Marketing Manager: Our customer event was GREAT!
CEO: How do know?
Marketing Manager: I talked to the sales team and they said all the farmers had a great time.
Ever been in a similar discussion? Events are important to most agri-marketers’ plans. They can be personal, provide a great chance for sharing information and gain sales. If events are key to your success, then every event should have clearly stated objectives and a post-event survey that provides measurable indicators on the success of those objectives. And a survey helps make your next event better.
Surveys can be easy.
Collect email addresses (or mobile phone numbers) when you register event guests. Collection can be a part of an online registration web site or simply done on paper at the door. Software packages are available to streamline the registration process.
Then use those emails of mobile numbers to deliver a thank-you message you send to each participant the day after the event. Let them know you appreciate their participation and that you’d like their help in making your next event an even better, more valuable experience. Make the survey a few simple questions in this message.
Keep it short and be sure there’s something in it for you and the participant.
It’s no secret that short survey’s get higher response rates. So keep it short. Focus on a couple of questions that directly relate to the event’s objectives. (you did set objectives, right?). Then be sure to include them. Ask for suggestions on how the event could have better served their needs, what was great and what wasn’t.
Make the survey anonymous.
As a marketing person, I complete nearly every survey I receive. I’m certainly curious and want to learn how others handle their surveys, but I also believe feedback can lead to change. Most of these surveys are anonymous, yet give me the opportunity to identify myself and ask if I’d be open to follow up. That gives the participant a choice, allows for criticism without putting a name on it, and it opens the door for dialogue (selling).
Most important: Do it for every event.
If you’ve read this far, you know that surveys can be easy and can provide information to improve future events and even opportunities for selling. Survey your next event. Learn from the experience. Then survey the next event with the knowledge you learned from the first. Keep it going and your events will improve every time. And experience shows, so will your business. Ultimately, marketing is determining what the target wants, then supplying it. Let’s walk the talk.