The goal of qualitative measurement, while not as statistically significant as quantitative tactics, is to assess event performance by obtaining unaided, firsthand consumer reactions, impressions and perceptions relative to the event experience. This information gives marketers an in-depth and unfiltered evaluation of how the audience received an event. A few methodologies to capture this data include:
In-person interviews/intercepts
In-person interviews can be used to measure the immediate effectiveness of the event and provide insight on things like: what brought consumers to the event, their initial impression/perception of the event and what was most memorable about the event.
Social Media Conversation Monitoring
An effective way to measure consumer sentiment and perception of an event is to monitor the social conversations that arise. Marketers can now follow and track event related content posted by consumers by utilizing hashtags, Google alerts, and social media monitoring applications (see a comprehensive list of social media monitoring tools in this article by Pam Dyer on social media today), giving brands the opportunity to listen to what consumers are saying in real time. Monitoring event specific social content will give you an unfiltered look at consumer attitudes toward an event as well as valuable insights on what did or didn’t resonate with them. Don’t be afraid to engage further in conversation with targeted consumers, the greatest thing about social media is the ability to interact with your consumers.
Event observation/Interaction
Observe and experience the event for yourself or with your team. Engage with the brands activations as if you were a consumer, interact with staff, demo the new products, ask questions and use the technology. The knowledge and insights you and your staff gather from observing and interacting will give you a solid understanding of the event experience and strong basis to analyze all of your additional event metrics.
Things to remember
The goal of measuring any event is to evaluate the success and effectiveness of the event based on your marketing objectives and uncover actionable insights to help drive future event strategy.
A good measurement strategy begins with clearly defined objectives and leverages a combination of methods to effectively measure the event success.
