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Webinars
Marketing

Webinar dry run: Essential items for your checklist

4
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

The success of a webinar hinges on careful planning and execution. One essential step that often goes overlooked is the dry run. In this piece, learn how to conduct a dry run effectively.

You’ve probably noticed that webinars are more popular than ever.

They’ve skyrocketed from a once-a-quarter marketing activity to once-a-month. 

And for good reason.

Today, everyone’s looking to better their work, their skills and knowledge.

But everyone’s also short on time and attention.

The solution? Webinars are unrivalled as quick, effective learning tools. 

In a short 30-40 minute webinar session, your target audience can get snackible lessons, digestible takeaways, new skills, and walkthroughs. That window of time is also a perfect opportunity to show them just how much they need your product or service.

In fact, the best webinars can generate conversion rate averages of 19%.

And this is precisely why you just can’t afford to mess up.

Eminem said it best: “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime.”

Your best shot at not messing up: a dry run for your webinar.

Here's everything you need to know about conducting one.

In this blog post

  • Why it’s important to not skip over a webinar dry run
  • How far in advance should you schedule a webinar dry run?
  • What to have in place before the dry run
  • Who should attend the dry run?
  • Webinar dry run agenda

Why it’s important to not skip over a webinar dry run 

A practice session ahead of your live webinar can expose cracks or gaps that are not noticeable during your planning process or on a Google Doc, such as malfunctioning audio settings on your speaker’s laptop or not having enough talking points for a 40-minute session. You can gauge timing, test audio and video equipment, refine slide transitions, and ensure smooth coordination with co-presenters.

It’s the difference between nudging registrants further down the customer journey, or losing them forever to competitors with better webinars.

How far in advance should you schedule a webinar dry run?

 At least 7 days prior to the go-live date.

This will give you enough space and time to make any required changes.

Any less and you might not have enough time to straighten out the kinks. 

For instance, if you identify that your webinar ‘script’ - by which we mean the storyboard of talking points used by a speaker and moderator - is too short, you and the speaker can work on adding more meat to it. This could take a couple of days, especially if you are both in different timezones.

What to have in place before the dry run

  1. A storyboard of the talking points that will be discussed during the webinar (key to this is creating a targeted abstract - read more about this here)
  1. Slides or a deck that will be presented during the webinar. These should be proofread before the dry run.
  1. A webinar platform that makes your life as the organizer easier. You should have already set it up with your branding - overlays, logo, backgrounds etc.
webinar dry run essential by Zuddl
Studio makes it simple for organizers to pre-set their run of show

Who should attend the dry run?

  • You, the organizer
  • The moderator
  • Your speaker(s)
  • An additional member of your team 
Webinar planning checklist by Zuddl
During Zuddl's dry runs for webinars, we have an extra team member sit in to observe with fresh eyes

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Webinar dry run agenda + what to check at each stage

Let’s jump right in.

1.  Before the webinar starts

Ensure that your speakers are confident about using the webinar platform.

What to check:

  • Test that your speakers logins to the webinar platform are working 
  • Check their audio and video settings
  • Ensure that speakers are comfortable using the platform. Either ways, walk them through how they can present their deck or share their screen, how to change slides, answer questions and participate in the chat.
  • Show speakers how they can reach out to you for help during the webinar if they need to
  • Double-check that you are able to record the webinar

2. Hit ‘record’ before you start with the presentation run-through

3. Run through the presentation

Use your storyboard to navigate through the different stages of the webinar as if it were live.

  1. Welcome the audience + housekeeping announcements
  2. Introduce yourself and the speakers
  3. Hand it over to the speakers to share their presentation OR use the different talking points specified in your storyboard to move the discussion forward
  4. Q/A time with the attendees
  5. End the webinar and collect feedback

What to check:

  • Timing: Ask the additional member of your team to time the session. If it’s severely under or over the allotted time, you’ll have to make adjustments.
  • Branding: Sometimes the backgrounds or overlays you prepped ahead of time just don’t work when you see them live. Check if any need to be replaced.
  • Flow of content

    Visuals: Does the information on the slides sync with what the speaker is talking about? Do your visuals support what is being said? Is there too much text on screen?

    Content: Are there any points during the presentation/discussion that are unclear? Your team member should flag areas that may need additional clarification or identify slides/visual content that needs more polish.
  • Audio/video quality: Are there any glitches in the video? Any lags? Issues with audio like an echo?
  • Polls and engagement: Driving interactivity during your webinar is critical, and polls are a great tool for this. So during the dry run, identify which points during the session, would a poll be most useful for the audience? (Note: Don’t be afraid to begin launching polls right from the start of the webinar) What poll questions can help drive the discussion forward, or interject some energy? Who will launch them?
What to include in webinar checklist
An example of how you can use Polls using Zuddl Webinars

  • Links/resources: Are you planning on sharing any supporting material during the webinar? If so, who will be sharing it? Will it be shared in the Chat? 

4. Don’t skip the Q/A portion

Run-through a couple of seed questions to help your speakers understand what that portion of the webinar is like. If during the live webinar your attendees are hesitant to ask questions of their own, ask your additional team member to ask the seed questions to get the ball rolling and encourage others to speak up.

What to check:

  • Are there any questions that the speaker wants to discuss? If so, include them in the seed questions.
  • Are there any questions or topics to avoid? Discuss what to do if these come up during the live webinar. For instance, if your webinar tool allows moderation of Q/A questions submitted by the audience, ask your team member to block these unwanted questions.

5. Post-mortem of the dry run + share the recording

After the dry run, talk through the issues that were flagged with the team so that everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done.

Action items:

  • Share the video recording of the dry run with the speaker, so that they can review it later. 
  • Talk through contingency plans in case of audio/video malfunction, loss of connection to the internet, what to do with hecklers, or any other scenarios that may arise while presenting. 
  • Arrange for another dry run if the team and the speaker feels that it is necessary.

And that’s it! Keep in mind these steps when conducting your dry run to fine-tune it.

Free resource:

Here’s a simple checklist that you can use to keep your dry run on track and help identify malfunctions and issues.

Don’t leave anything to chance

By allocating time for a thorough dry run, you can iron out technical issues, fine-tune your content and flow, and deliver an exciting and interesting experience for your target audience.

But keep in mind that no matter how carefully a webinar is planned and rehearsed, something may still go wrong with it. We’re all human. So if you do make a mistake or a little mishap occurs, acknowledge it and keep going. Your audience is just as human as you are. And if the webinar turns out to be a complete disaster, reassure your audience that you will email them an improved recording as a follow-up.

Marketing
Engagement

Mastering event marketing: 4 proven strategies for success

4
Mins Read
Zuddl Staff

Events provide a great opportunity to connect with your community and spread the word about your organization. Learn savvy event marketing tips in this guide.

Whether you’re hosting a small webinar with clients or throwing a community-wide potluck, your goal as an event marketer is likely the same: to get the right people through the door. 

But how do you know what catches your target audience’s attention, and how do you incorporate it into your marketing materials?

Understanding what resonates with your audience, meeting them where they are, and using innovative marketing channels are all key elements of an effective event marketing approach. This guide will help you glean new insights into your target audience’s motivations and leverage them to boost RSVPs. Let’s get started!

1.Reach out to social media influencers

You’re likely already leveraging social media to promote your organization’s events, but you might be overlooking one of the most powerful assets social media has to offer: influencers. With thousands or even millions of people tuned into their accounts, influencers provide a valuable opportunity to boost your organization’s visibility and attract attendees to your upcoming event.

While influencers can be difficult to contact, much less book as a marketing partner, you can try these strategies to secure their support:

  • Start small. It’s probably not realistic for your organization to go after the most popular influencers right away, but you have a much better chance of engaging influencers with a smaller following. 
  • Leverage your existing connections. Partnering with an influencer you already have a relationship with is more likely to succeed than starting from scratch. Gauge if your organization’s staff, audience, or board members have any connections with influencers and if they would be a good fit for your marketing campaign. 
  • Make appealing partnership packages. Ensure the marketing partnership’s value proposition is clear from the beginning by offering appealing benefits. For instance, you could highlight the brand exposure that accompanies working with your organization, as well as offer incentives like VIP invitations to the event.
  • Offer them creative input. Remember that, while the marketing campaign is for your event, you’re still using an account tied to your influencer partner’s brand. Make the collaboration a true partnership by offering the influencer significant creative control over the marketing content. You could offer them multiple options, such as a guest blog post or a social media takeover, to ensure that you’re both happy with the campaign outcome. 

