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.

At ReadyTalk, as you would hopefully expect, there are quite a few experts around our hallways that know how to put on the best webinar possible. We’ve had some great posts already in 2012, so I thought, time for a recap!  Take a look at some of the great tips we have already provided, and surely, there will more to come.

Simone, our in-house marketing demand generation manager recently interviewed Wayne Turmal, CEO of Great Web Meetings, how to take your webinar series to the next level.  What were some of the key takeaways?

• Careful execution is key. Plan, plan, PLAN!
• Be familiar with the various tools available for registration, audience engagement, ecommerce, etc. Each of these tools contribute greatly to enhancing your brand, and, of course, lead generation

Brandon, a product marketing manager like me, with a deep respect for all things Batman, kicked off a series on making your PowerPoint presentation more impactful. The most important goal of any PowerPoint presentation should be to get your key message across, in a visually attractive way. Here are some best practices:

• Use a relevant background image that is clean and speaks to your message
• Don’t over-inform: Keep your text simple and to-the-point

Did I mention it’s a series? Make sure to check back in soon for more!

Our resident training expert, Shawn, recently blogged about how to Engage your Audience, with one very important tip: Know your Stuff, and practice the mantra “Learn it, Live it, Love it!”

• Know your topic backwards and forwards….don’t let your audience stump you with outlying questions!
• Practice makes perfect: Talk about your material with peers, colleagues, friends….anyone that will listen!  And, when putting on a webinar, practice using the software!
• Have enthusiasm! Or at least fake it.  If you like your material that will naturally engage your audience.

Finally, a blog from Anita, the Director of Product Marketing, on how to use social media to promote your webinars, and more importantly, deliver results.  She recently joined Deb Evans of Social Geek Radio to talk about ReadyTalk’s social media tools, like our participant sharing capabilities and how to use our recording and playback tools to extend the ROI of your webinar.

What other best practices and tips can we discuss in our upcoming blogs? Share your ideas with us!

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 details of our clients’ upcoming meetings. Outside of the office, Beth loves to spend time with family and friends, cook, and hit the slopes.

I’m a marketer. I’m used to fire drills in the midst of planning. It’s a new year and not-surprisingly, many critical pieces of the marketing puzzle have changed. Rapidly. For most marketing campaigns, preparation is key. Yet, how do you plan for something if you’re unaware that process may have to be altered? Sometimes you must adjust in order to gain the greatest return on your investment.

Let’s talk specifics – specifically events: virtual, live, or even a hybrid of the two. Marketing departments are beginning to make significant changes in how they use events to market their products or services. With options in technology, budget and social innovations, there are numerous ways to produce (and market) events and conferences.  As marketers, we know how crucial the planning piece is, so if our strategy is outdated, our initiatives fall short and goals are not met. It is critical to be aware of the tactics that will be most effective in generating leads while being cost efficient. What is the best way to capture your target audience? Craft the right message and find the right venue to do so.

Recent industry research shows virtual events are cost-savers in a number of ways (time, reduced travel, logistics, etc.); however, they are starting to be used in conjunction with live events and tradeshows, rather than a replacement. Consider these benefits:

• Ability to attract larger audiences: virtual events can cover more people in more time zones
• Expansive content AND niche content:  Audiences at an event can be targeted and/or broad. The virtual piece enables the them to choose from multiple content tracks that might not all be accommodated at the physical event alone
• Access to keynote speakers: high-demand speakers can skip the travel and pre-record their presentations for the conference
• Monitoring attendee engagement: the ability to track audience activity (chat, downloads, survey questions) and time spent in each area make for enhanced, targeted follow-up; data that funneled into CRM systems for faster sales outreach
• On-Demand Archives: those that were unable to attend a particular session or had multiples that overlapped can now access any presentation that was recorded

If the landscape of events is evolving and you’re still stuck in your ways from years past (of producing or marketing to), you’re missing out on a big chunk of the pie. Join us for an upcoming webinar on January 25 to learn more about the current state of virtual events from both producer and attendee perspectives. Steve Nesich, Principal of MarketStrike, will discuss how these different event types are currently being used and measured. What you’ll learn may surprise you. See what’s working, what isn’t, and how this could impact your company’s marketing and sales strategy and performance for 2012 and beyond.

What have you seen to be successful in your event marketing strategy? Or what would you warn others against? How do you feel about combining both the live and virtual aspects? Share your feedback and questions below and we’ll ask Steve to address them during the webinar.

Simone has been involved with both the sales and marketing teams at ReadyTalk and is currently the role Marketing Demand Manager and manages the monthly ReadyTalk Webinar Series, which is a free  forum for professionals to interact with their peers and other experts on topics ranging from sales and marketing to nonprofits and funding to leadership and professional development. Simone is an outdoor enthusiast – skiing, climbing, triathlons, and trail runs with her dog, Bucket, are just a few of the things she enjoys outside of the office.

