The event has ended, but the work is not finished yet. There is an important point you should know about post-event polling.
Collecting feedback from attendees with a post-event survey is a gateway to valuable insights that will help you get the most out of your next event. Everyone in the event industry uses feedback to gather data and get responses from attendees and/or sponsors before or after an event.
The digitalization of society has taken feedback to a whole new level, and customer satisfaction is often an indicator of whether an event is considered a success. A study cited by HubSpot says that, for example, 90% of virtual event organizers rely on a post-event survey to gauge attendee, sponsor, and event organizer satisfaction.
A post-event survey is essentially post-marketing, especially when you need to understand what worked and what didn't.
Polls in events are a useful tool for gathering valuable feedback from event attendees. They can be divided into three types:
As we wrote above, the main purpose of the survey is to get feedback. However, one should not hope that all visitors will praise the event itself. Like code, events always have things to improve.
On average, a person is willing to spend about five minutes filling out an online survey. A survey that takes more than 15 minutes is highly likely to be useless for you in terms of obtaining valuable data, as people will get tired and answer questions thoughtlessly, or not finish the survey at all. That's why it's important to ask meaningful questions without overwhelming the survey with too many questions.
You must decide in advance what exactly you want to get from the survey. Which KPIs are important to you specifically, and how many responses do you need to keep the data relevant.
A short (no more than 10 questions) and interesting survey is a great way to maximize your respondents' engagement. Effective surveys use a combination of yes/no binary questions, multiple choice questions, and open-ended questions. This means that the survey design should provide event organizers with a clear overview of that respondent's experience, namely what worked and what didn't.
It is also important to notify participants in advance that they will be asked to take a survey at a certain stage of the event. Potential respondents should be aware that the data they provide is very important and will help improve workflows.
Making the survey as user-friendly as possible is only the first step. The survey should be meaningful and not overly complex, especially if the target audience is diverse and consists of participants (which may include managers), sponsors and volunteers of the event.
We've put together a list of 12 questions to help you create a survey after your event.
1. How satisfied are you with this event?
In any post-event survey, you need to be clear about whether the respondents liked the event or not. This question can be open-ended, or you can give respondents multiple answers to choose from.
2. What did you like the most about the event?
This question is needed in order to understand which elements of the event should be repeated at a future event.
3. What did you dislike the most about the event.
Knowing the weaknesses of your event will help to avoid similar mistakes in the future and will allow the future event to make the most positive impression on visitors.
4. How likely are you to participate in our events in the future?
Ask respondents to rate their likelihood of returning. This is a very important question because it can tell you how effectively you promoted the event and delivered on your promises. If event attendees are happy with their experience, they tend to come back again.
5. Was it easy for you to navigate the event platform?
This question is especially helpful if you're hosting a hybrid or virtual event. Since the event platform directly impacts how attendees experience event content, it is important to know that they can easily access and participate in what they paid for. If guests find it difficult to navigate the platform, they are likely to have a poor overall experience.
6. Did you encounter any problems during the event?
Whether you're hosting a virtual, hybrid, or physical event, it's helpful to know if attendees encountered any issues while hosting the event. This question will help you understand the weaknesses of your event platform or technology.
7. How would you rate the networking opportunities of the event?
Networking is often the main reason someone attends an event at all. By asking respondents this question, you can determine whether they are satisfied with the opportunities provided.
8. How fun was the event on a scale of 1 to 10?
Engaging content serves not only to keep attention, but also to a large extent affects visitor satisfaction with the event. This question can help you determine if the actions, content, or guest speakers were effective in engaging your audience. In the future, you will be able to adjust the necessary points in future events.
9. How do you rate the duration of the event in terms of time?
No one likes a very long event. It is very important to find a balance between content, discussion and guest participation. And the answers of your audience will help you find it in the best possible way.
10. How satisfied are you with the event platform?
As the centerpiece of a virtual event, an event platform is critical. If the audience finds the platform difficult, lackluster, or not paying off, you may need to rethink your event technology and find a more compelling alternative.
11. Did the event meet your expectations? If not, why?
This open-ended question allows your respondents to express their disappointment or, conversely, praise your event. What's more, it's an opportunity for you to see if your event has met the expectations of attendees, or if you need to rethink your marketing strategy.
12. How did you hear about this event?
This question directly relates to your tactics for promoting the event and the answers received may affect the marketing strategy in the future. Ask respondents to indicate where they first heard about your event and analyze their responses. This will tell you which marketing channel was the most effective in reaching your target audience.
One of the great benefits of a virtual event is the ability to collect real-time attendee data (such as engagement levels or bounce rates). It is important to remember that these questions must be asked when the event is still fresh in memory, otherwise the answers may not provide the required information.
Getting feedback from event attendees has always been an integral part of the evaluation process. As virtual and hybrid events began to replace physical events, the expectation of an event platform was not only to organize and run events, but also to collect data and performance metrics to improve future events.
The OnlineExpo platform makes it possible to create and conduct surveys with high efficiency, collecting from respondents exactly the data that the organizer of a particular event needs.
Want to conduct effective post-event polls? Schedule a demo of the OnlineExpo features today to find out more. On the Onlineexpo platform, you can organize and conduct online and hybrid events of any complexity!
We also recommend that you read:
Evaluation of the effectiveness of an online event
Learn more about the possibilities of the online event platform OnlineExpo
