Webinar Resources

Compendium Blogware's new Twitter/Facebook integration posted this mobile replay link to our social media sites http://tinyurl.com/27dglho

So here we are in Summer already.   Beautiful weather, bike rides, baseball games, vacations--Who wants to work in a stuffy office?   "But I have to watch that new product intro and be prepared to speak to my customer next week."  "I have to review that latest webinar replay to see what my competitors are up to".

We've got the answer to your Summertime Blues.   Webinar Resources is excited to announce "mobile replay".   Now you can view that relevant content on many mobile devices (supported devices -- iPhone, Droid, Blackberry 8900 and even the iPad).   Yes, it is time to "lounge and learn" while soaking up sun, fun and knowledge at the same time.

We have begun producing content in the new Brainshark enhanced mobile format and will be adding more relevant content to our mobile catalog.    To view a sample on a supported mobile device, text the word webinar to 88769 and we will add you to our mobile subscriber list to receive our latest mobile replay.

With our new condensed webinar replay service, you can accelerate your customer acquisition process with mobile on demand presentation content.   Imagine serving up relevant, targeted content to a customer or prospect's mobile device with a simple text message.

Join our mobile subscriber list and see how easy it is to go mobile and get out of the office!

 

How many times have you missed a webinar?   I am sure many of you have for one reason or another.   Webinars have become so ubiquitous now that there are several you could attend in any week.   However, that is why there are webinar replays--recordings of the live webinar event.   More people view webinar replays than those that attend live webinar events.   A webinar replay is a great medium to catch up on the content of what you missed at the live webinar.   Or is it?

"Thank you for attending today's webinar.   Today's webinar will be in a listen only mode.   You can ask . . . "   What's this?   Why do I need to listen to this unnecessary banter of the live webinar when it has already passed?   I just want to get to the "meat" of the webinar and move on.

This is the problem with replays/recordings of webinars today.   Many are simply a recording of the audio and slides (and some of the entire webinar interface) that are not edited and are produced and posted for viewing.   Many of the replays are not edited as it is easier and faster to post the replay without further modifications.

Some of you may remember the days of reel-to-reel tapes or cassettes.   With this medium, you had to fast forward and rewind through the tape to find the audio you were looking for.   When CDs came out, you were able to select the song you wanted to hear without searching through the entire catalog of music on the CD.  

Some webinar replays are like the old linear tapes.   You need to use the player "scrub" bar to search through the content until you can find what you are looking for.   Some replays provide a table of contents so you can advance to the slide and audio you are seeking.  

Companies like Brainshark provide a great solution for repurposing the audio and slides of your webinar.   Webinar Resources uses Brainshark to produce our "Webinar for ONE" presentations that basically make your webinar "live again" with the addition of interactive polls, live web slides and flash video.  Still, do viewers want to search through 45 minutes of content when all they require is the 10-15 minutes to retrieve the content that they require and probably have time to listen to?   As the lady said in the old commercial, "Where's the beef?".   I am probably dating myself.

The team at Webinar Resources and our partner, Bizucate, have examined this content delivery dilemma and have come up with a solution that we believe will provide the "beef" that webinar replays have been missing.   After producing our second in a series of Webinar Wednesdays events, we decided to repurpose the best content that we believe our viewers wanted to see and hear.

Using Brainshark's new "microphone audio" feature, Bizucate presenter and president, Peter Muir, re-recorded his audio content for 10 specific slides of the original webinar presentation which contained 24 slides.  Our intention was to produce a "condensed" webinar replay that we could post as not only a replay, but as a learning module that could be posted on Brainshark's Content Network and Training Industry's Learning Content Network. 

We have been pleasantly surprised to see the number of views increase as we broadened our reach by posting the content in many different channels.   With condensed webinar replays we can repurpose, re-market and renew your webinar content and drive new business opportunities.
 

At Webinar Resources we have been producing short 2-3 minute Brainshark presentations as ticklers or "webinar trailers" to promote our series of Webinar Wednesdays events.   Webinar Trailers are a very effective customer acquisition process for engaging and acquiring registrants as they appeal to more modalities than traditional email invitations.

With Webinar Trailers, we can strengthen our marketing message with an on demand presentation that consists of audio, slides and capture a registration at the moment of the viewing of the presentation.   We also can post Webinar Trailers in many different locations - social network applications, webinar newsletters, landing pages and of course link directly to a personalized email.   Using our proven process of selecting the appropriate multi channel mix, we gain the attention needed to capture registrants for our webinars.  

We are now extending the reach of our multi channel marketing to SMS text messages and mobile video.   Registrants and/or past participants can subscribe to our Webinar Wednesdays SMS reminders and alerts by texting to the word "webinar" to short code 88769.   Once the subscriber is added to our list, we can then reach out to them in their preferred communication method with a text reminder.

Soon we will be delivering mobile content to our Webinar Wednesdays SMS subscribers.  Stay tuned for more information in our blog or text "webinar" to 88769 and join our Webinar Wednesdays subscriber list.

Building customer acquisition is all about extending your reach through an effective multi channel mix using cross media applications to drive attendance and list growth for your events.   We have partnered with Peter Muir, and his Bizucate team to communicate these strategies and enable our participants to learn how to develop a marketing plan to drive effective events.   Join us at our next Webinar Wednesdays event on June 23rd, from 1-2pm CDT.   Listen to our webinar trailer and register at:   http://www.brainshark.com/webinarresources/WebWed.  We hope to see you there.

 

• Make sure you’ve set up a series of informational emails or a website for support staff and presenters. They should know what is expected of them; where to be at what time on the day of event, deadline for submitting, tech requirements for laptops and presentations, etc.
• If it is a large event like a conference, let attendees set their schedules early to establish presentation expectations and to cut down on people asking questions.
• Delegate the compartmentalized or smaller tasks, like catering and registration, to someone with fewer things to worry about on the DOE.
• Delegate the updates of social network applications during the event such as Twitter, blogging and Facebook updates.

