Events are a great way of creating and cementing relationships by giving the attendee an unforgettable experience. I'll add that the experience should be a good one!

Surveys are one of the best ways to test and measure how good the experience was (post event survey) or is (survey during the event). Giving the attendee the opportunity to feedback their ratings and comments is precious information to the event organiser (we talked about Information is Gold Dust in an earlier post). It helps the organiser make the event even better next time and gives the business information that can be used for targeted marketing at a later date.

When you're planning your survey it's always good to consider the following:

1. Time is precious - make the survey short and sweet to maximise responses.

2. Make it relevant - things like... did they enjoy it, did they meet their objectives, will they come back?

3. Mobile usage continues to grow - make sure the survey displays equally well on a smartphone, tablet and desktop.

4. Let them be anonymous - some people are happy to give candid answers, but feel uncomfortable putting their name to them. Make sure they have the ability to respond anonymously.

Getting the results from your survey in an easy to digest format is also essential. When you are building your questions, choice selections (drop downs, choice boxes, radio buttons) can help as answers to these sort of questions can be displayed visually via charts and graphs, giving you an instant snapshot of what's popular and what needs improving.

Mitingu uses tagging to categorise contacts' preferences and we recommend that tags are applied to some of the survey questions. For example, if you have asked the attendee if they will come back next year, they could be tagged "rebook" if they reply yes, which will trigger an email giving them favourable rates on an early booking.

To sum it up, surveys can give you valuable information that helps deliver an even better event experience and can be shared with the business to help with ongoing marketing and forecasting activities.