Influencers present a golden opportunity to market your event but remember that they should only represent one part of your larger social media marketing strategy. It’s also important to produce engaging, informative content that resonates with your audience. Structure your influencer marketing plan to align with your existing social media content plan to ensure a cohesive experience for your audience. 

2. Embrace video marketing

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine how valuable a video can be for your marketing strategy! With short-form video’s above-average ROI of 30%, your organization has a lot to gain from adding video content to your event marketing plan. Here are some simple ways that you can implement video content into your event marketing approach:

  • Create event teasers. Build excitement around your upcoming event by sharing short videos teasing aspects of your event, such as behind-the-scenes clips of the venue, the food, or your keynote speaker preparing their speech. 
  • Use existing event footage. If you’re marketing a recurring event and have exciting footage from one of your past gatherings, leverage it as marketing material.
  • Share event recap videos. Even after the event, your footage can be useful. For instance, you can use footage that shows the overall atmosphere of the event and highlights your organization’s success. 
  • Leverage live streams. Many social media platforms have free live-streaming capabilities that you can use to interact with your target audience. If your event features a guest speaker or entertainer, consider hosting a live-broadcasted Q&A-style interview about their part in your upcoming event. 

Not a cinematographer? No worries—you don’t have to be to get started. Ensure that you invest in a smart device that you can record on, a fast internet connection for live streams, and video editing software so your content looks professional. 

3. Use ChatGPT

AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are becoming more prevalent, and it’s easy to see why. With some practice, you can use ChatGPT to optimize your event marketing approach and content by:

  • Streamlining the content creation process: From generating FAQs to email subject lines, you can use ChatGPT to conquer writer's block and write engaging content.
  • Finding relevant facts: Using ChatGPT-4, you can ask the AI to comb the internet, cutting down the time required to research effectively.
  • Leveraging live-chat support: Use a GPT-powered chatbot as a resource for event attendees who might need a quick answer to a question. If it doesn’t know the exact answer to a question, ChatGPT can provide the event coordinator’s contact information to direct them to the right point of contact.
  • Collecting feedback: After the event ends, you still have valuable data to collect from your attendees. Rather than a static feedback form, ChatGPT can ask questions conversationally, yielding more nuanced feedback from event attendees for your future use.

The sky’s the limit with ChatGPT, and it’s getting more advanced every day. Take some time to explore its capabilities—you’re sure to get some use out of it for your marketing campaign.

4. Personalize your marketing emails

Email is a tried-and-true organization marketing tool, but are you using it to its full potential? Your audience gets dozens (if not hundreds) of emails a day, so it’s your job to cut through the clutter and grab their attention. 

The best way to do this is through personalization, which involves segmenting your audience based on shared characteristics, such as their engagement history, demographics, and geographic location, and developing different email streams that align with their preferences. For instance, when planning an event, you might reserve in-person invitations for supporters living within your general area and send virtual invites to those living outside of it. This attention to detail will help boost engagement. 

To segment your email lists, automate your efforts with a powerful CRM and email campaign management software. Maintain data hygiene within these systems by continually updating relevant contact information. Doing so will help you stay up-to-date on your target audience’s interests.

Next Steps for Starting Your Marketing Campaign

Now that you have these tips in your back pocket, you might already be picturing your future marketing campaign. Before you begin, remember to set achievable goals that position you for success. Start with clear objectives and break them down into actionable steps to add nuance to your campaign. Don’t forget to keep your organization’s vision for the event as your primary focus and build your campaign around it. Before you know it, you’ll have RSVPs flooding your inbox!

Learn webinar hosting by cloudsmith
Webinars
Product

3 lessons from Cloudsmith on running successful webinars

3
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

Here's how Cloudsmith used Zuddl Webinars features to run their impactful webinar program.

With a primary focus on empowering their customers and fostering a strong community, Cloudsmith's webinars have become an integral part of their growth strategy.

Through their webinars, Cloudsmith brings together experts who share their knowledge on pertinent industry topics such as container optimization and software supply chain security, demonstrating the company’s commitment to staying at the forefront of industry advancements.

In this manner, Cloudsmith is able to serve as a trusted advisor as well as create opportunities for meaningful engagement that benefit both customers and the company’s sales efforts.

{{demo-widget}}

Here are 3 things that have helped Cloudsmith run successful webinars:

1)They make webinars look and feel polished

Cloudsmith uses Zuddl Studio’s ready-to-use collection of backgrounds, banners, and lower-thirds, and an easy-to-use interface to customize their branding.

Webinar lesson by cloudsmith

This result? — A visually stunning and cohesive experience that reflects the brand’s professionalism, and contributes to a high average time spent at each webinar.

2)They make data-based decisions to optimize strategy

With UTM-tracking, they are able to identify which marketing channels drive more registrations than others in real-time and lean into those top-performing promotions immediately. Routing marketing campaigns directly to Zuddl’s webinar landing pages helps them improve results too.

Additionally, by customizing the registration form on their webinar landing page, Cloudsmith captures important attendee details. Using analytics, they identify which timezones the majority of attendees are from, and make an informed decision on the best time to hold live webinars so as to attract maximum turnout.

Learn webinar hosting by cloudsmith

3)They drive leads for sales + enable targeted, timely follow-up

Customizable registration forms that capture company and job titles help identify how many attendees are potential customers. This crucial information, combined with Zuddl’s Salesforce integration, enables their sales team reach out post-webinar with better context.

Also, by streaming directly to social from Zuddl and downloading the recordings and posting them on Cloudsmith’s YouTube channel, the company has been able to consistently generate thousands of additional views after the webinar is over.

Read the complete case study here

Zuddl's G2 Summer 2023 Awards
Product
Virtual Events

Zuddl sizzles in G2's Summer 2023 Grid® Report: 65+ badges and counting!

4
Mins Read
Kishore C S

Zuddl shines bright this summer, earning its best recognition yet with a remarkable 65+ badges across 8 categories in the prestigious G2 Grid® Report.

Summer is heating up, and so is Zuddl in the latest Grid® Report by G2! With 65+ badges across 8 categories, this is our best recognition yet!

As always, let’s start with the highlights:

Leader

(Category - Virtual Event Platform, Asia Pacific Event Management Platforms)

Products featured in the Leader quadrant of the Grid® Report are highly rated by G2 users and boast significant satisfaction and market presence scores.

Easiest To Use 

(Category - Event Management Platform)

This is awarded to the product ranked as the most user-friendly in the Usability Index as per ratings within its category.


Easiest Setup

(Category - Virtual Event Platform and Webinars)

This is based o G2s Implementation Index and reflects the product that has earned the highest Ease of Setup rating in its category

Best Support

(Category - Event Management Platforms, Event Networking & Matchmaking, Mobile Event Apps, Event Registration and Ticketing)

This is awarded to the product that has earned the highest Quality of Support rating in its category based on G2’s Relationship Index.


Why do G2 awards matter?

Because they are based on what actual users have to say

Rankings on G2 reports are based on data provided to us by real software buyers. These rewards are a result of positive reviews from verified users compared to similar products in these categories. 

For inclusion in the report, a product must have received 10 or more reviews. 

Big wins in the webinar category!

In the webinar category alone, Zuddl has been awarded 10 badges, including highlights such as:

  • Best Usability 
  • Easiest Admin
  • Best Relationship 
  • Momentum Leader 

Other noteworthy wins for Zuddl this summer:

  • Best usability
  • Easiest to do business with
  • Best relationship
  • Best support
  • High performer

We want to take this opportunity to thank our customers for the continued support!

CCW 2023 Vegas
Marketing
Hybrid Events

What to expect at Customer Contact Week - Las Vegas 2023

4
Mins Read
Kishore C S

Wondering if you should attend CCW's 25th edition in Vegas next week? This article can help you decide!

What happens in Vegas… is certainly worth your attention. 

And it’s no exception with CCW (Customer Contact Week), Las Vegas. Every year, CCW provides a valuable platform for vendors, business leaders, and CX innovators to come together, fostering opportunities for connection, collaboration, and networking.

