10 Questions to Include in Your Post-Virtual Event Survey

You already know that your job as an event planner doesn't end at the final closing sessions of your virtual event. You worked so hard to market your virtual event, used all the tactics in the book to keep your attendees engaged throughout the event, and now it's time to get the most out of your efforts with a solid post-virtual event survey strategy. 

Post-event surveys have always been the most reliable source of information used by event planners and marketers to gauge their success, where improvements are needed, and what the attendees suggest for future events. These simple tools allow you to gather information to learn what attendees learned, what they like, and how you can improve future virtual events. 

There are a handful of ways to get feedback from your virtual audience. No matter how successful your event is, gathering post-virtual event feedback from an online survey can be difficult. Still, the information you gather in this phase of virtual event planning is critical to your overall success.

Benefits of Post-Event Surveys

A post-event survey provides invaluable insights into attendee satisfaction, enabling data-driven improvements for future events. It helps identify strengths and weaknesses, measures ROI, validates decision-making, and strengthens attendee relationships.

This feedback mechanism demonstrates that you value participant opinions while collecting actionable data for continuous improvement. Here are a few ways that post-event surveys can be used to improve future events: 

1. Measure Attendee Satisfaction: Quantify how well your event met participant expectations through rating scales and specific feedback mechanisms. Evaluate whether the event meet the goals of attendees by seeking feedback on both positive and negative experiences.
2. Performance Evaluation: Assess various event dimensions like content quality, speaker effectiveness, logistics, and overall experience.
3. Insight Generation: Uncover detailed insights about what worked well and areas needing improvement for future event planning.
4. Stakeholder Engagement: Demonstrate commitment to participant experience by actively seeking and valuing their opinions.

Moving beyond the event itself, understanding its impact and success requires structured feedback. Let's explore how post-event surveys serve as essential tools for growth and improvement.

1. Eliminate the Guesswork

By collecting feedback from attendees, event planners can eliminate the guesswork and make data-driven decisions for future events. This helps ensure that the event meets the needs and expectations of attendees, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

Instead of relying on assumptions, you can use concrete data to understand what worked well and what needs improvement, making your planning process more efficient and effective.

2. Estimate Event Growth

Post-event surveys can help event planners estimate event growth by asking attendees if they would recommend the event to a friend. This provides valuable insights into the event’s potential for future growth and helps planners make informed decisions about marketing and promotion.

Understanding the likelihood of attendees recommending your event can serve as a powerful indicator of its success and potential for expansion.

3. Improve Future Events

Post-event surveys provide constructive feedback that can be used to improve future events. By identifying areas for improvement and making changes accordingly, event planners can create a better experience for attendees and increase the overall success of the event.

Constructive feedback from attendees can highlight specific aspects that need attention, allowing you to refine your approach and deliver even more engaging and successful events in the future.

Post-Event Survey Questions To Use Today

It can be difficult to gather the information you need from past attendees because your audience has moved on to their regular schedule and might not feel compelled to interact with your brand as they were during the live virtual event conference. 

Much like a pre-event survey, asking the right questions is crucial for event planners like you to gather the data needed to determine the success of your event and present it to key stakeholders. 

Let's take a look at 10 types of post-event survey questions you need to ask attendees to encourage respondents to share their overall experience and give you the feedback you need. 

1. How Satisfied Were You With The Event?

This is the most obvious and important question you can ask, and it is a great way to prime your audience to give you more information throughout the survey process. Use the opportunity to provide a breakdown of certain aspects of the virtual event you would like feedback on, such as:

• Rate your overall event satisfaction on a scale of 1-10
• Identify the most enjoyable aspects of the event
• Describe any areas where the event could be improved
• Assess whether the event met your initial expectations
• Indicate your likelihood of attending future events

The best way for marketers and event planners to gather this data is to have survey participants rate their experience with each event component on a scale of 1 to 5. This scale provides participants with a quick way to gauge their satisfaction, and it gives you a solid idea about what to improve in the future.

Be sure to include a space for participants to include comments and the standard 1 to 5 scale. While most participants won't fill out the comments, you can gather great intel from past attendees who fill in the sections. 

2. What Aspects Can We Improve Upon For Our Next Event?

It's not always easy for event planners to hear about what went wrong with their event, but it's the only way to know how to improve moving forward. The best virtual event coordinators know that they can improve future events, and the best way to plan great events is to know how you could improve past events for better results. 

Use this opportunity to gather more constructive feedback to use in your future event planning endeavors. 

One of the best ways to do this is to pose an open-ended question using a comment box to allow attendees the freedom to expand on what they feel went wrong. Here are some ideas that you can follow when collecting this information: 

• Rate the quality and relevance of individual sessions
• Evaluate the speakers' expertise and presentation skills
• Assess the depth and practicality of the content shared
• Measure the engagement level of each session
• Provide specific topics you'd like to see in future events
  
  

3. Was The Virtual Event And Virtual Platform Easily Navigated?

Your virtual event needs to be engaging and provide attendees with the information they want in an easily accessible format. Since you can't rely on personal connections like you could in regular in-person events, you need to make sure that your virtual event platform is easy to navigate for all attendees. 

