Conducting a post-event survey is one of the best ways to receive negative and positive feedback from your event attendees.
Feedback helps determine your event's success. It allows you to gauge attendee satisfaction and provides strategies to improve future events.
By asking the right post-event survey questions, you'll understand what your attendees thought about it, how you could improve it, and what they'd like to see in the future.
Understanding attendee satisfaction will ultimately help improve your event marketing efforts and capitalise on what works.
Statistics from 2020 show that 87% of event marketers view participant satisfaction as a potential success factor. Meanwhile, 55% of event organisers across various formats (be it seminars, workshops, exhibitions, trade shows, etc.) use post-event surveys to measure attendee satisfaction.
No doubt that a seemingly simple tool like a post-event survey significantly impacts event success. And, asking a mix of questions is key to getting the data you need.
Here are some post-event survey questions to ask your attendees. They are a combination of yes/no, open-ended, dropdown, demographic questions, and the like.
1. Were You Satisfied With The Event? Rate From 1-10.
The most critical question of any post-event survey is regarding the attendees' overall satisfaction. Although it is a yes or no question, you can add variations to it to get specific and concise responses.
In addition to this question, you could also request your participants to provide ratings for each event aspect, such as:
- Venue
- Breakout sessions
- The expertise of the host/speakers
- Relevance of the content
- Vendors
- Date
- Catering
- Entertainment
Doing so allows you to measure success in each area and determine the attendee's overall satisfaction.
Remember that this question pops up first in most surveys, as it is an excellent foundation for other, more specific survey questions.
2. Which Part Of The Event Did You Enjoy And Why?
Your attendees will have positive and negative things to say about your event. This is inevitable. You can't please everyone, but you can figure out what they liked about it.
Make sure that this question is open-ended, meaning it will allow your respondents to answer in text formatting.
It's helpful to give your attendees a refresher before asking this question. Include in this survey question a list of the programme agenda, as they may not necessarily remember everything about the event.
With this information from your attendees, you'll better understand how to plan successive events. You could also figure out if there's any part of your event that most of them want to see again in the future.
3. What Could We Have Improved On?
Similar to the second question, make sure this one is open-ended. Allow your respondents to offer constructive feedback.
It's best not to assign any bias to this question. This means that you must assume that your event wasn't perfect. Event organising is a work in progress. Truthful and honest responses from your respondents are the keys to success.
4. Was The Event Relevant And Useful?
Your marketing efforts are only half the job done. No matter how well you've drawn in enormous crowds for your event, everything will be for nought if its contents do not match their expectations.
Another question to include in your survey is regarding the event's relevance and usefulness. Try asking other follow-up questions.
Did your participants find the content relevant? Did they get helpful information which they wouldn't have obtained elsewhere? Could they possibly apply their learnings to their daily life or workflows?
Depending on what event you've organised, this question can effectively determine whether it's money well spent for your attendees.
5. What Is The Likelihood Of You Attending Our Events In The Future?
This post-event survey question helps determine if people are willing to be kept posted about any future events. If they were satisfied with how the event turned out, they'd likely give a five-star or 10-point rating (depending on which type you choose). If they didn't find the event to their satisfaction, they'd likely give a lower score.
Any responses to this question help determine your event marketing efforts' success. It also helps you build authority as an event organiser and planner, making you more trusted in the industry.
6. How Likely Would You Recommend This Event To A Friend Or Someone Else?
The beauty of word-of-mouth marketing is that it's free. Your participants basically market your event, even without you spending a dime.
This is why this one is the most critical out of all the post-event survey questions. Referrals from your attendees are the true measure of an event's success.
7. Were You Given Enough Time To Ask Questions?
In any event, it's best not to treat your attendees as merely passives. What we're trying to tell you is that they expect some level of engagement.
Even if you have the most world-renowned guests or speakers, attendees must be allowed to ask questions and clarifications.
Whether a face-to-face or virtual event, allowing enough time for attendee questions is vital. In a way, it tells them that you value their opinion and insights.
The event should be just as fruitful for them as it has been for the many speakers and guests who have graced your venue.
