After a global pandemic changed the events industry forever, corporate event planners now face growing pressure to demonstrate their value through measurable outcomes. Yet only 31% of marketers are satisfied with their ability to unify customer data, according to Salesforce’s State of Marketing Report. This challenge is especially evident for corporate event planners managing vast amounts of data, from registration to session attendance and post-event surveys.  

To unlock the potential of this data and deliver personalized, impactful experiences, a strategic approach to collecting, analyzing, and activating insights is essential. Here’s how corporate event planners can effectively use event data to drive greater engagement and success. 

1. Identify Desired Data Points Early 

Determine what data you’ll need from the outset. Planning your data strategy before the event allows you to align with key stakeholders and ensure the event’s goals are clearly defined, and you have the right assets in place to capture the necessary data. Some datasets to consider include: 

• Build the profile. Having a clear perspective on the attendee dataset necessary to drive qualification, conversions, and follow up is the first step to success. 
• Fill profile gaps. Event registration is a great time to augment the customer profile by verifying and collecting additional demographic and preference information used to drive segmentation and qualification. Try not to ask questions you already know about the customer and focus on items that enrich your understanding of them. 
• Capture behaviors. Knowing what an attendee viewed, expressed interest in, acted on, and their feedback completes the behavioral dataset loop. Meetings, sessions, sponsors, and networking are examples of a behavioral dataset. 
• Consider different departments. While high-level metrics like attendance growth are valuable, dive deeper to gather more detailed insights that matter to other teams. Data on session engagement can inform sales and marketing strategies, while session popularity can guide content planning for future events. 

2. Score Attendee Actions to Measure Engagement 

Tracking attendee behavior during corporate events is a powerful way to identify engagement opportunities. Event scoring, a method applied in broader marketing efforts, is the process of assigning scores to attendees and leads to help prioritize marketing efforts and personalize experiences. 

Steps to Implement Event Scoring: 

• Define key actions. Track event interactions, such as session attendance or networking activities, and set these as “interesting moments” to notify sales or business development teams in real-time. 
• Set engagement thresholds. Consider an attendee as having “attended” a session only if they participated for a defined period – such as watching at least 20 minutes of a 30-minute presentation. 
• Weigh event engagement. Compare the value of different event activities with other engagement signals, like email clicks or product inquiries, to prioritize attendees who show the most interest. 
• Refine your scoring model. Continuously refine scoring based on data from multiple corporate events. This process will ensure you’re tracking the right actions that correlate with valuable outcomes, such as closed deals or repeat attendance. 

3. Leverage Integrations for Real-Time Decision-Making 

Corporate events are dynamic, and the ability to act on data in real-time can make a significant difference. Integrating your event data with a CRM or marketing platform enables you to make quick decisions. For example, if an attendee engages with multiple sessions focused on a specific product line, this information can be passed to the sales team for real-time in-person engagement. 

Real-time integration also allows for on-the-fly adjustments during the event. If one session draws higher attendance than expected, you can adjust seating arrangements or promote similar content across future sessions. 

4. Align Event Data with the Buyer’s Journey 

To maximize the impact of your event, align the data collected with your buyer’s journey. Corporate events are key touchpoints for prospects and clients, and the insights gained from these interactions can inform every stage of the journey. By understanding where attendees are in the sales cycle, you can create personalized follow-up strategies. For example, attendees who visit product demos or engage in specific sessions may be further along in the buying process, warranting immediate outreach. 

Corporate event planners have access to a wealth of data, but the key to success lies in the ability to harness and activate this data, transforming it into actionable insights that improve event outcomes and attendee experiences.  

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