Event marketing is expensive, but it can provide a substantial return on investment. It is vital, therefore, for corporate event marketing professionals to both optimize the value of their event spending and be able to measure that value.

As we covered previously, information can be collected by different means at different points before, during, and after each event. 

Events are often the single largest expense in a B2B marketing budget (and a significant expense for B2C marketers as well), but can provide a return of $3 to $5 for every dollar spent. That's why nearly two-thirds of event pros plan to spend more on live events this year than last.

When it comes to budgets, corporate event planners seek to optimize the return on their event outlays. This means both choosing the right events to attend (or host) and getting the biggest impact out of every dollar spent on the event. Second, they need to be able to quantify their results. 

While there are a number of metrics to quantify results, the primary focus should be operational metrics. These metrics include information on which sessions, presenters, and activities were most popular, among other variables. As a rule of thumb, we list the top 10 metrics most event managers use to measure ROI. 

Event experts are a diverse lot, ranging from editors to consultants, planners, vendors, and service providers.

Corporate events have been a vital marketing channel, particularly for B2B enterprises, for decades now. Live events, including conferences and trade shows, remain one of the top lead generation sources for B2B marketers.

A key challenge for event professionals (in addition to running successful events) is keeping up with what's happening in the industry: the latest news, trends, and developments in live events.

It used to be you could count on spreading your influence at an event with four walls. Today, social media walls, real-time Twitter updates, and cross-platform image and video sharing expand the impact and experience of events far beyond the walls of the hotel ballroom or convention center.

Events are often the single largest expense in a B2B marketing budget (and a significant expense for B2C marketers as well), but can provide a return of $3 to $5 for every dollar spent. That's why nearly two-thirds of event pros plan to spend more on live events this year than last.

Events can be a real money maker for your company. It pays to understand what commerce capabilities you can actually offer during your event to assure you maximize your ROI. Here, as in other areas of event management, no one application is sufficient for every need. 

As with marketing webinars, the objective of experiential events is typically either lead generation or, for known prospects, to help advance the sales process. These live events will involve a check-in process (and in some cases immediate on-site registration) and some sort of credential, but are simpler than large customer conferences because of their smaller size, greater frequency, and shorter duration.

Registering event attendees on-site is different that registering attendees prior to an event. On the positive side, an event manager will be "on-the-ground" and capable of managing the inevitable surprises that are part of any live activity. Yet those surprises can easily tax an inferior event registration system--so here are a few things every smart manager should think about. 

Event planners keep up a crazy work pace. With this in mind, earlier this week we “short-listed” a few publications you should follow in this business. Today we are releasing the full and definitive list of the Top 24 Event Industry “Must-Follow” publications.