Student Number: 19008429

Module Name and Number: Business Decision Making for Marketing and Events,
UMCDN4-15-1
Word Count: 1199

Evaluating the Social Media for Marketers conference, and providing

recommendations for the next conference

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 Executive Summary

Through the evaluation of survey responses between the years of 2017 to 2019,
results present consistent appearance from attendees, with majority of expectations
being extremely well met each year. Satisfaction levels, although remaining high and
positive, do fluctuate between the years, with a clear increase in extreme
dissatisfaction from the 2019 conference. By using excel, the COUNTIF function
allowed accurate counting of answers, enabling single variable and multi variable
graphs to be produced using pivot tables. Priorities including focusing on issues
arising from the social aspects, particularly transport and traffic, and the general
schedule of the conference.

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 Table of Contents

Executive Summary......................................................................................................2
Figures List...................................................................................................................4
Introduction...................................................................................................................5
Methods........................................................................................................................6
Results..........................................................................................................................7
Discussion....................................................................................................................9
Recommendations......................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................11

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 Figures List

Figure 1.........................................................................................................................7
Figure 2.........................................................................................................................7
Figure 3.........................................................................................................................7
Figure 4.........................................................................................................................8

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 Introduction

A Digital Marketing Agency have been running a small conference for the last three
years in hopes to situate its agency as thought leaders within social media for
marketing. The day included five working sessions, consisting of two presentations
and three selected workshops. Complimentary breakfast, lunch, and networking
drinks were also included, with an approximate 166 people participating annually
across the three years.

To enable evaluation on the opinions of the experience, a survey was provided for
the attendees to complete to highlight their views. This report will evaluate and
analyse responses collected across the years of 2017 to 2019.

Ratings given on the survey suggest that a consistent majority were satisfied and
surprised at how well the conferences met their expectations. A cluster of
participants from the years responding with only quite likely recommending the
conference does indicate areas for improvement.

The report will begin by highlighting and analysing the methods utilised to obtain the
data, including ethical issues relating to this. It will then proceed to the key results
from the analysis, finally concluding with recommendations to improve these ratings
and comments to ensure a greater satisfaction from the next conference.

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 Methods

The survey was designed using a standardised criterion with basic principles being
the use of a simple approach to encourage suitable responses, and the use of the
Likert Scale to rate satisfaction. There are limitations that can occur from this in the
form of response bias. Where attendees have spent a day at the conference, they
may complete the survey quickly to wrap up. Thus, they fail to read the questions
properly and tend to reply in a similar way by answering on the same favoured side
of the Likert Scale. This indicates that not all answers were truthful, generating a
problem for how to improve or enhance the conference.

The data was analysed via excel using the COUNTIF function to count the
responses for certain questions, ensuring accuracy in percentages and numbers so
that none have been missed. The numbers proceeded to be converted into single
variable and multi-variable graphs using pivot tables in excel.

Using results from the satisfaction questions, the NPS scores could be calculated.
This can be found by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the promoters.
However, NPS is flawed in the sense that it instigates a positive response. If the
attendee had a positive experience, they would give high scores of satisfaction, and
then to be consistent, a high score for recommending also. This is misleading for
other companies and those interested in the agency as they are getting a lot of
positive impressions, when this is mainly influence by the survey.

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 Results

Reasons for Attending the Conference

Number
120 of People
100
80
60
40
20
0
2017 2018 2019
To keep up to date To satisfy CPD
To meet others Other
Figure 1

Referring to Figure 1, it can be identified that the principle reason for attending was
to keep up to date with social media, whilst meeting others came second, with its
value increasing each year.

How Well the Conference Met Expectations

Number
100 of People
80
60
40
20
0
2017 2018 2019
Extremely Well Moderately Well
Slightly Well Not Well at All
Figure 2

Although there is evidence of slight fluctuation, attendance for the conference is

complimented with consistent positive responses that prove to outweigh the
negative. See Figure 2. From this graph, expectations were met extremely well for
the majority of the years and consistently met moderately well.

