SYNDEYAHow to measure the ROI of a conference.
Conferences and trade shows are some of the most expensive things a company does to grow, and some of the hardest to measure. Here is a simple way to see what you actually got back.
Why conference ROI is so hard to measure
After most events, the only evidence a company has is a stack of business cards and whatever its people remember. That leaves three gaps:
- Cards don't tell the story. A card says who someone is, not what you talked about, how interested they were or what you promised to send.
- Memory fades fast. Within a few days most of the details from a busy event are gone. Follow-ups get vague, late or skipped. The science behind that.
- Contacts leave with people. When an employee moves on, the relationships they built at your events usually go with them.
If you can't see who was met, you can't measure what came of it.
A simple formula
Conference ROI = (value of business that came from the event − total cost of the event) ÷ total cost of the event
Total cost is more than registration. Add travel, hotels, meals, booth or sponsorship fees, materials, and the time your people spend away from billable work.
Value is the business you can trace back to people met at the event: projects won, partnerships formed, referrals made. Some of it shows up months later, so it pays to keep tracking.
What to track at every event
You don't need a complicated system. These five numbers tell you most of what you need to know:
- New contacts per person. Who did each team member meet?
- Quality of each contact. Decision-maker, influencer or just a hello? A one-line note at the time is enough.
- Follow-ups within 48 hours. The share of new contacts who heard back while the conversation was still fresh.
- Meetings and proposals that followed. Which contacts turned into a real conversation about work?
- Revenue traced to the event. Tag opportunities in your CRM with the event they came from.
Track the same numbers at every event and you can compare them: which conferences are worth sending five people to, and which aren't worth the trip.
How Syndeya for Teams makes it measurable
Syndeya is a relationship management app. Your people capture who they meet in about ten seconds by tapping their Syndeya card, scanning a business card or recording a quick voice memo, and every contact is saved to the company along with what was said.
- Event reports show who was met at each event, and by whom.
- Follow-up reminders go to each person on a schedule built around how memory fades, starting the next morning, so fewer contacts go cold.
- A company dashboard gives leadership one view of every new relationship.
- HubSpot connection and CRM export carry contacts into the system where you track deals. How it works.
- Contacts stay with the company when someone leaves, and their card is wiped and reissued to the next hire.
Plans are $119 per person per year for 5 to 24 people and $99 for 25 to 99, with no per-lead or per-scan fees. See Syndeya for Teams.
Questions
What is a good ROI for a conference?
It depends on your sales cycle and deal size. A single project or partnership can pay for years of events, while a show that produces no follow-up conversations is a loss however many cards came back. Track the same numbers at every event so you can compare them over time.
How soon should we follow up after a conference?
Within 24 to 48 hours, while the conversation is still fresh for both of you. After that, keep in touch on a widening schedule rather than one email and silence.
How do we measure leads from a trade show?
Capture every contact with a short note on what you discussed, tag them with the event, and track which ones lead to meetings, proposals and revenue. Syndeya does the capture and tagging automatically and can send contacts to HubSpot or export them for Salesforce.
What happens to event contacts when an employee leaves?
With most tools, and with paper cards, they leave with the person. On a Syndeya company account, every contact your people save belongs to the company and is reassigned to a colleague you choose.
More guides: Following up after an event · Choosing a digital business card · NFC business cards · Sending contacts to your CRM · Remembering names · Personal CRM · Business card scanner · Trade show lead capture