How do you create and maintain a post-event engagement plan with your attendees and partners?

- Send personalized thank-you messages to attendees and partners. - Share post-event surveys to gather feedback and insights. - Distribute event highlights (videos, photos) via email, social media, or website. - Offer exclusive deals or early access to future events. - Follow up with relevant content like blogs or case studies based on event outcomes. - Maintain ongoing communication through newsletters and social updates. - Create a dedicated online community to foster interaction and build lasting relationships.

If you utilized an event app, that can be a powerful channel for initial communications while attendees are still on-site. Consider pushing a brief one or two question survey through the app to capture NPS data or other feedback immediately after the event concludes. Response rates tend to be extremely high in that timely window.

We make it a team KPI to follow up with attendees within 2 days of event day max to maintain that relationship, gather feedback before people forget what even happened at the event as they'll probably attend another one soon!

Create the community with the initial outreach and carry that throughout. Define the desired outcomes and motivations of attendees, partners, and sponsors and use that to guide and fuse community. Imagine, being one of >10% of applicants accepted to a weeklong educational summit. You're immediately named a "camper" and assigned a group. Your group needs to create a theme and stick to it all week. Attendees are all-hands-on-deck, so you pitch in to help the event succeed. After a week of creating memories with old and new friends, you part ways knowing that your community has just expanded. This community is built to last with, to name a few: Unique naming, a sense of stewardship, working together, & CREATING MEMORIES!

Facilitate ongoing networking opportunities for attendees and partners to connect with each other beyond the event. This could include online forums, discussion groups, or virtual meet-ups focused on specific topics or interests related to the event. Encouraging a sense of belongingness among your audience is a good approach, especially for elderly audience or those who are away from home.

It starts with timely follow-ups—whether that’s a thank-you email, a highlight reel, or personalised messages to key attendees and partners. Sharing event content, like session recordings, key takeaways, or exclusive insights, keeps the conversation going. Social media plays a big role too—encouraging attendees to share their experiences, running post-event polls, or even teasing the next edition helps maintain engagement. For partners, a wrap-up report showcasing results, attendee feedback, and future collaboration opportunities keeps the relationship strong. The key is consistency and planning!

First, commit to what you're looking for. You might use demographic metrics (for segmentation), gathering contacts (for rapport or community), or software downloads (for awareness or traction), among others. Do not survey all the possible metrics. Your job is to influence the market, not go chasing after it. It will not help you to survey all the indicators unless you're prepared to change your product profile or marketing strategy to improve on them. Don't look for how your potential customers or clients behave. Ask instead if you're able to draw and keep their attention. You'll almost always be wrong, in the first case, if you're trying to figure out what customers want. What you need to know is how they respond to your pitch.