By Kevin Hubschmann, Splash
Retailers,
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: units per transaction, sales per
transaction and in-store sales aren’t the only ways to measure retail event
success. True event success lies in the data that you collect from your event
program.
…And
it’s a lot of data. When used properly, data collected at your retail events
will not only inform your future omnichannel marketing strategies, but will
also help you optimize your event program, elevate the guest experience, and measure and prove your efforts.
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So
what data is crucial for you to collect throughout the entire event lifecycle?
From RSVP forms to post-event feedback, below are some of the key opportunities
to collect data at your retail events, plus sample data points for each:
1. High-Level Event Data: Event
Type, Time and Location (Store)
This
data will help you better understand which types of events draw the most attendees, create the most engagement, and
even what days and times are most effective.
For
example, let’s say you throw a VIP loyalist event in the evening on a
weeknight, and your attendance number increases. But your product sampling
events got the most foot traffic when they took place on Sundays. This is data
you can use to optimize and iterate your event program to what’s most
successful to your business.
2. Basic RSVP Data: Name,
Email, Phone Number, Opt-In Data
RSVPs
aren’t just for understanding venue capacity. Collect this data to define and
build better customer profiles, as well as nurture and grow relationships with
your customer base i.e. future marketing communications, loyalty member programs, or a liability waiver
in the instance of an active event (for example, a cross-training event thrown
by Nike).
3. Secondary RSVP Data: Phone
Number, Social Handles, Apparel Size, Favorite Activity/Sport, Photo
This
extra information is an opportunity to complement your guests’ Consumer
Profiles in your CRM, so you can further profile and clientele your consumers.
With
this data, you can leverage personalization — for example, you can invite them
to another event that’s similar to the one they already attended, or send them
a big sale around a product they listed as interesting to them, etc.
4. Check-In Data: Check-In
and Walk-In Capture
Understanding
if someone showed up to an event is critical in knowing not only if the event
itself was successful, but if you are serving up the best experience to that
customer. It also helps you better understand your customers and how you can
best market to them in your various channels.
Besides
the fact that you
can now know they attended, what’s most important to
get from walk-ins is how they found out about the event. Did they hear about
your event through your marketing materials, or were they just walking by your
store and noticed all the buzz?
5. On-Site Survey Data: “What was
your favorite product?,” “Rate your experience with our new product”
If
your event’s goal is for consumers to sample your product, on-site surveys are a
great way to collect feedback in real time. You can set up iPad stations
throughout your event, making it easy for guests to give feedback when it’s
fresh in their mind.
6. Post-Event Survey Data: “What did
you think about the event?,” “Would you come to more events?,” “What did you
think about the new product?”
You
can’t really understand how your event performed unless you receive honest
feedback from the people who matter (your guests!). Post-event survey data is
important in measuring the sentiment of the guests at your event, as well as
optimizing for future events. Bonus: this is also a great extra touch point
reminding your guests about the event they just went to.
Next Steps: Start Proving Your
Impact
Events
are finally just as trackable and measurable as digital — as long as you have
the right systems in place.
Integrate
your event data with your CRM (or whatever acts as your “single source of
truth”), and you’ll be able to see if the guests who engaged with on your
event(s) performed another action like purchasing a product, signing up for
your loyalty program, visiting the web site, etc.
This
view will help you understand how your events influenced and impacted your
overall business and, more importantly, how your online and offline experiences
work together.
Kevin Hubschmann is the Head of
Retail Strategy at Splash and works directly with our retail partners to
drive effective marketing, management and measurement of retail initiatives.
He’s also dangerous with a Karaoke microphone — come to one of our happy hours
to find out.
