Building The Business Case For Meetings And Events

Commercial outcomes are already an important part of what organizations expect from meetings and events, but proving that value remains a challenge. A stronger return on value approach can help event leaders make their contribution clearer and support the case for future investment.

Meetings and events (M&E) are taking on a bigger role in business strategy. That’s according to BCD M&E’s latest quarterly client insights report.  The report found that 55% have M&E “strongly” or “fully integrated” into how their organization engages customers and employees, while 41% identify “commercial outcomes” as one of its leading roles.

But greater strategic importance brings greater expectations with the report finding that 82% want stronger return on value (ROV) measurement, yet only 18% consistently measure ROV and feel confident demonstrating it to leadership. And more than a third say none of the major dimensions of value are measured consistently.

That need to prove value is also echoed by Forrester’s 2026 State of B2B Events research, which found that event teams face growing pressure to make better use of data and prove tangible business impact amid “constrained” budgets.

Look beyond a single measure of success

Event value is often centred on financial return, which still matters, with the BCD M&E insights study showing that 64% said financial value was the most important dimension to report to leadership. But it was far from the only one — experience value was important to 55%, strategic value to 50% and governance value to 36%.

That is why return on value can provide a more useful picture than looking at one financial metric alone. An event might generate or influence commercial opportunities, but it can also strengthen customer relationships, improve brand perception or support a business objective.

Give leaders evidence they can use

Different parts of the business will look for different evidence of value. Finance and Procurement may focus more on financial or governance outcomes, while Marketing and Sales may prioritise strategic or experience value. A common ROV framework can give teams a consistent way to measure value across financial and experience outcomes, while tailoring reporting to what matters most to each audience.

That evidence also needs to support decisions as less than half of respondents said M&E insights are “frequently” or “always used” in decision-making. That’s why clearer proof of value can help guide future investment and shape how events are designed.

Want to understand how your meetings and events program can better demonstrate value? Talk to BCD Meetings & Events about building a measurement approach around the outcomes that matter to your organization.

Our findings are based on an online survey of a selection of our global customers distributed by BCD M&E Advisory Services.