Virtual events and conferences rely on technology to connect attendees, and this reliance on technology can result in unforeseen problems along the way. Attendees could have experienced password issues, trouble logging in to the event lobby, or broken page links that you'll want to know about before future events. 

If the system were flawless, you'd want to hear about that too! Much like walking through a live event, you strive for the same ease of access throughout your live event. Here are a few questions that you can ask to understand this aspect of the event: 

• How smoothly did you access the virtual event platform?
• Rate the technical quality of virtual sessions
• Did you find virtual networking tools effective? (Yes/No)
• What challenges did you experience during online participation in virtual events?
• How engaged did you feel during virtual presentations? (Rating scale)
• Would you prefer future events to remain virtual? (Multiple choice)
• What online interaction features would you like to see improved?
• Which event format (virtual/in-person) did you prefer?
• How well did the hybrid format integrate both audience types?
• Did you feel equally included regardless of attendance method?
• Rate the effectiveness of cross-platform networking
• What technologies enhanced your hybrid event experience?
• Were communication channels clear for both virtual and in-person attendees?
• How can we improve interaction between remote and onsite participants?

4. What Experiences Or Moments During The Event Did You Like Best?

This question allows you to pinpoint what was most enjoyable about your event so you can focus on the positives and repeat them during future virtual events and conferences. This is a great way to pinpoint feelings on event speakers, live sessions, exhibitors, and session topics. 

If you had questions about a specific component of your event, this is the time to ask about it. Here are some ideas that you can use to understand what moments and experiences stood out to your attendees: 

• What was your most memorable moment from the event?
• Which activity or session stood out to you as particularly valuable or enjoyable?
• If you were telling a friend about the event, what experience would you highlight first?
• What part of the event exceeded your expectations?
• Was there a specific interaction or conversation during the event that you found especially meaningful?
• Which element of the event program resonated with you the most, and why?
• What was one unexpected highlight from your time at the event?
• If we were to repeat one aspect of this event exactly the same way next time, what should it be?

5. Which Virtual Platform Features Were Your Favorite?

Event planners know that their online events depend on a great virtual conference platform to bring attendees together. You should ask attendees which features they used and enjoyed so you and your team can think about integrating the technology in the future.

Find out their feedback about your virtual event collaboration tools, event app, gamification options, or simply the live Q & A sessions with questions like these: 

• Which interactive feature did you use most frequently during the event? (e.g., chat, polls, Q&A, virtual networking)
• On a scale of 1-5, how easy was it to navigate between different sessions and activities on the platform?
• What was your favorite networking tool on the platform, and why? (e.g., breakout rooms, private messaging, virtual meetups)
• Which engagement feature enhanced your learning experience the most? (e.g., live polling, hand raising, emoji reactions)
• How satisfied were you with the platform's technical performance regarding video and audio quality?
• Which aspect of the virtual event platform would you most like to see in future events?
• What feature, if any, did you find unnecessary or distracting during the event?
• If you participated in breakout sessions, how would you rate the ease of joining and participating in these smaller group discussions?

6. What Was Your Main Objective When You Decided To Attend This Event?

Not all attendees choose to join a virtual conference or event for the same reason, and you should know why participants chose to join your event. Once you understand the motivation behind people attending your event, you will be able to lean into the motivations to draw a larger crowd in the future.

Determine what your attendees wanted to gain from your event and if they were able to do so by asking questions like these: 

• What was your primary reason for registering for this event?Which of the following best describes your main goal in attending? (Multiple choice)
  • Professional networking
  • Learning new skills
  • Finding business opportunities
  • Staying current in my field
  • Meeting specific people/companies
  • Personal interest in the topic
  • Other (please specify)
• What specific outcomes were you hoping to achieve by attending this event?
• How did you expect this event would help you in your professional or personal development?
• What aspect of the event description most influenced your decision to attend?
• Before attending, what was the single most important thing you wanted to gain from this experience?
• To what extent did the event align with your original purpose for attending? (Scale 1-5)
• Looking back, what motivated you more to attend: the content, the networking opportunities, or something else? Please explain.

7. What Topics Would You Like To See Featured In Future Events? 

Putting this on your questionnaire is a planning gold mine for future event topics, continuing education, certificate, and compliance workshops, as well as keynote speakers, networking opportunities, games used by other event planners. 

