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Leslie Robertson, CEO, Open Audience, says event organisers must assess their attendees’ emotional responses and attitudes to truly understand an events’ impact.
As an audience engagement expert, I’ve spent many years measuring audience feedback and levels of engagement at events. Initially in a more quantitative style, but in these days of intuitive technology, demand continues to grow for us to measure emotion and sentiment.
So, what does that mean? It is a way of assessing your attendees’ emotional responses or attitudes towards the experience and/or content of your event. It’s increasingly helpful for us to gauge an understanding of the reception, feedback and effectiveness of these communications, events or initiatives, and allows us to refine and focus our activity to ensure maximum impact and value for money.
Can it be done? Well, I think it can, with on-going commitment and a combination of practical steps and a range of tools.
Here are some thoughts on what you could use to measure audience sentiment effectively:
1) Surveys and feedback forms
Over the years increasingly sophisticated assessment programmes have meant that when we deploy surveys and feedback forms before, during, and after an event, we can get a picture of audience sentiment. These can incorporate questions that delve into emotions, opinions, and overall experience. You can use various tool such as OpenMeet or alternatives to create and distribute surveys easily.
2) Social media monitoring
By monitoring social media platforms for mentions, comments, and conversations related to your event, you can get an indication of mood and sentiment. Tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Brandwatch allow you to track keywords, hashtags, and sentiment analysis, and this can provide insights into how attendees are talking about your event online.
3) Text analysis tools
There are effective text analysis tools that employ natural language processing and sentiment analysis algorithms. These tools can analyse large volumes of text data, such as social media posts, customer reviews, or chat logs, and provide sentiment scores. IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding, Google Cloud Natural Language API, and Lexalytics are popular options.
4) Live polling and Q&A sessions
By incorporating interactive elements like live polling and Q&A sessions during your event, your attendees are able to express their feelings and opinions which gives you a real-time snap-shot of their emotions. Open Audience’s platform OpenMeet, or other alternatives enable you to gather instant feedback and measure sentiment during the event.
5) Emotion tracking technologies
Exploring emerging technologies such as Noldus and iMotions, that track facial expressions, body language, and physiological responses can let you gauge audience sentiment. Technologies such as facial recognition software or wearable devices, can provide deeper insights into emotional reactions. However, it’s important to consider audience concerns about this type of technology and consider privacy and ethical implications when using these technologies.
6) Sentiment analysis APIs
It’s possible to integrate sentiment analysis APIs into your event platforms or applications. APIs offered by providers like IBM Watson, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure enable real-time sentiment analysis and allow you to extract sentiment data from text inputs programmatically.
7) Focus groups and interviews
Engaging with a representative sample of attendees to dive deeper into their emotional reactions, experiences, and suggestions for improvement can yield unique perspectives. These in-depth discussions can provide valuable context and help you uncover nuanced emotions.
8) Event analytics and data visualisation
You can leverage event analytics platforms to collect and analyse data related to attendee behaviour, interactions, and sentiment. Tools like OpenMeet, Eventbrite, Hubilo, or Cvent provide comprehensive analytics dashboards that display sentiment trends, attendee engagement metrics, and audience sentiment scores.
The end result…
Remember, measuring audience sentiment is not a one-time activity. It’s an ongoing process that requires continuous evaluation and refinement. By combining various measurement methods and tools, you can potentially create a dashboard that will give you a holistic view of your audience’s sentiment, which allows you to make data-driven decisions that will enhance your audience’s level of engagement and overall experience.
