6 May 2025

Defining clear goals and KPIs for events: the foundation of event success

Event marketing without clear goals is like sailing without a compass—you might stay afloat, but you're unlikely to reach your destination. Whether you’re organising a small webinar or a multi-day conference, setting clear, measurable goals and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) is essential to ensure your event delivers real business impact.

Why setting goals matters

Events are significant investments of time, budget, and resources. Without predefined objectives:

You can't measure success
You risk misalignment across your team
It becomes difficult to justify ROI to stakeholders

Goals serve as your strategic north star, while KPIs are the metrics that tell you whether you're on track.

Align event goals with business objectives

Start by asking: What are we trying to achieve as a company, and how can this event support that?

Here are some common business-aligned event goals:

Lead generation: drive high-quality leads for your sales team
Customer retention: deepen relationships with existing customers
Brand awareness: reach new audiences and boost visibility
Thought leadership: position your brand as an industry authority
Product adoption: educate users and accelerate usage or onboarding

Define SMART KPIs

Every goal should have one or more SMART KPIs—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Here's how some common goals translate into KPIs:

Goal	Sample KPIs
Lead generation	Number of MQLs or SQLs from event
Brand awareness	Event page traffic, social impressions, media mentions
Engagement	Live attendance rate, session participation, chat activity
Revenue impact	Deals influenced/closed, pipeline generated
Customer satisfaction	Net Promoter Score (NPS), post-event survey results

Tip: set a “good–better–best” range for KPIs so you can gauge performance across multiple thresholds.

Benchmark and track over time

If it’s your first event, use industry benchmarks or pilot data to set expectations. For recurring events, compare against previous performance to identify trends.

Consider tracking metrics across these three stages:

Pre-event: registrations, landing page conversion rate, email open/click rates
During event: live attendance, session dwell time, engagement actions (polls, chat, Q&A)
Post-event: on-demand views, follow-up conversions, survey results, sales outcomes

Use goals to inform strategy

Once your goals and KPIs are clear, let them guide the rest of your planning:

Choose the right format and platform
Tailor content to your audience’s needs
Focus promotion on the highest-value channels
Assign team roles based on outcome ownership

Review, report, and refine

After the event, conduct a post-mortem:

Which goals were met or exceeded?
Where did performance fall short—and why?
What lessons can you apply to future events?

Then create a concise report for stakeholders that ties metrics back to business outcomes.

Final thought

Great events don’t happen by accident—they’re designed with purpose. Defining clear goals and KPIs ensures every decision, from speakers to giveaways, drives value. Start with strategy, measure what matters, and make every event count.