This year’s edition will be CCW’s 25th, and will kick off on 19th June at Caesars Forum and go on until 22nd June. Going by the agenda and speaker line-up, this year’s edition promises to be a cracker of an event for CX industry leaders!

But instead of just taking our word for it, you can read this article to see if CCW is worth your time. So without further ado… here’s what you can expect from CCW 2023:

The major takeaways

Boost your customer strategy 

Join over 3,000 world-class customer contact and CX leaders for a chance to explore a wide range of trends and opportunities in the customer experience landscape, right from keynote addresses and informative summits to hands-on workshops.

Stay updated with the latest developments in CX

Leverage the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge about the digital revolution in the CX realm and  groundbreaking technology that’s revolutionizing how organizations engage with their customers.

Psst… here’s a link to the complete agenda.

Get CMP certified

Take the Contact Center Leader Exam and walk away with a CMP certificate - Fun fact: Leaders who demonstrate excellence in CMP Certified competencies have a significantly higher likelihood of surpassing performance expectations.

Who’s headlining?

The main stage headliners at CCW 2023 is quite the smorgasbord of talent from diverse walks of life. 

Here’s a quick look at this illustrious list:

  • Abby Wambach: Soccer Legend & NYTimes Best Selling Author. Abby Wambach is a renowned soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, and FIFA Women's World Cup champion. 
  • Armando (Pitbull) Perez: Grammy® Award-winning Musician & Entrepreneur. Pitbull is a globally recognized musician and entrepreneur. 
  • Timnit Gebru: Founder, Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute. Timnit Gebru is a prominent figure in AI research and ethics.
  • Jenn Lim: CEO and Co-founder, Delivering Happiness. Jenn Lim is the CEO and co-founder of Delivering Happiness, a company focused on creating happier workplaces. 
  • Mark King: CEO, Taco Bell. Mark King is the CEO of Taco Bell, a fast-food chain that needs no introduction.
  • Jon Dorenbos: NFL Long Snapper & AGT Finalist. Jon Dorenbos is a former NFL long snapper and finalist on America's Got Talent. 
  • Rebecca Jarvis: Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent, ABC News. Rebecca Jarvis is a renowned journalist and correspondent for ABC News. 

How to register?

You can either choose to purchase a General Admission pass, All-Access pass or a 2-day vendor pass. More details are available in this link.

Also, come meet us?

Event Heroes Cocktail and Dinner

Before the hustle and bustle of CCW takes over, come join us for an evening of good company and great conversation. No formalities, no agendas, just a chance to hang out, meet fellow event marketers, and enjoy some tasty food and drinks together. 

When and where is the Event Heroes Dinner happening?

June 18, 2023 | 6 PM - 8 PM PST

Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas

RSVP here

This article reviews four major tips to optimize your event registration process — post relevant content, create clear user pathways, optimize for mobile, and test for accessibility.
Virtual Events
Marketing

Optimizing your event registration page: 4 tips for success

4
Mins Read
Zuddl Staff

Optimize your event registration page and form with these four tips.

Picture this — you are the new head of your association’s event planning committee and there is one event left on the calendar: your annual conference. It’s the biggest event of the year, but you’re not certain if you can top last year’s turnout.

After all, there are a lot of aspects to manage, including recruiting speakers, finalizing the session schedule, and choosing a caterer. But there’s one aspect that trumps them all — registration. If your association members can’t find their way around your online registration page, you won’t be able to maximize attendance. 

Fortunately, there are a few registration page tips you can store in your back pocket:

  • Post relevant event content
  • Create clear user pathways
  • Design your registration form for mobile
  • Test for accessibility 

While creating and editing your registration page and form, consistently reference what your visitors want, need, and expect from your online presence. If you’re uncertain about specific technical or design elements, ask yourself if the element would improve your visitor’s overall experience. That said, let’s explore some registration page optimization tips!

Post relevant event content

Keep your end user in mind when creating your registration page. In other words, avoid burying your must-know information under organizational facts or unrelated content. Instead, make your event content easily accessible, so visitors can find what they need when they need it.

Here are a few must-have items to include:

  • Agenda: Let visitors know when and where the event(s) will take place so they can plan accordingly. If your event is virtual, like a panel, consider adding a countdown clock to increase anticipation. 
  • Registration form: Post a short form for attendees to register. Include the necessary fields like contact information, account information, and dietary requirements if applicable. Keep this form brief and accessible (more on this below).
  • Pricing information: Be upfront about how much your event will cost. Mention the registration fee, cancellation policy, ticket options, and discounts. 
  • Short description: Provide your visitors with a couple of sentences to describe your event. Just make sure your description explains the event’s purpose and who should attend so visitors have enough context to understand. 
  • Images: Include professionally polished photos of your organization members or leaders to catch the eyes of potential attendees. You could also use candid photos from previous events to highlight memories you’ve shared with your community. 
  • Video: Post short, shareable videos from previous events to build hype so visitors can visualize the event experience. Or, post bite-sized, enthusiastic informational videos explaining the event’s value. 
  • Social proof: Use social proof as a marketing tool for your event. Compile responses from the previous year’s attendees and (with their permission) post ones that will inspire potential attendees to make the jump and register. 
  • Share link: Make your registration page shareable, so that current attendees can reach and invite their network to join them.

Creating share links also increases your reach as potential attendees may not know about your event, but their friends or colleagues could nudge them to register. Therefore, add both a share link to your registration page and include a description and link to your registration page on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Create clear user pathways

Now that users know the gist of your event, double-check that they can perform the necessary steps to register. Make it easy on them by creating simple user pathways that seamlessly take them from A to B, or from your informational page to the registration form. 

Follow these best practices to ensure that your interested website visitors become registered attendees:

  • Add color contrast. Light gray menus or text against a white background can cause visitors to strain their eyes, misunderstand, or abandon a registration page altogether. Keep your details legible with optimized color contrast. 
  • Minimize drop-down menus. Instead of drop-downs, opt for clear and specific CTAs to lead visitors to a dedicated registration form. 
  • Use well-placed CTAs and buttons. Call-to-actions (CTAs) anticipate visitors’ needs and provide an accessible way for them to complete the next desired step with descriptors like “register today” or “secure your spot.” 
  • Use a sequential heading structure. Sequential heading structures create a clear visual hierarchy. For example, your H1 title could be “Join Us for Mental Health America’s Spring Conference” with H2 titles beneath detailing the conference schedule and keynote speaker profiles

Once you’ve thought through each of these design and informational components, double-check for consistency across your registration page and form. Match your page’s look and feel to the rest of your website and your registration form. That way, visitors don’t feel misled when signing up.

Design your registration form for mobile

Did you know that 90% of users access the internet with their mobile devices? So, even if you’re creating your registration page on a desktop, you’ll need to optimize your registration form for mobile to prevent potential attendees from excessive scrolling, pinching and zooming, or even page abandonment. 

Now that your visitors have made it to the registration form, keep them engaged with these mobile-friendly best practices: 

  • Eliminate unnecessary fields to decrease scrolling. Simplify your forms so that they take as little time as possible and are not distracted from completing them.
  • If your form is long, include a progress bar to indicate the next steps. If your form requires visitors to set up a login, for example, show it's only one of three total steps. 
  • Validate errors and mark mandatory fields to remind visitors not to skip any. This way, visitors don't have to scroll back through and edit previous fields once they’re finished. 
  • Autofill inputs when possible to save visitors time. Autocorrect and autofill pop-up features improve the user experience by keeping it straightforward and quick. 
  • Use a single-column layout when creating a multi-step form. Double-column layouts can be daunting and misleading for mobile visitors with a narrow screen, so keep your information streamlined in a single column instead. 
  • Keep your payment processing straightforward. As the last step in the registration process, recommend visitors use scanning apps to simply scan a secure photo of the front and back of their card and decrease the need for manual user input.

In comparison to a desktop user’s average range of 13 to 24 inches, mobile screens are 4.7 to 6.7 inches. That said, keep track of how many touchpoints you’re asking your visitors to input, and minimize them where possible.

