Imani Ellis’ Guide to Using Research and Discovery to Build Your Event

Welcome to Creator Columns, wherever we bring master HubSpot Creator voices to nan Blogs that animate and thief you turn better.

One of my favourite parts of experiential marketing is nan investigation and find process. Often overlooked, I judge that spending a bully magnitude of clip exploring information tin make each of nan quality erstwhile it comes to readying your adjacent successful event.

Data isn’t conscionable recovered successful pastry charts and exported Excel graphs, it’s everyplace you look. Key insights and learnings are swirling astir you arsenic you move done nan world, drawback up pinch adjacent friends, aliases overhear conversations astatine a java shop.

These sentiments tin each lend to curating your adjacent arena and readying retired your user travel — ensuring that your attendees consciousness seen and considered.

How to Use Research and Discovery to Build Your Next Event

1. Before you tin genuinely dive into your research, walk immoderate clip getting clear connected nan problem you’re solving.

It tin beryllium tempting to spell into nan world, fresh to conquer each situation your business could perchance face, but nan cardinal to successful research and discovery is focus. Spend clip getting clear connected what problem you want to solve, really you scheme to observe insights astir it, and what cardinal takeaways you’re looking for.

This tin thief guarantee you enactment connected people and debar getting distracted arsenic caller problems aliases challenges originate successful nan process.

Ultimately, nan extremity of investigation and find is to beryllium outcome-oriented. This workout should thief to supply clarity against cardinal questions that you have. There will beryllium clip to attraction connected caller challenges but staying aligned pinch nan task astatine manus is simply a cardinal constituent to avoiding overwhelm and burnout.

Once you’ve decided nan problem you’re looking to solve, walk a sizeable magnitude of power connected wherever you tin find nan assemblage to reply your questions.

Immerse yourself successful your audiences’ activity and dive heavy into their interests, preferences, and behaviors. You’re not conscionable asking, “Who are they?” but also, “What moves them?”

For example, since CultureCon is dedicated to creating organization and resources for Black creators and entrepreneurs, we request to see what they want to acquisition that aligns pinch their profession aspirations and organization goals. We request to cognize wherever they get their news from, what they for illustration to do for fun, and what inspires them.

Learning this accusation tin let america to speak straight to their experiences and induce them to spot themselves successful nan event.

2. Listen to your assemblage and support an unfastened mind.

Now that you’ve identified your audience, it’s important to go an progressive listener.

Remember, while this business aliases arena is important to you, it is not your “baby.” Keeping this successful mind tin thief you region your individual beliefs and ego from nan feedback you’ll person truthful that you tin objectively digest what comes your way.

There are galore ways to incorporated progressive listening and found feedback channels successful your investigation process including:

• Focus Groups: Personally, I emotion focus groups because they supply an situation wherever participants tin prosecute successful unfastened and honorable discussions that supply nuance that tin often beryllium missed successful surveys aliases different quantitative methods.
• Surveys: Pre and post-event surveys are different awesome measurement to perceive to your assemblage and understand what they want much of. In your survey, effort to instrumentality to 1 aliases 2 open-ended questions and make nan remainder multiple-choice truthful that you person an easier clip reference nan data.
• Don’t disregard nan remark section: The remark conception is simply a awesome spot to prosecute successful progressive listening. Dive into nan comments connected your societal pages to gauge what attendees are excited astir aliases concerned pinch and usage those findings to guideline your arena and trading strategies.

3. Get retired and explore.

Beyond nan integer screen, location are truthful galore different ways to behaviour investigation and find IRL. Explore different events successful your metropolis and inquire friends what experiences they're excited astir complete dinner.

All of these learnings tin pass cardinal trends and insights for nan arena that you’re building. Avoid nan enticement to effort and go everything to everyone. Remember that learnings only request to beryllium implemented if they are useful and applicable to what you’re hoping to build.

Remember that you are besides your assemblage — what gaps are you experiencing, and what do you wish location was much of? Answers to these questions tin beryllium to beryllium highly helpful.

4. Analyze your findings and travel nan data.

Now that you’ve collected your feedback, it’s clip to make consciousness of it. I for illustration to shape nan information into categories — positive, negative, and neutral feedback — and past I statesman to look for patterns.

This is an opportunity to spot earthy and unfiltered accusation for your business. It whitethorn not each use but it tin beryllium adjuvant to spot wherever location whitethorn beryllium imaginable unsighted spots successful your strategy aliases approach.

Read more:

• How Experts Use AI for Customer Feedback Analysis

Quantitative information tin show wide trends, while qualitative feedback tin springiness you deeper insights into why definite aspects succeeded aliases failed.

Remember: All of this information tin activity together to pass a holistic story. Don’t conscionable look astatine nan numbers — discourse matters.

For example, if you take to supply a standing strategy for your event, see a follow-up mobility for illustration “What could alteration a 7 to a 10?” This reply tin thief to person a lukewarm attendee into a marque enthusiast.

5. Take action.

Research and find only activity if you enactment connected nan insights you’ve gathered. Take nan information you’ve analyzed and usage it to pass your adjacent steps. What are nan cardinal points that bubbled up successful nan feedback and really tin you return 1 mini measurement towards implementing a scheme of action?

Pro tip: Look for patterns and prioritize feedback that has a communal theme. Remember that not each proposal needs to beryllium implemented, but if respective guests mention nan aforesaid rumor (like unclear connection aliases ace agelong hold times for food), those topics should beryllium apical priorities for your adjacent event.

6. Iterate, improve, and repeat.

Research and find is an ongoing process. Once you’ve implemented nan changes, stitchery feedback again. Did nan feedback lead to progressive change? Did nan changes work? What’s nan adjacent area you tin tackle?

With each phase, you tin proceed to refine and elevate nan experience, ensuring you’re perpetually optimizing, improving, and staying successful touch pinch your community’s needs.

Key Tip: Make feedback loops a regular portion of your process, not conscionable a one-off event. This way, you’re ever evolving and improving based connected real, timely insights.

Creating a feedback loop for investigation and find involves listening, analyzing, acting, and past repeating nan process. It’s astir creating a civilization of changeless betterment wherever each arena aliases task loop is much aligned pinch your audience's needs and expectations.