Total Satisfaction Value from Morning & Afternoon Sessions

40%
Percentage of Satisfaction

35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

2017 2018 2019

Figure 3

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Figure 3 shows a consistent trend of satisfaction where majority of attendees are
extremely satisfied from both morning and afternoon sessions. However, it can also
be seen that from 2018 there have been a rise in negative satisfaction percentages,
with 2019 reaching a mere 6% being extremely dissatisfied compared to the 1%
back in 2017.
NPS Scores Between the Years
0
2017 2018 2019
-5 -9.04
-10
NPS-15
Scores
-21.08
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-46.99
-45
-50
NPS
Figure 4

Figure 4 represents the Net Promoter Scores across the years. The NPS score in
2017 was severely below zero and would have been a major indicator that customer
satisfaction needed greater prioritisation. This clearly improves between the years,
with 2019 seeing an 80% improvement to reach only a -9.04 score

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 Discussion

Referring to Figure 1, although the primary reason for attending was to stay updated,
the increase in people attending to ‘meet others’ suggest that social opportunities,
especially during workshops and networking sessions, have developed and
expanded.

Where social aspects have grown, other aspects of the conference may not have
been prioritised as much throughout the years. Figure 2 indicates how after the 2019
conference, both satisfaction values for ‘extremely well’ and ‘moderately well’
decreased. This can be justified via written comments from the survey, presenting
dissatisfaction in parking difficulties and inability to attend all sessions – these are
issues that more attendees have commented on between years.

This corresponds to Figure 3 in which there was a rise in attendees being ‘extremely
satisfied’ with the sessions from 2017 to 2018, but yet another decrease after the
2019 conference. However, the other satisfaction levels did increase, clearly seen
with ‘extremely dissatisfied’. Suggested by the written comments, the increase in
social attendees makes parking difficult as more people want to attend more
sessions. As a result, less actually get to go due to the busyness of the conference –
an area proposing room for improvement especially if the agency wants to continue
their conferences.

Although Figure 4 provides evidence that NPS scores across the years have
improved, they are still below zero. This is an indicator that the agency still needs
exercise in understanding and improving attendee satisfaction levels. By focusing on
this, it would positively indicate that customer satisfaction is high in the agency’s
priorities, generating a greater loyal customer base and promotes the agency’s aims
and values.

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 Recommendations

To improve and increase satisfaction for future conferences, it is important to review

the programme schedule, particularly the timing and range of sessions available.
This is to ensure that a good sequence of talks go into each session, but also that
enough time is provided for people to attend all the sessions they would like to go to.

This can be further enhanced by introducing reliable transportation. This can be in

the form of more bus links or investing in a regular shuttle bus system (University of
Hawai’i, 2009). This would not only reduce parking issues but guarantees
attendance to sessions and the conference itself.

Where timing and parking prove as limitations, it is worth converting the Closing
Keynote session into a Q&A panel. This ensures that any queries or key information
the attendees may have missed can be fulfilled and answered.

A way to improve NPS scores is by actively engaging with the detractors and the
issues they experienced. Detractors generally offer ideas on how to meet their
expectations, and so by knowing exactly what improvements are needed, the
effectiveness is greater than guessing (Venugopalan, 2016). Additionally, by meeting
the needs of the detractors, there is a greater chance of turning them into promoters.

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 References

University of Hawai’i (2009) Second Language Research Forum 2008: Conference

Evaluation Report [online]. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, National Foreign
Language Resource Centre. Available from:
https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/NetWorks/NW56.pdf [Accessed 7 January 2020]

Venugopalan, V. (2016) Best Strategies to boost you Net Promoter Score. Cloud
Cherry [online] 13 October. Available from: https://cloudcherry.com/blog/net-
promoter-score-improvement-strategies/ [Accessed 7 January 2020].

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