Test for accessibility 

What’s the best way to ensure your form’s usability? By testing it and making needed adjustments. An accessible form is not only optimized for general user experience but also is inclusive of everyone. Here's a guide to making inclusive and accessible forms:

  • Optimizing desktop keyboard navigation. Be sure all forms are accessible via keyboard in case visitors are using a broken trackpad or assistive technology.
  • Avoiding time limits. If your form is longer, stay away from including time limits as these can be overwhelming for some visitors.
  • Including video transcripts for any relevant media. If your registration page has a video or audio component, make sure visitors with hearing impairments can access it.

Recruit volunteers to test out your registration form and page and gather actionable feedback to make necessary changes. Attempt to recruit a large and diverse sample of participants to gather as much feedback as needed to be confident in your page’s accessibility and overall user experience. 

By keeping your registration information brief and relevant, visitors can easily sign up for your event and eagerly await its arrival. Creating clear user pathways, optimizing for mobile, and testing for accessibility will ensure you solve problems before they arise while prioritizing your visitors’ user experience. 

Internal collaboration for B2B events
Marketing
Hybrid Events

5 hacks to better collaboration with your internal stakeholders

5
Mins Read
Kishore C S

Internal collaboration isn't easy, but it's super important for event success. These 5 expert tips can help you collaborate better with your internal stakeholders!

No matter the size of your organization, the life stage you’re in or how much money your company is putting behind events, one common factor that must be dealt with is getting everybody internally on board with your vision and plan as an event marketer.

But as you already may know, this is no cake-walk. 

Dealing with human beings in a business context comes with its challenges - no two individuals are alike, let alone two different functions within a company, making collaboration and ever-challenging endeavour - friction and resistance are sometimes just a part of the game.

So does this mean you just accept the fact that alignment is a bummer and run your event anyway? 

Of course not. Without proper collaboration, succeeding in events is almost impossible.

In our recent edition of Event Heroes, we spoke to Ashley Maurus, Director of Experience Marketing at Quantum Metric. Ashley has been passionate about planning and organizing things since her childhood! 

Currently, she is at the helm of all the marketing events that Quantum Metric runs in North America, and has a wealth of experience in collaborating with internal stakeholders.

In this article, we’ve shared 5 tips from our conversation with her that can help you run better events by getting that crucial internal buy-in.

Tip 1: Overcome Resistance Through Trust and Communication

When we asked Ashley why collaboration is difficult, she highlighted that it’s never easy to sync with different personalities, functions and goals, but trust and communication can go a long way.

"At the end of the day, buy-in is very much built on trust. " says Ashley. “When you're met in those times of resistance, maybe with somebody clashing with your idea, ask why - get to the root of where that resistance is coming from." 

"Because so often, I think we finish that story in our mind for that person. It might be something completely different. [Getting to the root of resistance] is just a moment of connection to really bridge that gap."

Key takeaway: By actively listening and understanding your internal stakeholders, you can establish trust, laying the groundwork for a collaborative relationship.

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Tip 2: Align Goals and Objectives

According to Ashley, alignment of goals is the key driver of event success, and it must be done well before the actual event. "It's doing that upfront work - getting everyone aligned, making sure that everyone's in agreement on the goals, the ‘why we're doing this’, and the ‘who's the audience’.”

Highlighting the core aspect of alignment, Ashley states: “I think it's just understanding what the goal of each of those departments will be, and understanding what they're trying to accomplish and aligning that goal with yours.” 

Key takeaway: When goals and objectives are aligned, collaboration becomes smoother, leading to more efficient and effective outcomes.

Tip 3: Leverage Your Existing Customer Base

Ashley emphasizes the importance of leveraging existing relationships by pro-actively collaborating with your customer success team, an often overlooked internal stakeholder.

Highlighting their importance, Ashley says “In my opinion, they’re arguably the most crucial because they're responsible for getting your existing customers to your event, which means you know the people that are going to sell on your behalf - and that's where the real magic happens.”

“There's nobody that's going to be stronger at selling your product than your existing customer base so we always pepper in at least a few customer brands at our events - just to be an extension of our team and really that proof point sharing their real life experiences using the product in a way that we can't because they have that trust behind it.”

Key takeaway: Collaborating with the customer success team can help leverage existing customer relationships to drive sales and build trust at your event.

Tip 4: Engage Your Partnership Ecosystem

Another overlooked function, according to Ashley, is the partnership team and ecosystem which can really strengthen your brand when it comes to events. Of course, to successfully have them onboard with your plan, it’s important to understand what your partner brands’ needs are and why they would want to participate in your event. 

“Your ecosystem, your partner network is so key in B2B Tech but especially in the startup world. It's going to strengthen your brand. Each brand really participating expands your audience reach.”

Key takeaway: Collaboration with your partner ecosystem can help you get multiple brands to participate in events, thereby expanding the audience reach and enhancing your event’s credibility.

Tip 5: Acknowledge Internal Marketing Efforts

Ashley points out that sometimes the internal marketing team is taken for granted, assuming they are already on board with your event marketing efforts, but that is not always the case. Without the support and cooperation of the internal marketing team, you could be left isolated and alone in your efforts.

“I mean I like to think everyone has events at the center of everything they do but that's not the case - you know there's other marketing activities out there. So I think just an acknowledgment of that sometimes with your internal marketing team or even if you have some sort of shout out system within your organization - just giving them those kudos every once in a while really goes a long way.”

Key takeaway: Recognizing the efforts of your internal marketing team and giving them the kudos they deserve can foster a positive and collaborative environment.

So you see, the right perspective can go a long way in helping you collaborate better with your internal stakeholders, and in turn, run successful B2B events.

How to write a webinar abstract
Webinars
Marketing

How to write a webinar abstract in 3 steps (with examples)

4
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

A webinar abstract can make or break the success of an event. Here's how to write a good one.

Webinars: where marketers splurge on everything but the most important element - the abstract.

You know this is true. 

In the rush to complete a laundry list of tasks involved in producing a webinar - landing page, speaker selection, social media promotion, email blasts, etc. - the abstract receives far less attention and care than its due. But this is a mistake that could be costing you.

A strong abstract can give your webinar the best chance of succeeding by attracting the right ICP and generating interest and curiosity, while a badly-written and poor-quality abstract will confuse or turn people off and reduce attendance. 

So we should be aiming to write really, really persuasive abstracts, instead of settling for mediocre ones.

What exactly constitutes a strong abstract?

In today’s world of information overload, people are making snap decisions about what to pay attention to and what to ignore. So think about the abstract as a big billboard advertisement: if it’s done well, it will get your ICP’s attention. 

 To “sell” your webinar to prospective attendees, a powerful abstract must:

  • Communicate why this webinar topic is important and distinctive clearly; don’t write a mystery story that leaves it to them to figure out.
  • Highlight why the speaker or their perspective matters - why should your ICP take it and take you seriously?
  • Spell out the value that attendees will receive by attending the webinar. This sets up expectations so when people do attend, they get what they were hoping for.

Easier said than done. 

Writing this requires both creativity and strategic thinking. There’s a lot of information to pack in about the speaker and the topic, whilst playing on your ICP’s challenges, motivations and goals. But here’s a framework that can help:

A blueprint for crafting a powerful abstract

Step 1. The headline 

  • Ask an interesting question
  • Address a specific problem or goal - the more focused, the better
  • Use ‘How to’ or ‘Steps’ to show the value the attendee will get
  • Add personality when possible
  • Convey it in 12 words or less

Templates:

  • Is your [function/issue of concern] strategy really working?
  • How to [achieve a goal] in [timeframe] without [a pain point]
  • The do’s and don’t of [an issue of concern]
  • How to [achieve a goal] in [number] of steps
  • [Number] ways/strategies/tips/secrets to [achieve a goal] in [current year]
  • [Topic] trends changing the way we [something you take for granted]

Examples:

  • The do's and don'ts of webinar landing pages
  • How to double attendee turnout at your webinars in just 5 steps
  • 10 new strategies to help you easily build a pipeline for webinar guest speakers
  • On-demand vs. live webinars: Which is better for MQL generation and why
  • 5 ways webinars will change in 2024 

Step 2. The introduction

  • Get straight to the point - no fluff or generalizations. Don’t tell the reader what they already know.
  • Set the context by establishing the pain points. Your reader is looking for someone who understands their challenge or problem.
  • Or prompt curiosity by asking a question that asks readers to a) re-examine the status quo b) ask themselves a question that they should be asking
  • Convey this in 1- 3 sentences

Examples:

  • Here’s a great example by Cloudsmith: “Containers and Microservices architectures are no longer the new kid on the block, and it may be time to take a fresh look at your ecosystem.”
  • Or this by Mindtickle: “It’s time for sales leaders, enablement, and ops to align on one common purpose: increasing revenue productivity. But how do you go about doing it?”
  • And this by Common Room: Building one-on-one relationships with community members is one of the most rewarding and impactful parts of leading a community program—but how do you scale to meet member needs when one turns into one hundred thousand? And how do you manage an ever-growing pack of internal stakeholders to ensure they understand (and contribute to) the value of your user community?

