By Rob Murdoch, Commercial Director at Exposure Analytics
I was proud to see Exposure Analytics pass the 1,000 event milestone this year; a huge thank you to our clients who have made this possible.
We built our platform from the ground up and the past four years have seen us develop and grow, using our clients requirements to tailor our service. I’ve taken a bit of time to pause and reflect on what I’ve learnt since the launch of Exposure Analytics.
Every event is different
Of course they are. But what I mean is that every client wants different outcomes. We supported one music festival where a brand set up a tent with blacked out windows and security, while another had an open-sided, welcoming feel. Of course the open stand delivered much higher footfall, but the tent won convincingly on dwell time. Each was looking for a different outcome and we could prove that they achieved them. Every event is different, but the successful exhibitors share the same thing – a list of agreed and measurable KPIs.
Adapt as you go
Don’t stick with something if it isn’t working. Monitor your daily statistics, and if you can fix an issue then do it. Your stand or activation may be designed to flow people one way, but your metrics show that it isn’t working. Again, its something we experienced with an American client who altered their design to move more people from their experiential area into their retail points. We’ve also worked with clients who have changed their stand layout daily following results from our analysis. As well as advising our clients to be adaptable, we try to follow the same approach. Our platform has developed along with the demands of our clients – we’re constantly building and improving.
Make it experiential
Today’s customers demand more than just products displayed on a stand. Our analysis regularly shows that to keep people engaged, give them something to do or play with. We worked with a major motor manufacturer and our data revealed the most popular section of their stand was where people could play with Lego.
The weather really does make a difference
Something we all know anecdotally but we’ve been amazed at what we’ve seen since we added weather data into our analysis.
The impact of rain is clear to see and easy to measure. It’s not always a negative impact, it might mean lower footfall at an outdoor event but conversely can also lead to much longer dwell times within a nice dry sponsor tent or at an indoor event. Sunshine tends to increase the footfall at outdoor events and festivals but might reduce dwell time and engagement rates in shopping centres and at indoor events.
Either way if you are comparing events year on year or the performance of activations from week to week, you can assess the impact of the weather – sadly there’s nothing we can do to actually change the weather!
Below you can find out more about Exposure Analytics in our recent podcast with Rob:
Author: Paul Allott
Paul Allott is a director and co-founder of Event Industry News, Event Tech Live and the Event Technology Awards.
