Your event is coming to an end. You’ve worked for months to deliver exciting content and an exceptional experience. But what did your participants really think and how to collect your event attendees feedback?
Gathering you event attendees feedback is an important step at the end of any event operation, when it comes to analyzing key success factors and areas for improvement.
When successful, the feedback collection provides a wealth of valuable information to guide the preparation of future events.
The feedback collection process must therefore bring precise enough answers to feed the ‘post-event’ analysis.
Below we’ve detailed what the top 3 keys are to collecting useful attendees feedback form your event.
1) Timing
The satisfaction survey shouldn’t appear out of the blue, it should be part of the event! Whatever the duration of your event and the type of audience, we advise you to ask for attendees feedback very soon after the event or even during the event.
Depending on your event marketing strategy, the survey can be sent by email, placed on the event’s homepage, or sent by notification in the event’s app.
- The later the survey is sent, the less time the participant will have to answer it. After 24 hours, your participants will have already moved on.The earlier the survey is sent, the more willing the participant will be to answer, making it easier for you to capture their attention and get detailed answers.
Tip: With inwink, you can capture session satisfaction as soon as the visitor leaves the online session at a digital event or during a live interactivity during a face-to-face session.
2) Format
Whether the satisfaction form is common to all participants or targeted to a specific category (clients, VIPs, press, speakers, partners, etc.), keep the questions short, clear, and in line with the rest of the event experience.
Depending on the audience and the type of event, you can opt for anonymous surveys or surveys that are available once the participant is ‘connected’. Both modes allow you to find the right compromise between quality and quantity of answers.
Anonymous survey
This allows you to collect a large number of responses as participants do not need to log in to the event website. Since they cannot be identified, they will feel free to express criticism or comment on their experience. This results in more honest and less “ready-made” answers.
Logged in survey
This allows for the collection of qualified responses as participants must be connected to the event’s website or app. This format allows for personalized follow-up questions based on the responses obtained: thank-you email, consideration of customer feedback, invitation to another event, etc.
Tip: You can encourage participation with gifts (goodies, exclusive content, partner gift, draw, etc…) since the answer data is available in the platform’s back-office.
3) Content
The way you ask questions plays a key role in the quality of the answers obtained.
By asking specific questions, you can survey participants on the content of the sessions, the overall process, the logistics, the quality of the speakers, etc.
The number and wording of the questions shouldn’t daunt the participant. Let respondents skip questions if they wish, and above all, do not influence their answers!
To do this, combine open and closed questions:
Closed questions
They start with “do you/would you/would you recommend”, call for a yes/no response, and allow for statistics.
Open questions
They start with “how / why / what”, call for free responses, and allow for the collection of qualitative feedback, comments, suggestions, ideas.
Tip: An example of a short survey form that mixes open and closed questions:
- On a scale of 1 to 5, what is your overall assessment of the event?
- What did you like most and least?
- Would you like to attend our next event?
- Would you recommend the event to your peers? For what reasons?
- Do you have any other comments?
Gathering feedback is essential in any business. The same goes in event marketing where collecting satisfaction is an important lever to help you improve the experience offered to participants for future editions of your event.
Collecting satisfaction is asking a small favor to your audience so make sure it’s not perceived as a chore!
Since the satisfaction form also contributes to the impression given to your participants, make sure your audience is satisfied with your satisfaction survey!
Create your next satisfaction survey with inwink.