Step 3. The rest of the body

  • Having established a pain point or prompted curiosity, use the rest of the abstract to build trust and interest
  • Use bullet points to give the audience an idea of the talking points that will be discussed in the webinar. Keep it short and crisp to make it skimmable.
  • Always keep in mind your intended audience - do they prefer stories or facts? Would they want demonstrations or just recommendations? 
  • Use industry-specific terminology to set the expectation that you’re already attuned to your target audience.
  • Highlight your speaker’s domain expertise and industry experience to substantiate credibility. If you can quote any details pertinent to the pain point/goal discussed in the webinar, even better.

Examples:

  • Another one from Cloudsmith:

    In this session SLSA experts from across the industry gather to discuss the practical uses of the framework and address topics such as: 
    What controls are included in the specification and why 
    Real world developer approaches to software supply chain security 
    What's working and what's not working in software supply chain security 

    Featuring: Isaac Hepworth, Group Product Manager, Software Supply Chain, Google
  • And here’s a description about a webinar titled ‘Is the MQL dead? by Drift that provides background for the talk and highlights the specifics that will be covered:
  • Here’s one more example that gets everything right

Drive better impact from a well-written abstract

We hope that if you take away anything from this piece, it’s an understanding of why your webinar abstract deserves as much time and care - or more - than the other activities in your webinar production laundry list. 

Stick to this 3 step blueprint and you’ll be able to set the stage for a compelling and engaging webinar experience that drives positive results, such as increased attendance, participant engagement, and post-webinar actions.

Zuddl updates for May 2023
Product
Engagement

Coming in hot: Zuddl's updates for May 2023

4
Mins Read
Philson John Philip & Om Karanjkar

From landing page widgets and video guides to social links for speakers and more, this post has you covered with the latest enhancements on Zuddl!

Presenting our May updates - with even more control and support for all your event needs.

Elevate your landing page with new widgets, get additional help with our brand-new video guides, make your speakers more reachable with social media links, and record your sessions with our improved interface.

Widgets for the landing page

New custom widgets for your landing page

We have two new custom widgets for your landing page: the Schedule widget that adds the event schedule to your page, and the Speaker widget that adds information about speakers.

You can find these inside the landing page editor, under Widgets.

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Video guides

Get additional help during setup

Video tutorials have been added to certain sections of the organizer side setup, to give support and aid in different parts of the setup. These can be viewed from the page header, where you can click Watch tutorial to play the video.

Video Guides Optimized GIF.gif


Social links for speakers

Help your audiences connect with speakers

When adding speakers to your event, you can now also add links to their social media accounts to help audiences better connect with them. You can add upto 4 links for each speaker when you add them to your event: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a website.

Social Links Optimized GIF.gif


Studio recordings

Improvements to the recording settings

Recordings are made easier with some new improvements. A new recording status indicator makes it prominently visible whether recordings are turned on or off, and you can view this before you start your session. We’ve also added a confirmation popup to ensure that recordings aren’t accidentally turned off.

Recordings Optimized GIF.gif

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How to evaluate your event's impact
Marketing
Virtual Events

Evaluating your event's impact: 3 types of key metrics

4
Mins Read
Zuddl Staff

Events are helpful for organizations seeking to increase visibility and conversions. Learn more about measuring the impact of your events in this guide.

Organizations invest time, effort, and money into hosting events for many purposes, including fundraising, networking, and marketing. At the event’s end, you’ll naturally want to determine if it was successful and if you met your goals. You can do this by establishing key metrics to evaluate your event.

To help you better understand the impact of your event, this guide will cover the following topics:

  • 3 types of event impact metrics to evaluate
  • Driving impact with your event: 3 tips

Keep in mind that your organization is unique—what another organization considers an impactful event may not be impactful for you. Consider these metrics through the lens of your organization’s size, audience, and outcomes from past events. 

3 types of metrics to evaluate events

Let’s dive into the different types of metrics your organization can use to analyze your event’s impact.

1. Financial event metrics

For most organizations, financial metrics are the most obvious way to evaluate the impact of an event. Return on investment (ROI) is the most important finance-related metric, but you’ll need to know these metrics to calculate it:

  • Event costs: This will include all expenses and funds put towards organizing and hosting the event.
  • Leads generated: Events can generate leads that you can further nurture and convert into a customer.

To calculate your ROI, divide the revenue generated by leads from your event by the total amount of expenses. This tells you how efficiently you allocated your funds, and organizations should aim to have as high an ROI as possible.

These metrics can provide a clear-cut answer as to whether your event was a financial success. However, other metrics are needed to determine why your event had the impact that it did. 

2. Event attendance metrics

Aside from financial metrics, you can also look at attendance-related metrics to evaluate your event’s impact. These data points provide insight into your marketing, the makeup of your target audience, and your overall ability to cultivate a loyal and engaged audience. Record and reflect on event attendance metrics such as:

  • Number of attendees: The number of people who attend your event indicates how successful your marketing and promotional efforts were.
  • Attendee demographics: Compare the demographics of event attendees to that of your target audience. Ask yourself if you’re attracting your ideal attendees, and if not, how you can change your marketing strategy for future events.
  • Attendance over time: Consider similar events you have hosted in the past and compare the number of attendees for those events versus your most recent event. Consistent audience retention indicates your events are high-quality, as guests who attended a previous event feel motivated to attend your next one as well. 

Aside from overall event attendance, also assess the attendee-related metrics for specific activities featured at your event. For example, if your organization works in the digital marketing vertical and hosted several informational panels, compare the number and demographics of attendees across panels to identify what types of content are most interesting to your target audience.

3. Event engagement metrics

Alongside financial and attendance metrics, event engagement metrics provide unique insight into the impact of your event. Unlike the aforementioned metrics, however, event engagement is less of a quantitative measure and more qualitative, making it difficult to measure. To better quantify your event engagement, examine these metrics:

  • Conversions: Assess how many attendees continue to engage with the organization after the event. Continued engagement might mean that they subscribe to your email newsletter, or that they become a customer or member.
  • Satisfaction: Ask your supporters to rate their overall satisfaction and satisfaction with various event aspects and activities to get a general understanding of how engaged and happy they were with the event.

One of the best ways to evaluate how engaged attendees were with your event is to ask them for their opinion. At the event’s close, send an email thanking attendees for their participation, and include a survey that they can take to provide their feedback. Stress to them that this information will help you create a better event experience in the future.

HOW TO GET BETTER FEEDBACK: Click here to learn how Alex Temple, Senior Corporate Relations Manager at Explori designs feedback loops for B2B Events.

Driving impact with your event: 3 tips

Now that you know what metrics to examine, use the following tips to improve your event and drive conversions.

1. Set a clear goal

When planning your event, start by determining its purpose. Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish by gathering your attendees together and how that will benefit your organization in the long run. For example, if you’re an advocacy group, bringing attendees together can help you spread awareness about your cause. Or, if you’re a business promoting a new product, your event’s purpose might be to lead more people down the marketing funnel.

When setting your goal, keep in mind that it should be specific, measurable, and relevant to your organization’s overall objectives. Ensure that it’s attainable, and align all parts of your event with it, including event format and target audience.

2. Promote your event

To boost attendee turnout, you’ll need to market and promote your event well in advance. Build anticipation and give guests the time to clear their schedules and make preparations for attending by creating and sending promotional materials through these channels:

  • Your website
  • Direct mail
  • Email
  • Text
  • Social media
  • Flyers

To reach the largest number of interested individuals, use multiple marketing channels. Choose channels that your target audience frequents. For example, if your organization has an active Instagram account with many followers, post an image inviting them to attend your next bikeathon.

