From audio-visual setup to attendees to internal and external stakeholder management, several aspects lead to the success of an event. As an organiser, one is worried about the culmination of these aspects for overall success.
This is where a a virtual event survey comes into the picture. The insights gained from an event survey, as well as the detailed data from the event platform, help you trace out the complete picture of how successful a particular virtual event or hybrid event was, and what are the key takeaways for your organization.
Here is an exhaustive list of virtual event survey questions to help you
Table of contents
- What is a virtual event survey ?
- Types of Survey questions
- Pre Meeting Survey questions
- Post virtual meeting survey questions
- Tips for successful event survey
So what is a virtual event survey? Let’s find out!
For any event, it is important to match the expectation and the feedback of the attendees. Event surveys enable event organizers to do just that. This feedback forms a reference framework for the next set of events that will be organized.
Generally, there are three types of event surveys that the event host can execute –
1. Pre-event Survey: A pre-event survey is hosted prior to the commencement of the event, during the planning stage. It allows the host to engage with previous attendees, as well as warm leads being nurtured by the business development team, and curate an event with value-based payoff for the attendees.
2. Mid-event Survey: This takes place in between the sessions, during the course of the event. It can help boost engagement with the attendees. Mid-event surveys give an event organizer an understanding of the real-time attendee experience during the hybrid event.
3. Post-event Survey: A post-event survey helps event organizers engage with hybrid event attendees after the event’s completion, to get a clear idea of what the attendees appreciated, and didn’t – with respect to content, event organization, and event planning. The valuable information gained from this activity can be leveraged to improve attendee experience for the next event.
What are the Types of survey questions
Event survey forms are different from other survey forms which are primarily done for research purposes. In an event survey, the objective is to measure the efficacy of the event. Hence, the questions have to be designed in such a way that there is no ambiguity in the answer from the respondents. Broadly there are three types of questions used by marketers:
1. Close-ended questions: These questions have a direct yes/no answer or a rating scale (e.g. from strongly agree to strongly disagree). Closed-ended questions offer limited insight, but can easily be analyzed for quantitative data regarding attendee experience en-masse.
2. Open-ended questions: These questions provide qualitative feedback to the host. They allow the participants to express their thoughts or opinions on a particular topic. Usually, they are included towards the end of the survey form. These questions represent the attendee’s complete knowledge, feeling, and understanding, and can offer specific, personalized insights regarding the hybrid event experience.
3. NPS questions: In these questions, the participants’ answer is measured on a numeric scale. The varying values determine the Net Promoter Score – a measure of customer experience that predicts business growth opportunities. Insights gained from NPS questions are an indicator of customer experience, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty.
Compelling Event Survey Questions for Event Attendees
We’ve curated a list of compelling event survey questions for you to ask your hybrid event attendees, in order to glean qualitative and quantitative insights regarding their event experience. When conducting a hybrid event, it is necessary to curate your event questionnaire towards the attendee’s actual event experience. Ideally, one should plan a questionnaire for in-person attendees at the venue, and another one for remote attendees on the virtual event platform.
These are some questions to ask your attendees, for insights that will help you improve the event experience for subsequent events. Some of these questions will overlap for both the attendees in order to gauge individual experiences.
Pre Meeting Survey Questions
Following is a list of questions to send to your attendees before the event gets started. Ideally you want to send this 3-4 weeks before the event. A reminder a week prior to the event
Pre Event Survey Questions for attendees
- Were you able to register for the event easily?
- Yes
- No, was too complex
- I didn’t register on my own
- How did you hear about this event?
- Marketing email
- Google search
- Recommended by colleague/friend
- Social media post
- Newspaper
- Magazine
- Others
- Is this your first time attending an event organized by us?
- Yes
- Attended last year
- I have attended the event edition
- Which social media platform do you actively use?
- Others
- I do not use any social media
- Which session are you most interested in?
- Would you be needing special assistance from us?
- Yes
- No
- What are your food preferences?
- Non vegetarian
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Fasting food
- Others
- Are you allergic to any food ? (If yes, please specify)
Pre Event Survey for remote attendees
This list of questions is specific for remote attendees only.
- Which device will you attend the event from ? (Tip: Make this a multi-select)
- Windows Laptop
- Apple Laptop
- Android mobile/tablet
- iOS mobile/tablet
- Others
- Would you prefer a digital or physical swag box?
- Have you attended a virtual event or webinar before?
- Yes
- No
- Have you attended any events that we have organized before?
- Yes
- No
- Were you able to register for the event easily? How would you rate your experience on a scale of 1-10?
- What was your thought on the integrated registration and ticketing process? Did it improve your experience?
- Is there any information that you are having difficulty accessing?
Post Virtual Meeting Survey questions
This is the exhaustive list of event feedback questions to mix and match for both in-person and remote attendees.
Generic Post Event survey questions
- How did you hear about the event?
- Social media
- Online search
- Newspaper
- I attended last edition
- Friend/colleague recommended
- Other…
- Overall how satisfied were you with the event?
- Very satisfied
- Satisfied
- Neutral
- Dissatisfied
- Very dissatisfied
- Do you think the event offered value to you?
- Not really
- Yes, I got what i wanted
- There is scope for improvement
- Were you able to achieve your desired objectives by attending the event in-person?
- Not at all
- It met my expectations
- Exceeded expectations
- Did you get sufficient breaks and discussion time during the entire event?
- Yes
- No
- On a scale of 1-10 please rate your onsite check-in experience?
- Would you sign up for our next event?
- On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend this event to a friend or colleague?
- For the next edition which type of event would you prefer?
- Virtual only
- In-person only
- Both
- I won’t be attending
- Which language would you like us to include for the next event?
- Would say the event was interactive?