Find out what virtual event exhibits your attendees want to see at your next event, and use that information as you plan. Be sure to use open-ended questions for this part of the survey, and you can use questions like: 

• What topics from this event resonated with you the most and why?
• What industry trends or emerging topics would you like to learn more about in future events?
• If you could design the next event's agenda, which 3 topics would you prioritize?
• What specific challenges are you facing that you'd like to see addressed in future sessions?
• Which of these potential topics interests you most for future events? [provide 4-5 relevant options]
• What subject matter experts or thought leaders would you like to hear from, and on which topics?\
• What topics do you feel were missing from this event that would be valuable to include next time?
• Are there any practical skills or techniques related to [industry/field] that you'd like to see demonstrated in future events?

8. How Was Your Experience With Our Virtual Presenters And Exhibitors? 

Since you can't be everywhere at once, event planners need to know what occurred while they were busy with other parts of the event. This survey question will help you identify the best presenters and help you identify sessions to repeat during future events.

Virtual exhibits give attendees the chance to interact with your exhibitors and sponsors face-to-face, screen share presentations, and provide product overviews from their virtual booth. 

Provide a multiple selection list of all presenters and exhibitors with questions that help describe their experience like: 

• How would you rate the overall quality of presentations delivered by our virtual speakers? (1-5 scale, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent)
• How engaging were the virtual presenters in maintaining audience interaction during their sessions? (1-5 scale)
• How easy was it to navigate between different virtual exhibitor booths and presenter sessions? □ Very easy □ Somewhat easy □ Neutral □ Somewhat difficult □ Very difficult
• What aspects of the virtual presentations were most valuable to you? (Select all that apply) □ Live Q&A sessions □ Screen sharing/visual aids □ Interactive polls □ Chat functionality □ Downloadable resources □ Other (please specify)
• How satisfied were you with the opportunities to interact with exhibitors in the virtual environment? □ Very satisfied □ Somewhat satisfied □ Neutral □ Somewhat dissatisfied □ Very dissatisfied
• Was the technical quality of the virtual presentations satisfactory (audio, video, connectivity)? □ Yes, consistently good □ Mostly good with minor issues □ Had some significant problems □ No, frequently problematic
• What could have improved your interaction with virtual exhibitors? (Open-ended)
• Would you be interested in attending future virtual events with similar presentation and exhibition formats? □ Definitely yes □ Probably yes □ Maybe □ Probably not □ Definitely not

9. How Likely Are You To Recommend This Event To Friends Or Colleagues?

Nothing is better than word-of-mouth marketing for virtual events, and you can understand who your target audience is based on which attendees will endorse future events on your behalf. This event evaluation question helps you gauge your virtual event's overall satisfaction and success based simply on if attendees would recommend it to someone else. 

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this event to friends or colleagues?
• What is the first thing you would tell a friend or colleague if describing this event to them?
• How confident would you feel inviting a professional contact to next year's event?
• Which aspects of the event would make you encourage others to attend in the future?
• If a colleague asked you about this event, what would hold you back from recommending it? (to identify potential barriers)
• Have you already mentioned this event to anyone? If so, what did you share about it?
• Compared to similar events you've attended, how strongly would you advocate for someone to attend this one?
• What would need to change about this event for you to enthusiastically recommend it to everyone in your network?

10. Do You Have Any Additional Event Feedback?

Finally, gather your attendee's final thoughts and takeaways. If you missed any valuable moments or opportunities for attendees to share their experience, this is the chance for them to do so. 

Offer a free-form box to let attendees give their final thoughts on every part of your event and collect feedback that can be used to enhance the next virtual event experience. 

How to Conduct a Post-Event Survey

Conducting a post-event survey is a straightforward process that can be completed in a few simple steps. By following these steps, you can ensure that you collect valuable feedback that will help you improve future events.

Ensure You Have Contact Information for Attendees

The first step in conducting a post-event survey is to ensure that you have contact information for attendees. This can be collected during the registration process or at the event itself. Make sure to ask for email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information that will allow you to reach attendees after the event.

It’s also important to determine the preferred method of contact for each attendee, as this will help increase the likelihood of responses. For example, some attendees may prefer to receive surveys via email, while others may prefer to receive them via text message or social media. By accommodating these preferences, you can enhance response rates and gather more comprehensive feedback.

By collecting contact information and determining the preferred method of contact, event planners can ensure that they are able to reach attendees and collect valuable feedback after the event. This step is crucial for maximizing the effectiveness of your post-event survey and gaining insights that will help you improve future events.

Host The Best Events With BeaconLive

In today's data-driven world, post-event surveys are more than just feedback forms – they're strategic tools that shape future success. By asking the right questions, you'll unlock valuable insights that can transform good events into outstanding ones.

Remember, your attendees' voices matter, and their feedback is the compass that guides improvement and innovation.

Ready to elevate your virtual events with industry-leading technology and expert support?

Let BeaconLive help you create engaging, impactful online experiences that leave lasting impressions. Contact our team today to discover how our comprehensive platform can power your next successful virtual event.

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