Webinars can be a major investment for any company, from both a time and dollar perspective. In order to maximize the return on your webinar investment, we always recommend using ReadyTalk’s easy-to-use recording and playback tools to extend the conversation with your audience after the live event is over.

We  added an additional metric to the playback recording report in Conference Center that displays the amount of time a participant watches a webinar recording.

So what does this new metric help you with?

Whether you’re using webinars for lead generation and qualification, online training and certification, or sales demonstrations, tracking how long a participant views your content can help with the following:

• Gaining more visibility into the effectiveness of your webinar
• Measure the level of audience engagement during your recordings and customize your follow-up based on how long they viewed it
• Better prioritize lead scoring and lead follow-up within your marketing automation platform

What are some other ways that you measure the effectiveness of your webinars and keep your audience engaged?

Beth is a Product Marketing Manager and works with our customers to understand their needs as they relate to Event Services and ReadyTalk’s Conference Center, which is used to setup the pre- and post-meeting details of our clients’ upcoming webinars. Prior to joining in ReadyTalk in 2011, Beth worked as an account manager for a mobile payments start-up and as a product manager for the prepaid gift card program at First Data. Outside of the office, Beth loves to spend time with family and friends, practice her cooking skills, and run.

What is one of the best ways to improve your next webinar? Ask for feedback!  We currently offer customers the option to display a post-event survey after a meeting has ended. Prior to the start of the meeting, the chairperson can modify the messaging that precedes the survey, add custom questions, attach files, or even direct  participants to a 3^rd party survey tool.

But what happens if a participant leaves the webinar early, or if the chairperson doesn’t immediately end the meeting?  In the past, you may have missed the opportunity to get valuable feedback.  Now, you can include a link to the post-event survey in your follow-up email to anyone that attended the meeting, but didn’t fill out the survey.

Check out this new functionality:

• How to Include the Post-Meeting Survey Link in Post-Meeting Email
  • By default, the functionality is enabled and is only included in the Post-Meeting Email to Attendees who have not completed the survey. This will avoid duplicate responses from your participants.

• If the box is checked to include the post-meeting survey link, the text and button highlighted below for the post-meeting survey link will always display in the preview. However, if an attendee already completed the survey prior the post-meeting email being sent, the text and button will not be included.

• Do you want to include a custom survey link instead?
  • If you choose to send attendees to a custom survey link, the option to include a post-meeting survey link in the post-meeting email is automatically disabled and no longer available.

Edit Post-Meeting Survey Page

Edit Post-Meeting Email to Attendees

Today we are excited to announce the beta of our pre-recorded video playback feature. Pre-recorded video playback gives your trainings, sales demos, and webinars a more engaging, personal feel by incorporating short video clips into the live presentation. Your meetings will never be the same and your participants will thank you for incorporating rich video content in your presentation. With pre-recorded video playback, you can:

• Upload pre-recorded video clips to your access code
• Playback video clips during your meeting for participants to see and hear your content
• Record your meeting with the pre-recorded video content included

To sign up for beta access to pre-recorded video playback please fill out this form. You will receive an email within 1 business day providing you with instructions on how to get started.

Currently the process for uploading and playing back your pre-recorded video clip is a 4 step process (see diagram below). For more information please be sure to view the recorded demo, the Quick Start Guide, and the Best Practices and Known Issues documentation to gain valuable tips and tricks on how to use pre-recorded video playback in your meetings. When this feature becomes generally available (first half of 2012), the process for uploading and playing back your videos in the live presentation will be very similar to uploading and inserting slides into the ReadyTalk Conference Controls.

We’d love to hear about your experience with pre-recorded video in the feedback form or in the comments below. Tell us how the feature is working, if you’re experiencing any issues, or if you have any specific feature requests. If you have any questions about this feature please contact ReadyTalk Customer Care at 800.843.9166.

Paul was formerly an Account Executive at ReadyTalk gaining valuable experience with competitors and the state of the web and audio conferencing industry. Currently in his role as Product Marketing Manager, he is in charge of the competitive landscape, on-demand audio products, and the web meeting interface. Paul loves the outdoors, his pup Huck, his wife Jess, and getting to the ski slopes as much as possible.

The world of conferencing continues to change. First, it was bringing small groups of employees across various office locations together on the phone, followed by the need for web conferencing to show others what you were working on.  Now, those groups are no longer small, or limited to your own organization.  The use of audio and web conferencing has grown to much more than a way to cut down on costs, but as a successful way to generate leads through webinars, or train users on your product.  The use cases seem endless, and maybe even complex.  But something that should not be a brainteaser? Pricing.

ReadyTalk understands that our customers want to concentrate on the subject of their meetings, or content of their webinars, instead of the possibility of the unpredictable costs of their audio and web conferencing use.  We want to provide the highest quality, service and reliability, as part of our pricing.  With that expectation in mind, we introduce our five new web and audio subscriptions:

• Web Meeting Pro (25, 150)
• Webinar (500, 1000, 3000)

What’s unique about these? High-quality audio, included with every package.

The Web Meeting Pro subscriptions include unlimited web conferencing and a bundle of included toll and toll-free domestic audio minutes, at a flat monthly fee.

The Webinar subscriptions include unlimited web conferencing AND unlimited Broadcast Audio, enabling participants to stream high-quality audio through their computer speakers. Again, for a flat monthly fee.

So how do you know which subscription is right for you, or your company?

Do you conduct a fair amount of smaller, internal meetings or  present projects to external clients and vendors where high-quality audio is critical?  Then the Web Meeting Pro options are right up your alley.

Are you managing larger webinars for lead generation, online training, etc, more than once a month?  The Webinar subscription options can give you the cost-effective solution you are looking for.

Interested in learning more?  Contact us today to find out more about our new subscription plans!

Beth is a Product Marketing Manager and works with our customers to understand their needs as they relate to event services and our conference center, which is used to setup the details of our clients’ upcoming meetings. Outside of the office, Beth loves to spend time with family and friends, cook, and hit the slopes.

Over the years, I have seen many companies chose to build a channel program but immediately fight themselves on their decision. It is common for there to be a misunderstanding about the role of channel partners and that can lead to arguments as to whether an indirect channel program is beneficial. Some will argue that it costs too much while others see the value right away. Before proceeding to build a channel program seek buy-in internally from key stakeholders.

As a channel marketing manager, my role is to help the company decide which channel is relevant to the sales organization (reseller, VAR, developer, retail, etc.), how to grow and manage that channel, and what to expect out of the growth of the channel over the years.

One of the first things to tackle is cooperation with channel partners, especially with the direct sales team. There are endless ways to avoid competition and encourage cooperation – just make that a goal and measure your program against it.

Of course a channel program should be designed for generating sales and supporting customers. Some examples include:

• Setup alliances between direct and indirect teams so that partnering becomes second nature and you will foster cooperation.
  • Team sales reps with channel partners when there is a value add to the customer.
• If sales management deals with both channels, distribute sales quotas to promote cooperation. If not, the first signs of competition will show up.
• A main part of managing both direct and indirect channels is managing the leads of all parties and creating fair and reasonable guidelines for lead tracking.
  • Typically conflict arises when both direct and indirect sales are competing for the same business. Lead tracking can minimize the competition and help management make decisions.

Create a program that fosters cooperation between both teams and you have a win-win.

Tracy focuses on channel and partner marketing at ReadyTalk, building out marketing programs to recruit partners and reinforce engagement with them. When she’s not coming up with marketing plans she likes to compete in canine freestyle Frisbee and ride her Ninja motorcycle.