What is Event Satisfaction Score?
Post-event surveys capture attendee satisfaction across content quality, networking value, logistics, and overall experience to drive future event planning. By measuring both what attendees valued and what fell short, organizers build a data-backed improvement loop that increases return attendance and sponsor confidence year over year. Use results alongside the Event Planning Readiness Score to close the loop between planning and outcomes.
Why This Matters
Repeat attendance prediction starts with satisfaction data
According to the EventMB (Skift Meetings) Industry Benchmark Report, events with post-event NPS above 50 see 60% or higher return attendance rates, while those below 30 struggle to retain even 35% of attendees. Feedback surveys provide the leading indicator that predicts next year's registration numbers.
Sponsor ROI evidence requires attendee sentiment
Sponsors increasingly demand proof that their investment reached an engaged audience. Attendee satisfaction data, session ratings, and networking quality scores give organizers concrete metrics to include in post-event sponsor reports, directly supporting renewal conversations.
Content curation for future events becomes data-driven
Skift Meetings research shows that content relevance is the top driver of event satisfaction, cited by 72% of attendees as "very important." Session-level ratings reveal which topics, formats, and speakers resonated, replacing subjective curation with evidence-based programming.
Common Mistakes
❌ Waiting too long after the event to survey
Attendee recall degrades rapidly. Surveys sent more than 48 hours after an event see response rates drop by 40% compared to those sent within 24 hours, according to Skift Meetings data. Automate delivery to trigger on the event's closing day.
❌ Asking about overall satisfaction without specifics
A single "How satisfied were you?" question tells organizers very little. Breaking satisfaction into content quality, speaker effectiveness, networking opportunities, venue logistics, and registration experience identifies which lever to pull for the biggest improvement.
❌ Not benchmarking against previous events
Without year-over-year comparison, organizers cannot distinguish whether a 78% satisfaction rate is an improvement or a decline. Maintaining consistent question sets across events creates a trendline that reveals whether changes are working or introducing new friction.
Industry Benchmarks
| Category | Good | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall event satisfaction (satisfied or very satisfied) | Above 80% | 65-80% | Below 65% |
| Event NPS (Net Promoter Score) | Above 50 | 30-50 | Below 30 |
| Return attendance rate (attended previous edition) | Above 55% | 35-55% | Below 35% |
Source: EventMB (Skift Meetings) Industry Benchmark Report
Benchmark data sourced from EventMB (Skift Meetings) Industry Benchmark Report.