3. Incorporate technology to enhance the experience

Incorporating technology into your organization’s event can result in a more engaged audience and an improved guest experience. You can make attendees’ lives more convenient by allowing mobile check-in and sending them text reminders in the days leading up to your event. If your event is convention-style, consider creating a mobile app that attendees can download to easily track the schedule and activities they’re interested in.

Aside from making processes more convenient for attendees, you can also use technology to augment your activities. For example, if you’re hosting a Q&A session with industry professionals, have a screen displaying real-time social media engagement and encourage attendees to post questions that the professionals can answer. Additionally, use live streaming technology to organize hybrid and virtual events, increasing participation from individuals that may not be able to attend in person.

Maximizing your event’s impact begins with assessing your existing data. Consider what insights that information gives you, and use it to alter and improve upon your future events. After every event, sit down with the rest of your team and discuss key takeaways and improvements. Learn what type of events best fit specific purposes, and you’ll see the desired impact in your organization’s events.

Marketing
Hybrid Events

Is Forrester's 2023 B2B Summit really worth your time?

4
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

Join Forrester's B2B Summit North America 2023 for all the strategies and insights you need to thrive in an ever-changing business landscape.

Halfway through 2023, chances are you've already attended several B2B events this year, and are questioning whether you can just skip Forrester's 2023 B2B Summit. Is it really worth your time and effort?

In a word: yes.

Namely because unpredictability and uncertainty have been the name of the game for the past few years. Marketers have had to deal with diversifying routes to market, changes in consumer behavior and difficult-to-predict buying motions. 

That’s why the summit’s theme this year -  ‘ADAPT. ACT. GROW’ - is timely and pertinent. At Forrester's 2023 B2B Summit North America, marketers can get key strategies, pragmatic frameworks, and compelling data they need to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. 

When is it? June 5 – 7, 2023

Where is it?

This year’s edition is hybrid, with attendees able to either attend virtually or in-person in Austin.

Here’s what you can look forward to:

🎯 100+s tactical sessions aligned to marketing roles

Whether your focus is customer marketing, product marketing, marketing operations, demand and ABM, partner ecosystem marketing or sales, you can expect sessions addressing any and all challenges and goals that you’re currently facing at work. Take away ready-to-use insights and tactics that you can implement the very next day:

Here’s a snapshot of noteworthy sessions available for different roles:

  • Align Marketing, Product, And Sales Around Buyer Value To Propel Growth: A panel that provides practical tips for driving alignment and releasing each team’s potential and strategies for calibrating to and innovating on buyer value, led by analysts and experts at Forrester.
  • Beyond Alignment: How Sales And Marketing Leaders Integrate For Success: This session will explore how organizations integrate processes, technologies, teams, and practices to deliver a compelling buying experience
  • Lifecycle Revenue Marketing Is The Future Of B2B Growth: This session will outline buyer trends that are having the most impact on B2B marketing such as buyers being more self-guided or more prone to extending their purchasing processes, and identify LRM strategies that can help surface revenue opportunities out of customer adoption, loyalty, and advocacy initiatives.
  • Product-Led Growth: Right Fit, Right Approach For Your Organization? A session that helps marketers learn best principles, principles, practices, examples, metrics, and fit assessment, as well as next steps for product, marketing, sales, and customer success leaders.

In-person attendees also have the opportunity to take part in specialized pre-event sessions and workshops such as the ForrWomen Leadership Program which helps attendees learn how to help advance women leaders in their organizations.

📋 Case studies from globally leading brands and executives

Get first-hand knowledge from industry leaders - valuable insights into the strategies, tactics, and approaches employed by them that you can apply to your own marketing efforts, helping them drive growth and overcome obstacles.

Here are a few intriguing case studies on the Summit agenda:

  • Calendly: Smith.ai: How to Transform MQLs into Sales Meetings, Instantly: Today’s buyers hold the power, wanting to self-serve and resist salespeople until they’re ready. You’ll hear how Smith.ai’s sales team is giving buyers more control with a customer-first routing strategy to drive a 70% conversion rate from MQLs to meetings booked.
  • 6sense: How to Do Frictionless, Revenue-Generating ABM: Learn how Twilio Segment built a collaborative partnership between marketing and sales, using 6sense’s intent and keyword signals. By focusing outbound campaigns on in-market buyers, the Segment GTM team booked 75+ meetings within one week of launch.
  • Mindtickle: Breakdown the silos to win together: How to implement a business pivot on a global scale: Hear from Jegen Kalimuthu, Global Sales Enablement at LinkedIn on how to tackle a global business transformation cross-functionally. Instead of finger-pointing and throwing in the towel, learn how enablement, marketing, sales leadership, and sales ops all play a role in implementing global change.

Hear straight from the A-listers of B2B marketing

The line-up this year is incredible. Here are just a few of the speakers you can look forward to interacting with:

  • Dara Treseder CMO, Autodesk
  • Cheryl Cook SVP, Global Partner Marketing, Dell
  • Cindy Matos VP of Transformation and Governance, IBM
  • Katherine Chambers VP of Revenue Marketing, Cart.com
  • Jeanne Quinn Director, Partner Engagement & Thought Leadership, Cisco
  • Principal Product Manager, Bayer
  • Gail Moody-Byrd Vice President, Marketing, LinkedIn Sales Solutions, LinkedIn

🪄Find solution providers for your marketing, sales, and product needs

Whether you are transforming your entire digital customer journey or need help boosting your marketing or commerce experiences, you can find exactly the solutions you need at the Summit.

🤝 Connect with peers, experts and Forrester analysts

There are plenty of opportunities both structured and unstructured during the Summit to meet and connect with professionals like yourself. 

During breaks, you can hit the show floor to connect with colleagues and peers. 

But there are also plenty of networking activities built into the event agenda: breakfast boardrooms, invite-only dinners (e.g. an executive leadership exchange), as well as facilitated ‘birds of a feather’ small group discussions during which you can connect with peers facing similar challenges. 

These group discussions in particular are great for focused, facilitated discussions on specific initiatives you are working on.​ And as a bonus - Forrester analysts and executive partners will be on hand to provide expert perspectives. 

The takeaway

B2B marketing right now is all about needing to be strategic, sensing buyer needs, and knowing the right tactics that will resonate with buyers and sellers. At Forrester's B2B Summit North America 2023, you’ll get the data and insight you need to know exactly how to do this, and stay one step ahead in the dynamic world of B2B marketing.

Webinar problems and solutions by Zuddl
Webinars
Marketing

5 ways to completely ruin your webinar

5
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

Learn the common pitfalls marketers usually face when organizing a webinar, and get solutions to give your webinars the greatest chance for success.

Let’s face it. Organizing webinars is just not as easy as the thousands of ‘How to host a webinar and drive lots of revenue’ articles make it out to be. There’s so many steps involved, from sourcing the speaker to planning the dry run, making the landing page to sending out emails, etc.

But even if you have a solid plan in place, you may be overlooking simple steps or activities that can completely derail your efforts, leaving you like this:

So in this article, we’ll cover the top 5 ways you could inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot - and tips on how to prevent this. 

1. You send out basic follow-up emails after someone registers

Webinar dry run tips by Zuddl

The mistake: It can be tempting to schedule ‘1 week to go’,  ‘1 day to go’ and ‘1 hour to go’ emails, emphasizing ONLY the date and time of your webinar, and call it a day. But you need something beyond just this to keep interest in your webinar piqued.

The solution: This is why it's important to keep reminding registrants the value of turning up on the day-of. This means that in every follow-up email you send, you need to reiterate why your webinar is unmissable. And you can do this through some simple ways:

  • Share a screenshot of your previous webinar, highlighting the interactivity of the Chat for instance, or a learning moment that an attendee had.
  • Share social proof of positive tweets or comments from attendees at your previous webinars.
  • Play up the FOMO by highlighting what the registrant will lose out on if they skip the webinar, for instance ‘Learn how to double your leads from a webinar by the end of the hour.’
  • Offer an exclusive perk for those that do attend live.

2.You pick the entirely wrong date and the wrong time for the webinar

How to avoid common webinar mistakes

The mistake: If you’re not factoring in the day of the week, holidays, other industry events, and timezones, you’re making it difficult for people to want to attend your webinar. If it conflicts with anything else they have going on, you can bet this is how they’ll react:

The solution: Center your scheduling around your target audience’s availability. 