When organising an event, always set aside time for some questions at the end. There must also be point persons in the event venue that people could approach. After all, they may have questions regarding the registration process, the programme flow, and many more.
This post-event survey question helps determine whether or not the attendees knew who to approach when asking questions. If they didn't have a favourable response, use it as an opportunity in the future to more properly market the event's support channels.
8. What Was Your Reason For Attending This Event?
Some post-event survey questions can be used as pre-event marketing tactics. This question in particular helps you learn what audiences liked about your event marketing strategy.
For example, if you've used experiential marketing in promoting your event, your participants can cite them in the survey. Use this to your advantage by implementing more such strategies for future events.
9. Where Did You Hear About This Event?
This is another question that gauges your pre-event marketing's success. It helps you discover where most attendees have heard about your event. Is it through social media? YouTube ads? Billboards?
For example, if most of them heard about the event from social media, it gives you a glimpse into which platforms the attendees spend most of their time in. Use this as a signal to market your future events through this channel.
The question also tells you where not to pour much of your event marketing budget into. That way, you can pay closer attention to what does and doesn't work.
10. Were You Able To Easily Make It To The Venue?
This post-event survey question generally applies to face-to-face and hybrid events. Contrary to popular belief, the venue can make or break the event.
You may have a solid lineup of performers and guest speakers. But if you cut corners in your budget and choose a poor venue location, it could spell bad news for your event attendees.
The only way to figure out if there were any problems with the venue is by asking your participants. See if they found the venue to be in a convenient location or if they had issues with transportation.
So when you hold similar events in the future, you'll know exactly what and what not to do when picking an event location.
11. Was The Event Platform Easy To Navigate?
The goal of this question is so you can measure your virtual event platform's user-friendliness. Were the attendees able to access it easily? Were they able to fully maximise all its features? Were there features they wished present?
Ultimately, your hybrid and virtual events depend on your online event platform. It shouldn't just be an avenue to host the event and keep everyone engaged.
12. What Would You Like Our Future Events To Be About?
It's always a good idea to find out what kind of content and information your audience wants to see. The only way to do that is by asking this question.
Improve your question by adding a list of potential topics. Have the survey participants choose from several options. This gives you insights into possible content ideas and other activities to feature in your next event.
13. Did This Event Affect Your View Of Our Company?
At the end of the day, your event must tie back to your company. Its messaging and branding should be clear enough so that your audience associates the event with your brand.
Did you use suitable marketing materials to establish branding? How relevant was this event to your company? Can you use it as a future marketing strategy?
Asking this question helps you understand if your event messaging could be better or if you could develop new tactics to better associate future events with your brand.
14. Please Indicate Any Additional Concerns, Thoughts, And Suggestions For Future Events. We'd Like To Hear From You.
Capping off your post-event survey with an open-ended question is always a good idea. You want your attendees to feel like they can tell your anything and everything related to the event.
Your survey questions must be engaging enough to get your participants deep in thought. Inevitably, you won't be able to cover all bases with your post-event survey questions. So, if there are other content or topics they'd like to cover, this question is the perfect opportunity to speak up.
Conclusion About Post Event Survey Questions
The primary purpose of a post-event survey is to measure event success effectively. Gathering feedback will provide you insights into what you must do to predict the success of future events.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Post Event Survey Questions
What Is The Post Event Phase?
The post-event phase refers to the period immediately after the event. This is when engagement is both at an all-time high and low. The trick is to conduct your post-event surveys before your attendees forget about the event.
When Is The Best Time To Send Out Your Post Event Survey?
The best time to send your post-event survey is between 5 AM and 7 AM or after 8 PM on a weekday. Most of your participants' email inboxes are inactive during this time, giving more leeway to complete a short survey.
What Post-Event Survey Response Rate Should I Aim For?
Reasonable survey response rates fall between 10% and 20%, depending on the magnitude and type of event. For example, successful trade shows will usually have a 15% response rate.
How Long Should A Post-Event Survey Be?
When conducting a post-event survey, you generally want to get as much information as possible. But this doesn't mean you should pepper your respondents with a multitude of questions.
Instead, keep your post-event survey short and substantial. Limit it to 10-12 questions that only take a few minutes of your respondents' time.
