As the old adage goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. While thoroughbred trainers and ranchers may heed this advice literally, it is a pain point for enterprises in nearly every other industry. How many times has your organization scheduled a meeting, in-person or virtual, only to find that half of those that accepted the invitation failed to attend?
Most organizations will tell you that the most difficult aspect of meeting execution (and webcasts in particular) is securing registrants. Once you’ve tackled this challenge, how do you then convert registrants into attendees? It’s all about getting more eyes on your content, but do you know how to differentiate your engaging, interactive content and expert speakers from the next presentation?
There’s no magic bullet to securing more webcast attendees, but here are some tips that may help your presentation stand out from the crowd, turning those registrants into participants:
Customized Emails
Don’t lose registrants because your emails are set on auto-pilot and only include basic details with personalization not extending beyond “Hello Insert Name.” Most email reminders and follow-ups simply blend in with the hundreds of other emails in our inboxes.
Give registrants a reason to take time out of their day for your presentation. Highlight the key benefits of their participation. Is there a highly-regarded expert speaker on the panel? Is there a giveaway? Is there a special announcement being made? Incorporate details that make it a must-attend event.
If the registrant has previously attended one of your webcasts, flag this detail to let them know you remember them. Thank them for attending, and remind them about on-demand viewing of the presentation and/or a special download offer. Including these elements will serve as a reminder of the webcast value you offer and encourage them to attend future webcasts. Also, if you have upcoming events in the pipeline, include these details to show what’s next and to start building a relationship with potential registrants.
Timing
Ever think about going against the data? While I’m sure you have tracked your attendance rates and/or seen data regarding the best times to host a webcast for maximum attendance, you may want to try doing the opposite.
For example, our latest official TalkPoint Webcasting Survey indicated that 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. is the best time to conduct a webcast. However, if every organization that is conducting a webcast adheres to this best practice, there will be an overwhelming number of webcast events competing for your attendance. Consider holding your webcast outside of what is considered the prime event hours or even prime event days. Many people may think Friday is a poor day to schedule a webcast, but often times, work and meetings slow down at the end of the week, and there is more time available to attend.
Also, try varying the length of your webcasts to increase attendance. While you have a lot of material to cover, your audience may not have an hour to spare for your presentation. Consider intertwining shorter options to reach a larger audience overall. If someone knows the webcast will only take 20-30 minutes, they may be more apt to attend.
The day, time and length should also be used as promotional elements to increase registration and attendance.
Promotion
Yes, great content and exceptional speakers are a good start, but it doesn’t mean that people will be clamoring to attend. The customization element of your emails – the participation and timing benefits – all need to be included in your promotional materials, and you should not be limited to just one platform. The more promotion, the better!
The simplest form of promotion is to list your webcast on your website, blog or include in your company newsletter. Event listing sites like Webcast Digest or WebinarListings also provide a good forum to spread the word, and news releases can be helpful to publicize larger, more marquee events.
Lastly, don’t forget social media channels. Share links to the events. Create a video teaser to generate additional webcast visibility. Pre-event surveys or polls are other great ways to engage your audience to register and learn more during your presentation. Get creative!
If you think you’ve tried everything (even though you know you haven’t), ask for client feedback. Perhaps they’ll tell you the content and speakers you thought were incredible weren’t exceptionally interesting. Their comments may provide just the insight you need to move your target audience from registrants to attendees.
Dan Roche is the vice president of marketing at TalkPoint, a cloud-based, self-service webcasting technology. Roche has more than 10 years of experience in webcasting sales and marketing. He is responsible for marketing communications, specifically overseeing product and support efforts. Prior to joining TalkPoint, he held several sales and marketing-related positions at Wiltel while also acting as a business analyst for the head of global sales at Vyvx Broadband Media, a business unit of Wiltel Communications.