  • Marketing wisdom states that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best dates for a webinar. (On Mondays, people are in the thick of planning their work for the week while on Fridays, it’s likely that most people are already in a weekend mood and unlikely to tune in. ) But take this with a grain of salt, and use your analytics to determine which day attracted the most turnout.
  • Avoid the run up to holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and conflicting major events, whether that’s an industry conference or the Superbowl.
  • Time differences can cause scheduling conflicts - it’s very difficult to accommodate everyone, so shoot for the majority instead. At Zuddl we usually schedule webinars at around 10:30 AM PT as it corresponds to accessible time zones across most geographies.

3.You take a hands-off approach with your webinar speakers

Host succesful webinars with this tips

The mistake: Your speakers are busy, busy people, so while they may confirm their availability on a specific date and time for your webinar, this can quickly change. It’s just life. 

But if the only communication with your speaker is weeks after the initial call, then you’re only going to hear about a change in their availability later rather than sooner. This may mean having to cancel your webinar altogether - and quite abruptly.

The solution: Check-in with your speaker at regular intervals. Not only does this help build the organizer-speaker relationship, but enables you to spot red flags early on - like if a speaker requests a time or date change more than once, or doesn’t respond to your follow-up emails.

4.You decide not to make a basic conversation flow for your speaker and host

Common webinar mistakes to avoid

The mistake: We’re not telling you to make your speaker and host read directly from a script  - that’ll only make them sound either like a robot or a news presenter. But not providing them with a conversation guide either is a mistake. 

It leaves too much room for interpretation, by which we mean that the speaker and host could go wildly off topic, or not quite know how to navigate moving from one sub-topic to another leading to lots of awkwardness during the webinar, and causing attendees to drop-off the call.

The solution: A conversational flow can help guide your host and speaker through all the topics they need to cover, whilst letting them sound natural and conversational. This isn’t as complicated as you think. Even something as simple as this will work:

Introduction

  • The host introduces the webinar/webinar series and goal
    E.g. “Welcome to Event Heroes - a show where we engage with industry professionals to offer you practical guidance on crafting a successful event strategy and executing it with excellence, all to maximize your returns.”
  • The host introduces the guest speaker and their career story
    E.g. for our webinar with Alex Temple - “Our guest today is Alex Temple, Senior Corporate Relations Manager at Explori. Now, Explori is an attendee feedback platform for events, expos and event venues.”
  • The host asks the guest to introduce themselves
    E.g. “Hi, thanks for having me on as a guest today. I’m a B2B event marketer with 15 years of experience., etc. etc.’

Educational content

  • Questions that touch upon the pain point or goals that your audience signed up for
    E.g. Solutions to challenges in the industry, a new perspective on an age-old practice, commentary on new trends, insights and best practices from their day-to-day. Protip: Use customized questions on registration forms to gauge what attendees are really interested in learning at the webinar

Q/A

  • The host reads out questions shared by the attendees in the Chat or using a Q/A tool and prompts the speaker to answer each in turn

Fun rapid fire 

  • End the session on a high note with fun questions for the speaker
    E.g. ‘What are you proud of, but never have an excuse to talk about?’ or ‘If you were a pizza topping what would you be and why?

Closing and next steps

  • The host thanks the speaker for their time and the attendees for theirs. Then, the host shares next steps.
    E.g. “Thank you for joining us to learn about <X topic> and hope you learned a lot. We’ll be sharing a link to a video recording of this webinar with you in an email so you can go back and watch it at a time of your convenience.’

5. And you opt not to do a practice run

Webinar practice run | Zuddl

The mistake: Without a practice run, you may not realize issues with the software or your speakers presentation or your showflow (ie. it might be too short or too long). As a result, you may appear unprofessional, confuse or bore your audience, and self-sabotage the opportunity to make a positive impact.

The solution: Do a dry run. Not only can you check that everything is in working order - webinar platform, presentation flow, speaking points etc. - but it helps your speaker feel more comfortable and confident too. 

Prevent mistakes instead of trying to firefight them

No one is immune to making mistakes, but knowing what obstacles are ahead makes it that much easier to overcome them.

B2B virtual conferences
Marketing
Virtual Events

4 insider tips on running better virtual B2B conferences

5
Mins Read
Kishore C S

In this post, we’ll look at 4 on-ground insights from Varun Singh, Head of Marketing, Rocketlane, who spearheaded the world’s first global customer onboarding conference, Propel.

We get it; planning a large-scale B2B conference can be intimidating. There are lots of moving parts involved; coordination with teams, sourcing speakers, setting up your event, promoting your event - we can go on and on.

The challenges of planning and hosting an event of this scale will always be present, but the good news is you can overcome and deal with them better if you have a tested approach to guide you on ground.

That’s exactly why we spoke to Varun Singh, Head of Marketing, Rocketlane to get some on-ground insights on what it takes to pull off a successful large-scale B2B conference. For context, Rocketlane recently concluded hosting the world’s first customer onboarding conference, Propel ‘23 - with 3,500+ virtual attendees.

Here are some really interesting tips that emerged from that conversation.

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How to build an agenda for a conference of this scale

One of the challenges marketers face while planning a big event is around what topics to cover. This becomes even more complex when your attendees are from different profiles as you need to ensure that every attendee finds value in your event. 

When we asked Varun about how he went about creating an agenda for Propel ‘23, he said that narrowing the scope of the conference (customer onboarding, implement and post-sales for example) helped Rocketlane deliver more focused content to attendees. It also enabled them to create a mix of dedicated sessions for each profile, while still providing a few sessions of common interest.

Here’s a glimpse of the agenda from Propel ‘23:

How to align all the moving parts and collaborate internally

When it comes to pulling off a global conference, it truly takes a village. Event marketers have to collaborate with different internal functions to fulfil tasks and sub-tasks, which is an event in itself!

When we asked Varun how much internal collaboration was needed for Propel ‘23, he said:

“Our design team took care of all the speaker presentations and landing pages, and our web development team focused on having the event site up and ready. Our dedicated Ops person ensured data from event landing pages seamlessly integrated with CRM tools, and our content team handled copies for landing pages, emails and social posts. Our support team would drive registrations to any prospect who would chat with them. Also, our CSM team would recommend Propel 23’ to our existing customers - so it was a combined effort - all working towards one common goal.”

How to repurpose your conference content 

Any large-scale event is like a goldmine of fresh insights, fresh perspectives and expert-driven content that deserves to be extracted, repurposed and promoted. While most marketers are onboard with repurposing as a content strategy, they often face logistical challenges when it comes to exporting and editing event content, which often delays the publishing process, rendering the content a bit cold.

We asked Varun about his plan around repurposing content from Propel ‘23 - here’s what he shared.

“The video recordings were made live within 4 working days from the event on our website. Talking about repurposing these videos, we’ve already come up with cheat sheets based on conversations from tracks that were focused on specific sub-topics, and we gate these cheat sheets on our site. Also, we publish an Idea Book that compiles snippets from various sessions. Thirdly, we have different blog summaries based on each session from the event.”

How to collect and implement feedback 

For B2B conferences, especially ones that have future editions, feedback plays a monumental role in the growth of the conference as a brand - it’s the only way you know what your attendees loved and what they didn’t. 

But the trick with event feedback is that it needs to be collected while the impact of the event is still hot in the attendee’s mind. Here’s some insight into how Rocketlane does it:

“With feedback, you can have a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions. Some open-ended ones and some very direct ones. Once you get all of that, you decode how to use it to plan a better conference the next year. For example, in Propel 2022, we had sessions one after the other. When we observed the feedback on this, we made incremental changes to the 2023 editions by ensuring we have networking breaks planned between sessions - all these inputs only come from feedback.”

You can watch our full conversation with Varun Singh right here.

Hope you find these tips useful - now go own your next B2B conference!

Investigating the use of ChatGPT for event marketing
Marketing
Engagement

Is ChatGPT the B2B event marketer’s new BFF?

8
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

How helpful is ChatGPT really in expanding the scope and impact of B2B event marketing? Does it live up to the hype? We put it to the test.

ChatGPT. 

It needs no introduction because over the past few months it’s all anyone has heard about.

But the noise is understandable.

