Incentive Travel & Merchandise

KPIs to Measure the Effectiveness of Incentives

February 23, 2023

Identifying and tracking KPIs (key performance indicators) allows planners to measure goals and objectives that go beyond the bottom line.

KPIs are quantifiable measures that apply to specific objectives, and they track more than financial return on investment (ROI). Planners can identify a wide range of KPIs to get valuable event data, said Mark Rose, strategic client director at BCD Meetings & Events. “To understand whether your incentive has been effective, it’s important to set out the KPIs that you’ll track from the start,” he wrote in a BCD Insights Blog. “By understanding what data you’re capturing from the very beginning, you can ensure you don’t miss key performance metrics that may be more difficult to measure post-event.”

Getting Started

Planners should think holistically about what KPIs to track for an incentive, recommended Rose. These include:

•Employee engagement (absenteeism, turnover, retention rate, employee net promotor score)
•Email open rate
•Email click-through rates
•Sales growth
•Feedback pre, during and post-event
•Incentive activity feedback
•Event app interactions
•Brand sentiment improvement
•Productivity

Also dig deep to define objectives, said Rose, because “these objectives will form the foundations of what you measure.” Among his top tips for effective KPIs:

1. Build in 12 months of data tracking. Throughout this year-long pre-meeting cycle, there will be multiple KPI touchpoints. Each of them should be tracked and measured.

2. Set achievable goals for sales performance incentives. If the majority of the sales team feel demotivated, it can create a negative impact overall.

3. Benchmark activity. It’s important to know if performance upturn is due to the incentive rather than other factors such as increased marketing or time of year.

3. Learn from history. Understand what experiences and destinations drove improvement historically in order to help to determine future destination choices.

4. Understand the total cost of the incentive. If goals center around increased sales performance, calculate financial ROI based on the full budget. This includes factoring in all design, communication and project management costs.

5. Never measure ROI as a standalone. Track ROI year-on year to understand performance trends.