Chapter 7
Measuring the Impact of Events, Sponsorships, and Speaking Engagements
“There is a lot of noise in the world. And there is a lot of idiosyncrasy. But there are also regularities and phenomena. And what the data is going to be able to do—if there’s enough of it—is uncover, in the mess and the noise of the world, some lines of music that actually have harmony. It’s there, somewhere.”
—Esther Duflo
In an era where so much of business is conducted virtually, meeting customers, prospects, and other stakeholders IRL as they say, or “in real life,” takes on a very different role than it did in the old days of sales calls and personal presentations. In today’s world you need to measure and improve to keep costs down, to compare strategies, and to understand the true value of your events and sponsorships.
Why Events and Sponsorships?
Generally speaking, organizations decide to participate in or sponsor an event with one of three goals in mind:
1. Launch new products. Events provide an opportunity to test drive a product or otherwise bring people in direct contact with the brand. So a company might introduce a new product at a trade show so people can experience it in real life.
2. Drive affinity between customers and the brand. Sponsorship can demonstrate your brand’s support for something the customer or prospect is passionate about. So a car dealership or restaurant might support a local school hockey team to show support for the community in hopes that the community will ...