With Thanksgiving just days away, I’m feeling stressed about hosting Thanksgiving for 12 people including my in-laws and the in-laws of my in-laws. But, I realized that if I can plan and host a webinar for 1,200 people, I can do a meal for 12. It’s pretty much the same thing, right?

Planning is Required: You can’t expect that Thanksgiving is going to go well if you wait until Thursday morning to grocery shop (think frozen Turkey). Similarly, hosting a webinar requires advance preparation—invitations need to go out in advance, reminders need to be sent and content planned.

The Menu has to Reflect the Guests: Are you serving mash potatoes without gravy? Are you serving tofurkey (tofu shaped like a turkey) to a group of meat eaters? Planning the perfect Thanksgiving menu requires thinking about your guests and their dietary requirements and expectations. Similarly, your webinar content should reflect your audience and their expectations. Make sure your content reflects their experience level, interests and is accurately represented in the webinar abstract.

Good Conversation is Essential: We’ve all been at a table where the conversation is awkward and forced (did I mention my in-laws are coming over?). Your webinar doesn’t need to be like this. Prepare polls and interactive content to engage the webinar audience. For the Q&A portion of the webinar, put together some sample questions; if the audience is too shy to ask questions, you can use these “fake” questions to get it started and avoid the awkward silence. I also recommend put together some questions to spark discussion among your Thanksgiving guests too.

How was that New Recipe?: No one likes to hear that their cooking is bad, but it is good to know that the rolls were a little over done so you can bake them for less time in the future. And, who doesn’t like to hear everyone rave about how it was the best stuffing they’ve ever had? Use a post-event survey to get feedback from your webinar participants. Find out what parts they liked and what parts they disliked. This will help you improve your future webinars and avoid mistakes.

The Leftovers are the Best Part: Who doesn’t love a good leftover turkey sandwich? Just like Thanksgiving, the best part of a webinar is the leftovers. Recording your webinar allows you to repurpose your content in new ways. Share pieces of your webinar on Facebook and your website. Take the Q&A section and turn it into a blog post. There are lots of ways to use the content over and over. And, unlike your leftover mash potatoes, your webinar content won’t expire.

If you have other tips for hosting a good webinar, or a good stuffing recipe, please share!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

As the marketing communications and PR manager, Bo gets to wear many hats (but her favorite is a tiara). When she isn’t tackling branding, messaging, social media and collateral, she enjoys skiing with her husband, running with her dog and watching Formula 1. You can find her on Twitter @bo_knows_

Download the AMA and ReadyTalk's guide to planning successful webinars.

Chances are, you are very familiar with the many moving parts that go into setting up a webinar. With assistance from the American Marketing Association, we created a best practices document to offer help sorting through those details.

As a supplement to this document, the members of our Events team came up with the following additional points to consider while setting up a webinar.

• Be sure to schedule your webinar as far in advance of the actual date as possible – ideally, at least 6 to 8 weeks prior – in order to allow enough time for proper marketing of your webinar.
• If you have a custom script, be sure to send it your Event Manager at least 24 hours in advance of your webinar.
• If your participants will be listening to the audio via their phone lines, you might consider adding something similar to the text below to your invitation or confirmation email.

To ensure you are able to join this event successfully, please dial in 10-15 minutes prior to scheduled start time. You will be greeted by an operator. Please be prepared to give them your full name and company name. You will be placed on hold until the call begins.

If you are using the broadcast audio function (allowing your participants to listen to the audio via their computer speakers, you might consider something similar to the text below.

When you log into the web portion, you will automatically be connected to broadcast audio which will allow you to hear the presentation through your computer speakers. Please make sure the volume on your speakers is set appropriately to your location and is respectful to those around you.

• Prepare an introduction slide to show prior to the beginning of the webinar. This slide can include the login information and is very helpful, especially if the dial-in number is listed. Also, if the webinar uses broadcast audio, you can also use this location to remind participants to make sure the volume on their speakers is set appropriately.
• Prior to the live webinar, you might consider sending an email to all speakers with their dial-in and log-in information.
• Prepare a few “canned questions” just in case you need them to fill time during the Q&A session.
• Think about audience engagement!!! Come up with a few ways of interacting with your audience!
• Be aware of your platform’s limitations before the live webinar (participant limit, desktop sharing, video, etc.)
• Find out what type of support you have from your platform provider before, during and after your webinar.

If you use any setup best practices that are not listed here, we would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your thoughts as others may find it helpful in their webinar setup.