15 Sure-Fire Ways to Measure Success at In-Person Conferences When Exhibiting

In-person events are coming back strong in Q3, so how do you get the most out of your conference investment?

Defining what success looks like is step-one for any marketing initiative. Here are the metrics we use at ScrappyAF to measure success for our clients when they attend, sponsor and exhibit at conferences and events.

• Qualified contacts/leads collected (total count and percent of total possible)
• Number of lead follow up appointments set
• Projected revenue from appointments set (apply your standard conversion rate for opportunities that reach this stage of your pipeline)
• Number of on-site meetings held and/or solution demonstrations given (if applicable)
• Projected revenue from on-site meetings (apply your standard conversion rate for opportunities that reach this stage of your pipeline)
• Number of new deals closed with existing customers
• Total revenue from new deals closed with existing customers
• Number of newly acquired customers
• Projected total lifetime revenue from new customer acquisitions
• Number of new competitors/competive-solutions identified
• Session/presentation attendance (if anyone from your company was a speaker/presenter)
• Social media reach during the event (impressions, shares, follows, comments, likes)
• Website traffic impact (increase during show)
• New content subscriptions (if applicable)
• New Influencer follows

For every conference that you pay money to sponsor, attend, or exhibit at, the best way to answer the question “was it worth it?” is with data.

At ScrappyAF we recommend setting goals for each of the measures above before the event to concretely define success for each area. Circle up with your team after the event, take a hard look at the numbers and decide:

1. A) Rinse and repeat next year
2. B) Revamp the strategy and try again next year
3. C) Skip the event next year and allocate your budget in a different way



Are in-person conferences still worth it? Learn more to discover the most critical factors to calculate the ROI (Return on Investment) specifically for your company (put the link here to the other article – Was it worth it? How to Calculate the ROI of Sponsoring and/or Exhibiting at a Conference)

If you have other measures or tips for conference domination, we’d love to hear about them – drop in a comment below.  

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