Event ROI Calculator · The Hook Studio

What did your event really return?

Add your event data and see your ROI, pipeline and cost per result as you type. Start with what you know. Where real deal values are missing, we use your average order value and label the result as an estimate.

Example figures loaded. Replace them with your own event.
1

Set up your event

Pick your currency first. Every figure on this page uses it.

Event type
Who are you looking to target?
2

Cost and deal values

Use annual recurring revenue (ARR) for deal values.

Venue, sponsorship fee, travel, swag, staff and production.
Your average order value (ARR) for new customers.
Your average upsell or expansion value (ARR).
3

Who came

Who signed up and who turned up.

#
#
4

New business pipeline

From event associated prospects to closed-won deals.

#
#
%
Your historical opportunity to closed-won rate for new business.
Know the real deal numbers? Add them here

Real numbers replace the averages, and your results switch from Estimated to Actual.

#
5

Existing business pipeline

Upsell and expansion from customers who attended.

#
%
Your historical opportunity to closed-won rate for existing business.
Know the real deal numbers? Add them here

Real numbers replace the averages, and your results switch from Estimated to Actual.

#
6

Compare with your plan Optional

Add your goals to see Planned ROI and how each stage did against target.

Get Your Event ROI Results

Get a PDF report of this event ROI Calculator to share with your team. Fill in the short form below and your download starts straight away.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Event ROI (return on investment) measures what an event delivers commercially compared with what it costs. The standard formula is (revenue generated − total event cost) ÷ total event cost. Many B2B teams also track pipeline generated per pound spent, since deals often close months after the event. The Events ROI Calculator works out both from your own numbers.

  • REI measures how successful your event was for all key stakeholders involved: you as the organiser, your delegates and your sponsors or partners. The Hook Studio recommends that you set goals for each group, compare them with your actual results and score each goal from 1 to 10. Your overall REI score shows whether the event created enough value for everyone to want to do it again. Read our guide on defining your REI score.

  • Event ROI measures the financial return: the revenue and pipeline your event generated compared with what it cost. REI looks at the wider value for each stakeholder group, with ROI as one of its measurement criteria.

  • Divide your total event cost by your win rate. For example, a £50,000 event with a 20% win rate needs £250,000 of pipeline to pay for itself. The Calculator works this out from your own numbers.

  • Yes, as an estimate. Enter your planned costs and forecast pipeline to see the projected return. After the event, run it again as often as needed (we recommended 30 days after the event, and again for however long your average sales cycle is) with your actual figures to see how close you got.

  • The stand fee is only one part of it. Staff time, travel, accommodation, shipping, design, hospitality and follow-up speaker gifts all add up. Many companies hold staff expenses and salaries in separate budgets, so agree with your finance or leadership team whether to report the ‘true ROI’ (where absolutely all costs are accounted for) or the ROI based on marketing spend only. Then enter the costs that match that choice in the Calculator.

  • Financial ROI is a strong starting point, but a full decision needs the full picture. We recommend looking at each event’s Return on Event Investment (REI), which measures success across every key stakeholder: your business, your attendees and your sponsors, if you had any. An event can deliver a positive ROI this year and still lose its future if attendees didn’t find it worth their time or sponsors didn’t see value. REI also captures business results beyond the financials, such as relationships built, brand reach and customer engagement. Read our guide to measuring REI to score your events before you decide what stays.

  • Start with your sales team’s average win rate and deal size to get a working estimate. Then set up consistent lead source tagging before your next event, so every future calculation uses real data.

  • Keep it to five numbers: total cost, pipeline sourced, pipeline influenced, revenue closed and ROI multiple over an agreed attribution window. Use your Calculator results as the summary, and talk to The Hook Studio if you want help building a reporting framework your leadership team will trust across all your events.

Methodology

This calculator measures the return on your B2B event investment, based on the resulting pipeline and closed won deals for new business and existing customer growth, so you can compare performance across your event programme.

How we calculate ROI

  • Closed-won ROI: (closed-won revenue − event cost) ÷ event cost

  • Pipeline ROI: (pipeline value − event cost) ÷ event cost. Useful while deals are still open.

  • Planned ROI: the same calculation using your goals

  • Closed-won deals: your opportunities × your historical win rate, unless you enter the real number

All revenue uses annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Actual or estimated

When you enter real deal values, your results show as Actual. Until then, the calculator uses your average deal value and shows them as Estimated.

Benchmarks

The example figures reflect typical conversion rates for B2B mid-sized to large corporate organisations. Use them as a starting point and refine them with your own data over time.

Glossary

  • New Business: revenue from prospects who aren't customers yet.

  • Existing Business: upsell and expansion revenue from current customers.

  • Owned event: an event you run yourself, such as a conference, customer summit or executive dinner.

  • Sponsored event: third party event where you pay for a presence, such as a booth, talk or sponsorship package.

  • Partnered event: an event you co-run with one or more partners.

  • MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): a contact who fits your ideal customer profile and engaged with you at the event, for example by visiting your booth, booking a meeting, attending your talk or registering for your owned event. MQL definitions vary by company, so track them in the way that reflects your process.

  • Opportunities: sales opportunities opened after the event from contacts you met there. Depending on your attribution model, these can be split into sourced opportunities, where the contact was first found at the event, and influenced opportunities, where the contact was already known and the event added a touchpoint that helped open the deal. This calculator combines both. If you'd like to measure your event ROI at that level of detail, talk to The Hook Studio.

  • Pipeline value: the total value of the opportunities the event generated.

  • Win rate: the share of opportunities that typically become closed-won deals in your business.

  • CW (Closed-won): opportunities that turned into signed deals.

  • AOV (Average Order Value): your average deal size, used when actual deal values aren't known yet.

  • ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): the yearly value of a subscription or contract.

Need help tracking your event ROI across all your events? Talk to The Hook Studio.