How went your most recent event? You might not have the most accurate assumptions if you didn’t send out a post-event survey to guests. A post-event survey is an excellent way to see whether your goals were met and how future events could improve.
You will learn exactly what your guests anticipated, where you achieved, and where you failed, even if the response is less than kind. Choosing the appropriate post-event survey questions is crucial. Though all input is helpful, specific enquiries are more essential than others. Here in this article, we are going give you insights about event surveys and their importance with a list of best-fitted post-event survey questions to ask.
What is an event survey?
Event surveys are questionnaires that are intended to gather input from participants. They may consist of both open-ended and multiple-choice questions. Surveys are mostly sent online. You can send surveys to attendees prior to, during, or following the event. Be it sponsors, attendees, or event personnel, all will have different viewpoints on various aspects of the event. That’s why you should send out surveys to everyone who was involved with the event.
If your organisation wants to know what participants expect from the event, pre-event surveys can be helpful. Mid-event surveys often address an organisation’s immediate need to assess an event’s success and inform participants that their opinions are essential.
Last but not least, post-event surveys basically include follow-up questions. This genre of survey gives you information on the event’s advantages and disadvantages, enabling you to improve your procedures for the future.
Why send post-event surveys?
You can learn more about participants’ opinions of the event, both favorable and negative, by using a post-event survey to gather insightful feedback. Surveys sent out following events can help you create a list of things you should do to make sure your next event is a success.
Here’s a list of why it is important to send post-event surveys-
Build trust
You can convey to your guests that you value their experience and will use their input to guide future events by asking them for their views.
Eliminate the guesswork
Instead of assuming that a particular speaker didn’t live up to expectations, you will have participant reactions to determine whether your sessions and event as a whole were successful or not.
Estimate event growth
In the survey questions after an event you can ask the attendees if the will recommend your event or not. From the feedback you will be able to determine whether word-of-mouth marketing could increase the number of people who attend your next event.
Improve future events
Planning future events for the greatest experience of attendees will be made easier with the support of insightful survey responses. Additionally, it might assist you in improving your marketing strategies to increase attendance.
Importance of post-event survey:
Why are post-event questionnaires so crucial? They’re ideal for organisations trying to comprehend the event from the perspectives of attendees, volunteers, presenters, and even other staff members.
A survey may assess an event’s general performance with the right questions, providing helpful information about everything from the speakers to the cuisines and the venue, and give an organisation actionable things for the following event. There’s a good chance that some of the comments will be encouraging and others of them will make you feel a little dejected. Remember that every criticism is helpful since it forces you to change and advance.
Structure of post-event survey questions:
Three basic structures of post-event survey questions are as follows:
1. No/yes questions:
Binary questions, such as “Have you attended one of our events before?” are those that are either yes or no or either/or. Open-ended queries might come next.
2. Numerical scale questions:
These enquiries require respondents to score a feeling or experience on a range of numbers, such as 1 to 10 or 1 to 5. This offers analytically useful quantitative data.
3. Open-ended questions:
Either short- or long-form questions offer the chance for in-depth commentary. This may be used as the basis for sentiment analysis, among other studies.
Depending on the event and the response you want, you could use one or more of these question forms.
How to conduct a post-event survey
Now we will look at a few aspects that will help you create event feedback survey questions more easily-
Ensure you have contact information for attendees
Make sure to ask for each attendee’s complete contact information when gathering registration information. This contains the preferred mode of contact, phone number, and email address. It’s critical to have up-to-date contact details for follow-up, including your post-event surveys.
Consider when to send a post-event survey
Prior to the event, revise your post-event survey. You may effectively send it out within one working day of your event if you have it prepared for participants to receive. Sending out a post-event survey while the event is still fresh in guests’ memories is essential.
Your post-event survey can be shared manually, loaded on iPads at the location, or sent via email. Don’t forget to inform your participants that you’ve taken their suggestions into consideration to improve the current event, and you eagerly await their post-event comments.
Consider survey question types
A combination of different types of questions, be it open or closed ended can be found in the surveys that provide the most valuable data. While open-ended questions provide you with thoughts and opinions in the attendees’ own words, closed-ended questions give you quantitative data. To keep survey participants interested and involved, use a range of question formats.
Follow up with attendees who don’t respond
Allow participants a few days to reply. Then, throughout the following two weeks, send one or two reminders. Reminders should not be sent more than three times or more than a month after the event. The information won’t be particularly beneficial or valuable at that point.
Express your gratitude
After your event, use a survey Thank You landing page with links to excellent resources like slide decks and keynote videos to keep people interested. By doing this, you show your appreciation for their comments and help them remember the event.
