How to Create an Event Planning Survey in 4 Simple Steps

Are you planning to organize an event?

You are familiar with the challenges of organizing a successful event. From coordinating with vendors to managing last-minute changes, you feel you are working on a thousand details in one stroke. The main struggle of event planners is ensuring that the event sits well with attendees’ tastes. Without clear, actionable insights, you risk making decisions that may not click with your audience.

This is where an event planning survey comes in handy. You must gather feedback directly from your attendees – before, during, and after the event. Creating an event planning survey does not require specialized knowledge or expensive tools. With a few straightforward steps, you can craft a survey that will provide the information you need to simplify your planning process and minimize surprises.

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As an event planner, you will master the creation of an online survey specifically designed to meet your unique requirements today. Let’s understand the importance of event planning surveys.

Why Are Event Planning Surveys Important?

According to a study, 71% of event planners use online surveys to engage attendees. Event planning surveys contribute to sound decision-making, guaranteeing attendee satisfaction and a smooth event planning process.

Here is a breakdown:

Event Planning Surveys Help Deliver on Expectations

Surveys allow you to learn your participants’ needs, choices, and expectations before the event. By doing so, you can tailor the event exposure to match what participants want, inviting them to respond and increasing satisfaction.

Say you are arranging a conference. With the survey, you can ask attendees about the topics they want to discuss. Then, you can prioritize specific speakers or subjects that bond with attendees’ interests. If some attendees indicate interest in relationship-building activities, you can adjust the event time and allocate additional time for mingling and meaningful discussions.

Event Planning Surveys Improve Logistics and Scheduling

Logistic issues should be adequately addressed. Feedback on logistics gathered from surveys can help make this happen. The most common challenges are venue accessibility and transportation; however, tackling these challenges is achievable with surveys.

Before the gala dinner, you can ask attendees whether they are concerned about the venue’s accessibility. If many respondents suggest that the event time clashes with their existing commitments or that the venue is difficult to reach, you can accommodate them.

Event Planning Surveys Measure Event Success

Upon the event’s completion, you can use the survey to assess how well it went and how much it lived up to attendees’ expectations. This assessment will help you watch out for future events and gauge the overall success of their efforts.

After a music festival, you can send a survey asking for your opinions on the performances, the location, sound quality, and the event experience. If respondents show dissatisfaction with things like long wait times or a complicated ticketing process, you can eliminate those for the next event.

Creating an Online Event Planning Survey

It is not rocket science when creating an online event planning survey for the intended audience. Follow these four simple steps to create an impactful online survey as an event planner:

Step 1: Select a Template

Templates are the foundation for your survey. In other words, they are a pre-set structure that provides a standard or adapted outline. An event planning template will help you start from scratch.

Survey platforms have different templates suited for various event types (e.g., meetings, conferences, seminars). Moreover, specific templates focus on gathering information regarding attendees’ preferences or a feedback-oriented template to compile responses after an event.

Step 2: Customize Your Survey

You know your event best, so customize it accordingly. Customizing the survey ensures you gather fresh and relevant information for your event. This information will help you meet the planned objectives.

Feel free to tweak the pre-built questions or add your own to match your goals! If you’re planning a catered dinner, it’s a great idea to include questions about dietary preferences, like whether someone is vegetarian or needs gluten-free options. Don’t forget to ask about session preferences and when everyone would like to hold the event!

Step 3: Reach Out to Customers

When planning your event survey, connecting with the right people is great! In addition to attendees, consider reaching out to potential customers, vendors, sponsors, and other essential stakeholders—they’re all valuable voices. Begin by clearly identifying your survey’s target audience to maximize your insights!

• Are you looking for feedback from those who already registered for your event?
• Are you trying to gather insights from a broader audience to enhance your event offering?

Understanding who you want feedback from helps you personalize your survey distribution strategy. You can use social media platforms like Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc., to spread your reach. In addition, you can embed the survey on your event website.

Step 4: Analyze and Generate Report

Data-driven decisions are vital to ensuring your event outshines the cutthroat competition. After collecting sufficient responses, interpret the data using data analysis tools provided by the survey platform. This includes generating visual reports (e.g., charts, graphs) or summarizing key feedback.

Pro tip: maximize your efficiency by exporting the data in Excel, CSV, Word, PDF, or SPSS formats. This will streamline your workflow and reinforce your analysis.

Conclusion

Online event planning surveys are essential tools that enhance decision-making, improve logistics, and measure event success by gathering valuable insights from attendees. Employing these surveys enables you to customize experiences to align with participant expectations.

Do you want to ensure that upcoming events are even more successful? Try SurveyCrest’s event planning survey maker and unveil the magic.