Surveys are an important tool to evaluate eventsSurveys are a vital component in evaluating your events. But getting people to agree to a survey during your event may be tricky, so here are some tips and tricks for acquiring the best survey results.

  1. Offer incentives. For example, have branded merchandise to give away in return for visitors filling out a survey.
  2. Set up drawings at events. Like offering branded merchandise to attendees who fill out surveys, you can set up a drawing for bigger-ticket items as an incentive.
  3. Send survey links to visitors after the event. Using your email list of attendees from ticket purchases or other drawings/event activities, send this group a link asking for feedback on the event so that you can improve it in the future. (Incentives can be used here too!)
  4. Collect demographic information. It’s important to gather information from attendees such as city of residence and age, so you can know who your event is attracting. This information can be collected through your ticket website or from your social media audience.
  5. Have an information booth. Attendees will feel more comfortable offering any feedback they have if you are accessible to them and actively seeking feedback during the event.
  6. Use social media contests. Post on social media after the event and ask attendees to share one thing they liked about the event or one thing they didn’t like about the event. You can set it up as a competition saying that all who reply will be entered a contest to win a prize (e.g., a t-shirt from the event, signed band merchandise, gift card to one of the vendors that were present).
  7. Reward repeat customers. For example, you could reward repeat customers with coupons at your event, or have them bring their ticket from a previous event and exchange it for a beer token, allowing event staff to track how many previous attendees came back.
  8. Partner with local hotels. If you put on a big event that attracts out-of-state attendees, you can partner with local hotels and have them leave surveys in guest rooms, or offer a perk such as free ice cream at a local shop in exchange for grabbing a survey at the front desk.