Casting Calls: Our Thoughts on Virtual Events, Webcasting and More

Recently on INXPO TV, we produced a four-part series called “Webcasting 101.” We wanted to provide practical and actionable information to webcasting managers to help drive engagement and participation in high quality webcasts.

We provide complimentary access (with registration) to INXPO TV – in fact, you can register and login right now, to view all of the Webcasting 101 programs on-demand. You can also continue reading and get a re-cap of the entire series.

Webcasting 101 Outline

Our four programs were:

• Part 1: How to Select a Webcasting Vendor
• Part 2: Tips for Planning and Executing Your Webcast
• Part 3: Presentation Tips for Your Webcasts
• Part 4: How to Analyze Engagement Data from Your Webcast

How to Select a Webcasting Vendor

First-time webcasting managers tend to hone in on feature and function when selecting a webcasting vendor. And don’t get me wrong: those are both critical. However, once you’re up and running with your selected vendor, you’ll usually discover that the combination of “technology and team” are most important.

In other words, the webcasting technology needs to provide the right features, but without the right service and support (from the vendor’s team), the partnership can fall flat. Matt Goodwin, an Account Executive with INXPO, was our presenter for Part 1.

Matt outlined the following feature/function criteria for selecting your webcasting vendor:

• Performance
• Reliability
• Scalability
• Device compatability
• Social engagement
• Reporting

For vendor services and support, Matt outlined these key criteria:

• Strategic understanding
• Best practices and webcasting expertise
• Multi-language capabilities, along with global coverage
• Supports both full-service and self-service models
• The right customer service philosophy
• "Fit"

View Matt's program now:

Tips for Planning and Executing Your Webcast

Jenn Gibson, a Sales Engineer at INXPO, was our presenter for Part 2. Jenn suggests that you get the basics of your webcast nailed down up front:

• The date and time of the presentation (including time zone)
• What time you’re expected to be available on the live day
• The date and time of the dry run (including time zone)
• Deadlines for abstract, bio, presentation materials, handouts, etc.
• Determine how long the presentation is set to run

Jenn then urged webcast presenters to analyze the “who” and “where” of their audience. For instance, if presenting to users on mobile devices, consider:

• Smaller screens mean text and images are harder to see/read, so keep slide content minimal
• Not all functions that are supported by a PC are supported by mobile devices, so know what can/can’t be used
• The mobile experience may not match the PC experience, so know what the attendees will see. This is important when discussing how users can ask questions or interact with the session

When assembling your presentation, Jenn recommends the following:

• Every webcast platform has different features and functionality, make sure you understand what your options are. Webcasts are more engaging when the content types are changed ever 2-4 minutes so take advantage of the options that work best for you session
• Get the historical information from the show host; find out what their attendees have had the most/least success with in the past and take that into account when creating content
• Don’t use features that you aren’t comfortable with; it will only add anxiety to the live day
• Don’t add features just for the sake of “having more stuff”; add what feels organic and
  enhances the presentation

With regard to preparation and live broadcast procedures, Jenn provided these valuable tips:

• Rehearse your content
• Have notes
• Plant seed questions
• Do a full dry run
• Test your equipment
• Hardwire your network connection
• Know the support procedures
• Practice back-up plans

View Jenn's program now:

Presentation Tips for Your Webcasts

In Part 3, Carmen Taran of Rexi Media challenged presenters with this captivating question: “Are you better than a handout?” Carmen urged webcasting presenters to ensure the answer is always an astounding “yes.”

For audience participation, Carmen’s program outlined the following tactics:

• Give them something to think about
• Give them the joy of getting it
• Give them something to do
• Summon the collective

Then, to ensure that her own program was better than a hand-out, Carmen provided hands-on engagement tactics to keep her audience on their toes. Examples:

• Challenging viewers to a “mind puzzle” (challenge)
• Showing “partial” heads/faces of celebrities and challenging viewers to identify them
• Asking viewers to send her a photo of their favorite brands (and then showing the photos to viewers by holding her tablet up to the camera)
• Asking whom wanted a pizza delivered to them – and then using survey questions to have the audience decide size, amount of cheese and toppings

How to Analyze Engagement Data from Your Webcasts

Part 4 was presented by Danielle Belmont of BNP Media. To summarize Danielle’s program in a single sentence: “Engagement = Action.” Specifically, Danielle shared the engagement ranking that she uses in all of her webcasts. Listed in order of importance, they are:

1. Average View Time
2. Q&A
3. Chats
4. Polls/Surveys
5. Downloads
6. Invites (to Others)

In addition, Danielle recommended that presenters cross-tabulate individual reports, to identify the most engaged users.

In Danielle’s slide (above), she identified 22 attendees who asked questions and downloaded a document. These attendees had a level of engagement that suggested an immediate follow-up by Sales.

Conclusion

Hosting a successful webcasting program is a year-round (rather than “one and done”) initiative: it requires a vendor that meets your technology and service needs, a planning process and timeline that ensures preparation and quality assurance and a specific strategy to generate (and measure!) engagement. Feel free to visit our webcasting overview page for more information.