- No, it was one-way
- Yes, I was engaged
- Would you agree the duration of the event was perfect for you ?
- Strongly agree
- Neutral
- Strongly disagree
- How many sessions did you attend ?
- Which event sessions did you like the most?
- Which event sessions did you dislike (and why)?
- On a scale of 1-10 how was your experience with the sponsor spaces & exhibitor booths?
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the networking opportunities available during the event?
- Were the sessions informative? Please tell us how informative you found the sessions to be, on a scale of 1-10
- Which speaker’s session did you enjoy the most? Why?
- Which speaker’s session did you dislike the most? Why?
- Which exhibitor had the best booth?
- On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the food ?
- Overall any feedback you would like to give us
Hybrid Event & Virtual Post survey questions
- Where did you attend the event from ?
- APAC
- Eastern Europe
- North America
- Western Europe
- Middle east
- South America
- How did you attend the event ?
- Only Remote
- Remote & In-person
- In-person only
- What did you enjoy the most on the hybrid event platform? (Tip : Don’t forget to make this multi-select)
- Live Stream sessions
- On-demand pre recorded videos
- Remote engagement with speaker
- Exhibitors booths
- Gamification
- Networking
- Online interaction
- Others
- On a scale of 1-10 rate how was the virtual venue check-in
- Were you able to navigate the virtual event venue with ease?
- Seamless and intuitive
- I didn’t know what to do but the guide helped
- Still confused what to do
- What do you think is missing currently from the hybrid event platform?
- Did you experience any lag in the event stream?
- For the whole event
- Intermittently
- None
- Did you get technical support on time?
- I never needed any help
- Yes the documentation helped
- No one responded to my queries
- How many connections did you make online ? (Tip : Give options as a range depending on your size of attendees)
- Will you pay for the videos post-event for a nominal fee?
- Yes
- No
- On a scale of 1-5 rate the audio quality of the session ?
- On a scale of 1-5 rate the video quality of the session ?
- Have you seen any virtual exhibitor booths yet?
- Yes
- No
- How many virtual sessions have you attended ?
- Did you engage with other attendees online ?
- Yes
- No
Event Tech & Event App survey questions
- Were you aware of the event app?
- Yes , I downloaded it
- Yes but I didn’t download it
- What event app? No one told me about it
- How satisfied are you with the event app experience?
- Very satisfied
- Satisfied
- Neutral
- Dissatisfied
- Very dissatisfied
- What have you used the event app for, so far? (Tip: Make this a multi-check box)
- Registration & checkin
- Networking
- Viewing event schedule
- Gamification
- Posting on event wall
- General information
- Others
- Would you like more or less push notifications ?
- Did you network with remote attendees via the event app?
- Yes
- No
- I wasn’t aware of the networking feature
- I wasn’t aware of the event app
- Which features can be improved to enhance the experience of remote attendees?
- Did you network with attendees who were at the event venue via the event app?
- Yes
- Yes, But not using the event app
- No
- Are you enjoying the games & quizzes in the Event App?
- Yes
- No
- I am not aware of any games
- On a scale of 1-10 how was your experience of engaging in discussions and live polls via the Event app?
- Would you want to continue using our event app for the rest of the year?
- Of course
- No I uninstalled immediately
- I didn’t download
Tips for successful event surveys
It is always recommended to conduct an event survey almost immediately after your event is completed because that covers the experience of attendees in totality. The increased convenience of taking online surveys has become the most preferred method amongst businesses and event hosts. There are ample tools available in the market to facilitate that. Here are some of our recommendations:
Survey Monkey: It is one of the most popular survey tools used by businesses, students, institutes, etc. One can easily generate a survey form on their website and embed it in mailers, as well as share links to the customized questionnaire page.
Google Forms: Probably the most convenient and accessible tool to communicate with. There is no upper limit to the number of questions you can ask, or the number of responses you can collect. The data is stored on Google Drive.
Event App: Event apps have simplified the circulation of event survey forms and their data collection by facilitating the use of an event app. An event app is essential for any event, and provides an organizer with a number of features – one of which is a post-event survey engagement for in-person attendees almost immediately after the event’s completion. The event app and its features, including the post-event survey, can also be accessed by remote attendees as well.
1. Ask specific questions
Specific, precise questions will earn you an accurate answer. Keep questions short, and to the point.
2. Circulate the questionnaire at the earliest
To ensure that you receive good quality answers, it is advisable to circulate the post-event survey within 24 hours of the hybrid event’s completion. Try and reach out to users via multiple touchpoints to ensure participation in your survey.
3. Embed photos or videos
Adding pictures or videos to the survey will make it easy for attendees to recall the key moments from the event clearly. It will improve the quality of the answers.
With these insights, you should be able to conduct a compelling and comprehensive survey for your hybrid event, and gain important insights to improve subsequent events and grow your business!
Frequently Asked questions
What is pre event survey?
Pre event surveys are surveys that are run before the event to gauge the experience of attendees on pre-event activities. These could include registration , pre-event communication, event app activities. Ideally an event app ensure you get the best responses.
What are some interesting survey questions?
While most surveys need to have the generic must have questions listed in this article. You can include interesting questions like best goodies you got ; best dressed speaker or best food.
What are warm up questions in a survey?
Use warm up questions to get better response rates and reduce drop offs. The best warm up questions should be single-choice or quick rating. Simple questions t the start attendees to give more specific nuanced answers
How do you evaluate a virtual event?
You can evaluate virtual events either using surveys or deep-integrated usage web analytics. Since it is virtual it allows you get richer data passively – Ensure you cover these three parts of virtual event . Registration, Streaming & other areas like networking/gamification/exhibitors. If you do have exhibitors pay special attention to them
