Post-Event Audience Channel Interview
Ask real customers where they found you and why they bought
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 93%
Example describes a small piece of market research he conducts after concerts. He asks waiting fans where they bought the ticket and why they bought it, then notices how discovery routes vary across audience groups. In his account, younger fans often cite Instagram advertising, while some older attendees mention outdoor posters, ticketing links, or Facebook-based discovery. The reusable mechanism is direct attribution: interview recent buyers while the purchase is still concrete, capture both source and motivation, add enough audience context to reveal differences, and group recurring answers. The result is not a perfect attribution model, but grounded evidence about where distinct customers already look for offers and which routes deserve continued promotion.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Ask buyers rather than assuming how they discovered you
- 02Capture both the discovery channel and the reason for purchase
- 03Expect different audience groups to use different channels
- 04Use repeated answers to locate customers where they already pay attention
How to run it
- 1
Find recent buyers
Choose a natural moment to speak with people who recently purchased or attended. Example uses the group waiting after his concerts.
Pro tip Ask while the purchase and discovery path are still relatively fresh.
Watch out Do not pressure people who do not want to participate.
- 2
Ask for the source
Ask where the person bought the offer or first encountered its promotion. Record the answer in the respondent's own terms rather than forcing it into a preferred channel.
Pro tip Distinguish a purchase platform from the place that first created awareness when the respondent can remember both.
- 3
Ask for the reason
Follow with why the person chose to buy. This separates simple exposure from the motivation that converted attention into action.
Watch out Do not infer motivation from the discovery source alone.
- 4
Add audience context
Record a relevant audience characteristic, such as a broad age group, so channel patterns can be compared without assuming every buyer behaves alike.
Pro tip Collect only context that is useful and appropriate for the decision you need to make.
Watch out Anecdotal group differences are signals to investigate, not universal demographic rules.
- 5
Group repeated patterns
Review answers for recurring combinations of audience, discovery route, and purchase reason. Use those patterns to decide where future promotion should remain visible.
Pro tip Keep minority routes visible when they consistently bring a distinct buyer group.
Watch out Do not treat a convenience sample after one event as complete channel attribution.
In the wild
After performing, Example asks waiting fans where they bought their tickets and why. He reports that younger attendees commonly mention Instagram advertising, while people over roughly 30 or 40 mention sources such as posters, forwarded ticketing links, Bandsintown, or Facebook.
→ The conversations show him that different parts of his audience need different routes to find his concerts and newer music.
Common mistakes
Assuming one channel reaches everyone
Example's responses vary by audience group, so relying on one familiar platform could hide other effective discovery routes.
Asking only where they paid
The checkout location may differ from the place that created awareness, and neither alone explains why the person bought.
Overgeneralising a small sample
Post-event conversations provide useful directional evidence, but the transcript does not establish that they represent every fan or market.
Is it for you?
Best for
Creators and event operators whose audience discovers offers across several online and offline channels.
Not ideal for
It is less useful when respondents cannot recall the source or when a tiny sample is treated as representative of the whole market.
From the transcript
“I'll always say to them where did you buy this ticket from and why did you buy this ticket”
“it just does a little bit of market research”
“as long as these people know where to find me that's great”
From the episode
Example: The Dark Side Of Money & Fame