Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 4: Metrics and Analysis

With any new initiative, the ability to tie results to objectives is instrumental for receiving continued stakeholder support for the initiative. While many vendors tout their capabilities to provide detailed statistics, the question is how to go beyond raw data to actionable data. Furthermore, how easily can I take this data to develop the right reports and analysis for my stakeholders.

This includes insight into the intent of conversations – not just content, lead scoring capabilities, and integration with customer relationship databases. Questions to ask:

1. What type of data do you capture?

2. Can you provide me with industry-specific stats to benchmark my event statistics against?

3. How do I access this information? Online portal?

4. Can I customize the reports? Are these exportable to Word/Mac documents (e.g. Powerpoint slides or excel)?

5. I don’t have time to read all the booth chats and one-on-one chats that my staff engaged in. Do you have a way for me to easily qualify chats via keywords, intent or other type of analysis?

6. You can track people’s activity throughout my virtual event. Is there a way to “heat map” what path people took throughout my event? Note – to my knowledge, none of the providers provide this capability, though this information would be useful for improving the design and experience to drive people where you want them.

7. Is there a way for me to do A/B testing of ads and messages within the virtual event? Note: Again, I am unaware of this functionality. From a marketing perspective, I want to determine which messages resonate best for subsequent virtual events.

8. What lead scoring capabilities are there? How can I update my criteria from event to event?

9. Do you have integration with CRM systems? If so, which ones? And I mean this should be more than the “import excel” sheet functionality.

10. After the virtual event has concluded, do you have email notifications to let me know when people visit my event and/or booth? Or do I have to go back to the portal to find new visitors?

11. If I am doing multiple campaigns within a virtual environment, is there a way for me to determine the effectiveness of each campaign against my business objectives? Compare one campaign against another?

What other questions are your stakeholders asking you about virtual?

Previous Virtual Event Vendor Checklists:

1. Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 1: Event Support & Experience

2. Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 2: Planning Tools

3. Virtual Event Vendor Checklist Part 3:Engagement & Experience