Post-event survey question examples:
What kind of questions should be included in your event surveys depends on when you send them out, your goals, and the people you want to ask. The post-event questions below are divided into categories based on who they are meant for: participants, sponsors, speakers, volunteers, vendors and employees. Read over these questions briefly, pick the ones that relate to your audience the most, and then modify them to fit your event.
General event survey questions
Q1: How satisfied are you with this event?
These kinds of survey questions are relatively straightforward. They give you a solid place to start when answering the questions that may come and give you a basic notion of how the event went and whether it lived up to expectations. A best practice for event surveys is to begin with a broad scope and narrow it down towards the end.
Q2: What elements of the event did you find most interesting?
By asking questions like these, you can determine what aspects of the experience are worth reiterating. Please keep track of each point and add up the instances where it was brought up. Prioritise the winners for the following year by ranking them from most to least votes.
Q3: Are you likely to take part in one of our events in the future?
This is crucial since it shows how passionate the survey respondent is about your event. Compare these figures to the number of participants returning the following year.
Q4: How likely are you to tell your friends about our events?
People are more inclined to buy a product a friend has recommended due to the softer pitch. As a result, recommendations can readily affect occurrences.
Q5: Are there any other details you would like us to be aware of?
You won’t be able to include all of the event’s details in the survey. The purpose of this query is to collect all additional comments.
Post-event survey questions for employees
Q6: How well-organised do you think this event was organised?
The parts of your event’s machinery will be well-known to your staff. Your entire system could require a complete overhaul if they were perplexed or uncertain about what was happening throughout the event. You have a solid model to follow if they remain at ease and confident throughout the event.
Q7: Do you believe the event’s goals were met?
The following question is a warm-up for this one. Reflecting on your event goals as a team will help you better understand whether or not you achieve them.
Q8: Do you think the roles were explained to you clearly?
You need clearly defined roles and duties to have a great event team experience. Uncertainty over responsibilities might result in issues and misunderstandings that influence how your event is carried out. You may find out whether there is room for improvement in team communication at the next event by asking your team for comments.
Q9: Are you happy with how this event turned out in terms of the effect it had on your department?
Employees should think about how the marketing department’s efforts directly relate to their more prominent role inside the organisation as they zoom out again. You may even learn and draw connections by asking this question about how your event can and should assist the business as a whole.
Q10: What effect do you anticipate this incident will have on your current business objectives?
The event may seem isolated and pointless if you don’t relate the evaluation to the bigger goal or strategy. Asking co-workers to describe the advantages in their own words helps attendees remember how much they enjoyed the event. It ensures that it will be included in the marketing budget for the following year.
Q11: What did you like least about the event?
Ask a direct question like this to encourage people to provide helpful criticism. Allow participants to provide further details by leaving this question open-ended.
Q12: What suggestions do you have for improving future events?
This is an open-ended enquiry. Post-event surveys are excellent for pinpointing problems and also taking possible suggestions from everyone who was involved with the events.
Q13. Did you feel the event was a worthwhile use of your time?
You can tell if you overpromised or underdelivered with a simple yes/no response to this question.
Post-event survey questions for attendees
Q15: What motivated you to attend our event, and what do you hope to gain from it?
Use this question to revise the timetable or make other changes that will highlight the most desired components of the experience. Give the public what they want while demonstrating your genuine concern for their understanding.
Q16: What about today did you like the most?
For multi-day events, this is a great question. Do your best to incorporate the input for the days to come, and don’t forget to address any issues or critical feedback personally
Q17: Please rate your level of satisfaction with the following event elements:
- Speakers
- Venue/Event Platform
- Session Quality
- The number of sessions available
- Event Date(s)
These overall event aspects all influence how guests will feel. You could discover some unexpected insights the next time you organise an event. Additionally, since you control these variables, future adjustments will be simple to implement and quantify.
Q18: How pleased were you with the supplied networking opportunities?
One of the most important aspects of events is networking, but with the emergence of virtual events, networking has grown increasingly challenging. According to the Evolution of Events Report, 68.8% of event marketers think that organising a virtual event makes it harder to give networking possibilities. Ensure you have the ideal solution for your attendees by asking them this during your event survey.
Q19: How pleased were you with our event’s presenters and sessions?
One of the most critical determinants of whether attendees will return to your events is their pleasure. To guarantee guests were happy with the event, ensuring that the speakers and sessions were engaging and helpful was crucial. Asking questions like this one may help you obtain a better picture of what has to be repeated for the following events.
Q20: What, if anything, would you change or improve about the event?
Even though you might be afraid to ask, acknowledging your weaknesses enables you to grow from them. At your next event, show them how much you appreciate their feedback and showcase the modifications.
Q21: What did you enjoy most about the event?
You can either offer an open-ended question to allow for explanation or a closed-ended ranking question to make it easy for participants to tell you what stood out the most.
