attendee behaviors, preferences, and overall event satisfaction. We can then use this information to create even better events that resonate with our target audience and create satisfied ticket holders year after year.
Data-driven insights empower event organizers to make informed decisions and enhance the overall attendee experience. This can be done in countless ways, from tracking attendance patterns to evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies. Collecting data at your events allows you to accomplish three main objectives:
Today, there are a wide variety of methods and tools to help marketers collect data at events, and each of them uniquely contributes to event success. Here are some of the most popular ways to learn about your audience.
As we’ve mentioned, it’s important to gather data with permission. Not only does this ensure you’re within legal guidelines as a marketer, but it also builds trust with your audience. If you want to use data collection to create events that perform well and resonate with your audience, try these tools.
Surveys (think Typeform, Jotform, and Survey Monkey) are a fantastic way to gather data directly from your participants, and when used strategically, they provide lots of valuable information. Learn how to ask the right questions, using logic in your surveys to get more specific data. You can also utilize your event app to get timely feedback on content, sessions, and program components with polls and questionnaires that are triggered for attendees at a specific time.
AI programs like Zenus allow you to measure audience engagement with on-site systems. Using this tool might mean explaining the difference between facial recognition and facial analysis to your audience. Recognition is used to identify specific people and record unique data. Analysis, on the other hand, aggregates facial data and shares metrics as a group — for example, who was shocked by a new product reveal or who was excited when the keynote speaker took the stage.
Of course, all event professionals want to see registration counts rise. But it’s just as important to know who is registering for your event — and who isn’t! To learn more about your audience, track registration analytics. Here are some factors to keep an eye on:
With a few customizations, you can even learn how far a viewer scrolled through your registration form before leaving the page. This helps you find out if your form is too long or if you're asking for too much info at once. The good news: if a long form is preventing you from getting sales, you have a simple fix that can be implemented right away!
If you’ve created an app for your event, you have a wealth of user data at your fingertips that can inform your choices and enhance your user experience. Here are just a few things you can track:
Email lists are one of the first digital marketing data collection tools, and they’re still an incredibly valuable way to collect audience data that informs your marketing strategy and provides users with enticing promotions. If you want to leverage this tool, we highly recommend using Hubspot!
First, determine a specific action that you'd like your event attendees to take after the event ends. Then create a mechanism that measures that action. This sounds complex, but it’s actually quite simple, and best illustrated with an example. If you’re launching a product, your objective is most likely for event attendees to buy said product, or at least schedule a product demonstration to learn more. To find out if attendees are buying or scheduling, create a landing page that allows them to do both. Track visits to the page so that you’ll know who is taking which steps — and how to follow up!
If you want to send attendees to a specific webpage or make purchases easy, try creating QR codes. Almost everyone will be able to scan them with a smartphone or tablet, and you can track visits to each individual QR code, which allows you to observe multiple metrics easily.
Want to know what’s being said about your brand or event online? Implement social listening or social media monitoring. This is a great way to get real-time feedback from your audience, even if they aren’t communicating directly with you through a survey or email.
Smart badges and other wearables are an excellent way to gather information from attendees. Many people already feel comfortable with wearables like the Apple Watch, Oura ring, or FitBit, so this is an easy step to implement at your gathering.
As it turns out, data collection methods are incredibly versatile. As an event organizer, you don’t need to utilize every option on the list above. Instead, you can adopt a strategy that best suits your needs, event objectives, and audience demographics.
At Redstory, we use a unique data collection process that’s proven to boost your impact. By merging data, behavioral science, and design, we create beautiful experiences that inspire people to action. Learn more about our process here.
Our data-driven insights have led to measurable improvements in attendee satisfaction, event ROI, and overall organizational success. We’ve implemented this process for Lane Bryant, Tennessee STEM, and many others — you can peruse our case studies here.
If you like what you see, reach out to the Redstory team. We’d love to help you create emotional connections between brands and people with data and experiences that focus on what matters most — human impact.