Analytics
Myths
about using
analytics:
“We don’t have enough data”
generated from various types of additional
spend, such as sponsorship and booth
expansion, and increase upselling.
Sophisticated organisers also use
the same tools to suggest downsizing
participation to those exhibitors that are
not obtaining strong value from the event.
Improving operational efficiency and
profitability
Analytics can help to improve the
efficiency of an organiser. Bluntly, that
means making more money by reducing
costs or increasing sales.
In one example, an organiser
reduced its cost of sales substantially
by predicting both the likelihood of
prospective exhibitors taking a stand and
their subsequent loyalty. As a result, it
could focus on those accounts that had a
strong chance of conversion. The
organiser also adopted a new, more
personalised approach to potential high
value accounts with a lower chance of
conversion.
Other efficiency examples include
predicting churn of either visitors or
exhibitors, or predicting what messaging
will resonate most with participants and
optimising communication in line.
In another example area where
improvements flow directly to the bottom
line, analytics can be used to align price
with value more accurately and more
frequently than other methods.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
Making it happen
Putting all this into practice requires the
right people, processes and culture.
We all use Excel; that revolution started
20 years ago. It continues to be great for
descriptive analytics, but there is now
an entire new set of user-friendly tools
with substantial capability that bring
predictive analytics into the reach of small
businesses. There are also useful tools
that support data cleaning and the almost
inevitable problem of marshalling data
from disparate sources.
In the same way that you do not need
access to a supercomputer, you do not
need to have data scientists on staff; team
members with a statistical background
and a strong business head deliver great
results. Success does require commitment
from the top and a culture that supports
management innovation, leading to buy-in
across the organisation.
Conclusion
There are numerous ways that event
organisers can use analytics to improve
event performance, and the amount of
data available can be overwhelming. The
key is not to start with the data, but to
let business questions drive the analysis.
Identifying the areas where analytics
will have the greatest impact on your
performance provides a solid starting point
for determining what data and tools are
required to deliver stronger results.
Organisers already generate
rich sets of data from multiple
sources. With the right tools and
skills, organisers can combine
data sitting in disparate places
to derive valuable insights
“This is too hard for management
to understand”
Management buy-in can
be gained by focusing on
solving specific problems and
advocating for analytics as
the way to find the solutions
“This requires a data scientist
or super-computer”
There are a range of powerful tools
that support data analysis. Whilst
in a different league to Excel, they
are increasingly accessible with
well-designed front ends
“We lack the bandwidth
to implement the results”
Co-creating a practical
solution leads to success.
Results can be implemented
into existing processes
Issue 4 2019
35