Post-event survey questions for speakers
Q22: Before the event, did you obtain all the data you required to deliver effectively?
You may spot strengths and shortcomings in your speaker preparation by asking your presenters if they believe they know what is necessary to make a compelling presentation. If a speaker responds negatively, it is essential to follow up with them personally to find out additional details.
Q23: In your opinion, how well did the equipment and setting for our event support your keynote address?
The aspects of the venue that either support or undermine a speaker’s performance are of the utmost significance to presenters during in-person engagements. Nobody else can give a more accurate picture of a venue’s efficacy than a speaker.
Q24: Was the event venue suitable for your presentation?
A simple positive or negative response can help you find out some flaws from the speakers’ end. You can improve the venue and its functionality if the response suggests so.
Q25: How would you rate the level of attendee engagement and participation?
Find out whether the way you organised the event was engaging enough or if you need to discover better elements to make the attendees more active.
Q26: Did you have any technical difficulties during your presentation?
This can be a close-ended question but making it open-ended and letting the presenter describe what was the difficulty he/she faced will help you make more informed decisions.
Post-event survey questions for vendors, partners and sponsors
Q27: Please provide your opinions on the entire event.
This free-form question demonstrates to sponsors and partners how much you respect their input as team members. Additionally, it would be best to begin with a general question like this one since it will encourage people to consider the specifics in the following sections critically.
Q28: Did the event this year live up to your expectations? If not, why not?
In general, people find it difficult to assess their expectations before an event is over. Therefore, asking this question and suggesting elaborating on their response is frequently more illuminating than just marking yes or no.
Q29: How appropriate was the audience for your company/sector?
You must ensure that the event audience is pertinent to sponsors if you want to have a successful sponsor alliance. Brands frequently sign up to sponsor events to meet sales and marketing objectives or to increase brand awareness. Sponsors will have less success interacting with guests and will only achieve their goals if the audience is relevant.
Q30: What was the sponsorship’s return on investment?
This query will help you determine whether or not your sponsorship packages were worthwhile. Leaving the question open-ended will enable you to learn precisely what the sponsors thought was important. If the responses are positive and the event ROI is high, you may also use these replies as evidence to convince potential sponsors that your sponsorship offers are a wise investment.
Q31: Are you available for next year?
All your partners, sponsors, and suppliers should ideally want to participate in the event annually. Make sure you check their pulse to see whether their event experience lived up to their expectations. If they don’t respond, follow up to learn more about their reasons for leaving.
Virtual post-event survey questions
Q32: How pleased were you with your use of the platform?
Your event’s virtual platform has the power to succeed or fail. You may learn more about guests’ opinions of the entire virtual experience by asking them this question.
Q33: Did you have any trouble navigating the event?
The success of a virtual event depends on how simple it is for participants to use it. Attendees won’t be able to fully enjoy the event if they can’t find specific areas because of the lousy navigation design. This enquiry will determine whether adjustments should be made in the successive iterations.
Q34: What aspects of the event experience did you find most enjoyable?
By being aware of what worked and what is worthwhile repeating, you may save time while planning your next event. Keep a running track of all your points, and next year, order them by themes and popular comments.
Q35: What would you say about your experience if you utilised tech support?
Attendees contact your support staff if they experience problems while participating in your virtual event. Cannot log in? Contact event support. Null audio? Contact event support. This will have a lasting impact on how the problem is solved. Whether you have a knowledge base, live chat, email, or any other tech support, this question will help you determine whether or not it is effective.
Q36: What would you say about the event’s audio and visual quality?
Ask attendees to rate the audio and video quality. If guests aren’t happy, conduct an AV audit to identify areas for improvement, then advise speakers and presenters at the subsequent event of those findings.
Bonus: pre-event survey questions
To provide attendees with the most extraordinary event experience possible, you may employ pre-conference survey questions to learn about their preferences in advance. When a person registers for your event, this survey may appear. Pre-event poll questions might include the following:
- Q37: What sort of SWAG are you looking for? (Pens, notepaper, tote bags?)
- Q38: What foods do you prefer? Allergy to foods? Intolerances?
- Q39: What can we do to make this year’s conference the best yet?
- Q40: What equipment or knowledge is required for you to enjoy the event?
- Q41: What social events would you want to see planned for this occasion?
- Q42: Which subjects would you want to see covered during the conference?
Final words
You can use the above questions as a jumping-off point as you begin developing a post-event survey. The likelihood of successful future events increases the more data you can gather about the event. With the most popular event ticket-selling platform EventBookings, you can leverage all these analytics to improve your ticket-selling strategy for the next event. Additionally, your attendees, event volunteers, speakers, and others will feel heard and valued, opening the door for longer-lasting connections.