• To ensure attendees walk away with the information/material they came looking for.
• Make sure messages, observations and news from the event are captured for post-event newsletter/follow-up or to share with those who could not attend.
• Facilitate smooth running presentations to ensure everyone gets to present and/or learn.
• Help make networking as easy as possible for attendees and vendors alike. Assign a QR code to every attendee so they can simply scan to exchange information. Or, offer team with a local print shop to offer discounts on business cards so they have something exchange.

• Use SMS to send attendees a link to their event schedule on the morning of the event.
• Consider a live webcast or recorded podcast to share the event with those who weren’t able to attend. Webinar replays can be used as a review for those who attended as well as a customer acquisition process in your grand lead generation conference strategy.
• Place QR codes or Microsoft tags on presentations, collateral or exhibition displays to enhance attendee’s interaction with content.

Once you have the basic structure of your event in mind you should move on to stage 2: Pre-Event Efforts. This progressive approach to event planning includes focusing on using every element of an event to create opportunities to engage your audience. Traditionally, the pre-event efforts are designed to get people to attend a singular face-to-face conference, seminar or meeting. Web2.0 has established new channels of communication that give these pre-event efforts the potential to be just as engaging and profitable as the actual “main event.” Remember, each touch is an opportunity to grow your relationship with existing customers as well as introduce your products and services to new ones.

In your pre-event efforts utilize social media channels – both new and old – to advertise the content to be shared during the event, as well as, start new conversations. The channels you chose should be relevant to your desired audience and the messages tailored to the nuances of each particular channel. When using a multi-channel mix it is wise to drive all out reach efforts towards one centralized website where all event information and forums are located. This creates a flow between the channels, as well as building a cohesive theme or message.
 

Some examples of pre-event efforts:

• Tweet a concise but alluring intro to the event with a link to the home page. “No more recession depression. Now is the time to strive for growth…Link”
• Pose a question on LinkedIn that will pique interest and engage your network. Be sure the question is directly related to your event. “What are three things you’ve done recently to improve your relationship with your existing customer? Need some ideas? Link”
• Use your Facebook page to express excitement about the upcoming event or reach out to those who have RSVP’d.
• Attempt to survey those who are interested in coming but can’t. Find out why and what specifically they were interested in and whether they would be interested in alternative options. Then follow up. It starts a conversation and may lead to new opportunities.

As it relates to sales, pre-event efforts give you the unique opportunity to reach out to two different audiences. Existing customers and potential customers frame the two most targeted audiences for events. Knocking on doors, e-mail, phone calls, social media and more present many ways to reach out to these two audiences…but it’s the fact you took the time to share with them what your event is and why they should come—that creates an engagement opportunity for you to assess if they are worth your time. Having an event gives you something to talk about besides just trying to sell them a product or a service.

By using an extended series of mini opportunities around your central event you are opening the entire process of advertising, registering and following up to new profit potential. Setting a genuine and well managed standard of interaction through these initial pre-event efforts will lay the foundation for a successful and memorable event over all.

Peter Muir, president Bizucate Inc.
www.bizucate.com
 

Webinar Resources was recently recognized for our unique, personalized, Christmas Story Photo Book application at the second annual Brainshark Sharkie awards.     Our application was selected and recognized at the online Sharkie awards last week among a hundred entries of interactive Brainshark presentations.

You can view a sample Christmas Story Photo Book at the Brainshark Sharkie Gallery.   This presentation is a great example of the use of effective landing pages, cross media applications and on demand presentation content.   We personalized the reading experience for children with personalized text, images and audio in a unique Christmas story about Santa Claus and the Lost Dog.

Readers of our blog have seen some examples of how we have implemented cross media applications to drive the customer acquisition process.   Stay tuned for more creative uses of a multi channel mix of content and solutions that will bring business opportunity to your company.
 

• Why have an event, what are your goals? What do you want to get for your efforts? Develop objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based) and align with the current or future needs of the organization.
• Having an educational event provides a reason to talk to customers and prospects. It gives you something to buzz about beyond your capabilities and need for business. It could give your customers reasons to invest in new ideas and new products and services to help them grow.

• Content: strategic, operational, sales, business processes? The content is what will be advertised and why people will attend. Theming your event and tying it to actionable outcomes changes an informative event to a results event. Types of businesses and the role of the attendee will be influenced by the content you choose.
• Type of Event: Face to Face or Webinar. Each presents its own benefits and shortcomings. Consider your content and audience along with your budget and resources as part of your thought process.
• Timing: Early in the quarter? At the beginning, middle or late in the week? Morning, afternoon or all day? What time works best for those you are looking to reach?
• Location: If face to face do you host it at your company, at a local hotel, a customers business? To feed or not to feed? Is the location part of your message? If you choose to have a web conference what are the needs of the solution? Browser, OS, phone, voice over IP, Presentation technology, presentation style, ability to interact with attendees.

Webinar Resources just distributed the latest newsletter and it contains some exciting announcements, enhancements and tools to keep you in touch with industry news and trends as they relate to event management and customer acquisition.

You still might have time to order your Sweetheart a personalized eCard along with their favorite audio clips from iTunes.   This Valentine's Day, we are adding music to the mix and further personalizing the experience of the recipient. Provide us the name, email address, a special message and the name of your Valentine's favorite musical artist and we will deliver a personalized eCard and iTunes Preview landing page with album selections that your special Valentine can listen to. Webinar Resources will be posting an iTunes redemption code ($15 value) in ten of the lucky Valentines' personalized landing pages on February 14th.

Order now at this link.