The chatbot’s ability to write complex text - academic, journalistic, and programming, among others - in a human, friendly and intelligent way is unrivaled, leading Bill Gates to call it the most revolutionary tech in decades. 

Indeed, prompted to write a blurb about this very article, ChatGPT responded:

Pretty good… if a tad full of itself.

But how useful is ChatGPT really for B2B event marketing?

While many have praised the chatbot’s ability to answer questions, write essays, summarize documents and write software, others have criticized it for providing responses that are somewhat stilted, and basic. In which case, are event marketers better off just relying on their own skills? Or is this chatbot a marketer’s new favorite colleague?

As they say ‘Seeing is believing’, so we worked with ChatGPT on the standard roster of B2B event marketing activities - all your basics like finding an event venue, finding speakers, putting together a calendar of events, promotional material etc - to see if it lives up to the hype.

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Challenge #1: Cutting down time to source event venues

Usually, finding venues for events - whether a conference, round table or even a simple dinner requires lots of research.

“I spent so much time on Google trying to find a venue for a networking mixer in Vegas,” comments B2B event marketing specialist, Rishabh Bora. “It was extremely challenging for me as I was not familiar with the city at all - let alone the country - and so the time I put into coming up with even a shortlist of places took days because I had to first locate places and then vet them as per my budget and other criteria.” 

✅ How ChatGPT can help: With a simple prompt, ChatGPT can give you a list of venues appropriate for your event goals and budget. 

The prompt:

The output:

Evaluation: That’s a pretty good starting point that can save you hours on Google.

And this can be used to source event speakers too

ChatGPT can be also used similarly to source speakers for your event using a prompt like ‘What international speakers can I invite to talk at this event?

Key to curating a good list is the different criterion you want the chatbot to apply when coming up with a list of names - like domain expertise in X topic, for instance. Click here for other criteria you should consider too.

Time saved: 2-5 hours at the least

Verdict: Go for it

Challenge #2: Create event titles and descriptions within 1 minute

Catchy titles can help boost the registration rates for your conferences or webinars (see Rocketlane’s fantastically-named sessions for Propel '22) but it’s not easy to come up with these for B2B marketing events, especially when you have to factor in things like character count. 

✅ How ChatGPT can help: If you’ve ever spent agonizing hours trying to be witty or creative to no avail, ChatGPT can help kick start brainstorming.

The prompt:

The output:

Evaluation: The suggestions are straightforward and succinct, and the chatbot even uses alliteration to make the title catchy. At the least it’ll help you realize what you do and don’t want from the title. And the more detailed your prompt is, the better refined the ChatGPT copy will be.

And you can use it to generate event descriptions as well.

Evaluation: That’s a pretty solid description. It covers the broad strokes of what can be expected at the webinar, and uses industry jargon ‘traps, gadgets, rockets’ etc. With more information in the prompt about specific challenges or goals, the description can be further improved. 

Time saved: 2-5 hours at the least, depending on the creativity/nuance of your prompts

Verdict: Definitely helpful

Challenge #3: Help plan an event program

Event marketers usually plan for 6 months worth of events ahead of time to account for event format, types and size. But where do you start planning your B2B event marketing calendar? You may have a rough idea of wanting to do a few webinars and then perhaps a conference at the end of Q3, but aren’t quite sure how to put a plan in place.

✅ How ChatGPT can help: Even using a basic prompt, the chatbot can help you understand the different types of events you can plan for your audience to keep them engaged throughout the year. 

Chat GPT prompt and output:

Evaluation: We’re not going to lie, this is actually pretty impressive.

ChatGPT has planned a great mix of different event types, with each addressing a goal or pain point of the target audience. It serves as a good jumping-off point for your planning.

But as mentioned before, the more nuanced the prompt, the better ChatGPT’s output will be. So for instance, a B2B event marketing calendar for pipeline engagement will look entirely different to that of one aimed at customer engagement.

Time saved: Half a day 

Verdict: It’s not replacing you… as yet

Challenge #4: Write the best copy you’ve ever written for event SM promos

Unfortunately, B2B gets a bad rap for being boring, and by extension its events as well. That’s why spending a little extra time and brainpower to come up with creative and fun ways to come up with different ways to promote your event can make all the difference in driving registrations.

✅ How ChatGPT can help: Using just a straightforward prompt can help get the ball rolling.

The prompt:

The output:

Evaluation: Not bad at all.

And you can use it to write social copy for the post ideas it has come up with.

Chat GPT prompt and output:

Evaluation: It’s good copy (especially the disclaimer at the end!). And it gets the job done also because at this point, it has a lot of context about what you’re looking for. ChatGPT remembers the thread of your dialogue, using previous questions and answers to inform its next responses. 

And you can further refine the copy as per the social media channel you’re going to post on - for instance:

The prompt:

The output:

🔥🔥🔥🔥

And then why not ask ChatGPT to plan a calendar for promotion to boot. 

Chat GPT prompt and output:

Evaluation: No notes for this, just applause.

Clearly the chatbot can help streamline all your social media activities within a couple of minutes.

And you can take a similar approach with email marketing

In a similar way, use ChatGPT to write your promotional emails, registration confirmations, and reminder emails with the following prompts:

  • Can you write an email invitation to Wile E Coyotes highlighting why this is a must-attend webinar?
  • Can you write a last-chance to register email?
  • Can you write an email reminding webinar registrants that the webinar starts in 1 hour.
  • Can you write an email thanking attendees and letting them know the event’s content is now available on-demand?

Time saved: An entire day

Verdict: So fantastic you may be inspired to name your first-born after ChatGPT

Challenge #5: Act as real-time customer support on event page/app

A chatbot for event marketing on your landing page or mobile event app is indispensable because it helps your visitors get answers quickly and easily - whether they’re looking for directions to the venue or suggestions on which session they should attend. It helps to humanize your event and brand. And it frees up you and your team to focus on other tasks.

✅ How ChatGPT can help: It can help cut down time for you to put the questions and answers together - and add some personality.

The prompt and output:

Evaluation: It’s done a decent job, but the questions and answers are quite basic. 

You could probably get more from the ChatBot by first sharing a more full-fledged description of the event, and then prompting it for Q&A’s. And it’ll be up to event marketers to manually add a touch of brand personality or humor.

Time saved: 1-2 hours

Verdict: Very helpful

Final verdict: A friend indeed to those in need

Credit where credit is deserved: ChatGPT for event marketing delivers the goods more often than not. It cuts down time spent on research and writing, provides at least a framework of content that you can improve, and in general, speeds up your efficiency. 

This is especially effective if you combine the powers of ChatGPT and event automation - the combination of which (eg. getting ChatGPT to write your emails and then using the copy in automated email workflows), should cut your work in half. We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the tool can be integrated into events in real-time which opens up even more opportunities for its use.

But don’t worry event marketers, the ChatBot won’t be replacing you - at least not just yet. 

When the chatbot does result in lackluster responses, it can only be improved by you refining the prompt or providing more complete information to the chatbot. And it’s important to note that there is still a chance that it will create false or inaccurate information so will need a human marketer to check and approve everything it produces.

In the end, it’s a partnership between you as the event marketer and the AI. As with all friendships, you get out of it what you give.

Other B2B event marketing tasks that you can use ChatGPT for:

  • Attendee surveys
  • Putting together event agendas
  • Writing scripts for hosts 
  • Create scripts for videos
  • Creating promotional posts about/for your speakers
  • Post-event landing page copy and promotions
Decoding the deminar phenomenon
Marketing
Virtual Events

Decoding the deminar phenomenon

5
Mins Read
Kishore C S

In this blog post, we explore the concept of deminars, highlight their unique features, and suggest some use cases for event marketers looking to implement this format.

Heard your customers or marketing peers talk about ‘deminars’ and wondered if you misheard the word ‘seminars’? 

The good news is, your hearing is just fine! 

Deminars are becoming increasingly popular among event marketers for their ability to convert audiences in real-time. But how? And are they the same as any other webinar?...

We’ll answer all that in this blog post.

But let’s start from the beginning?

What is a Deminar even?!!

(And no, just in case you’re wondering, it isn’t a Demon + Gnar crossbreed, it’s a demo + webinar mashup)

Simply put, a deminar is a product demo that dresses itself in the form and style of a webinar. It allows you to combine the heft of a product-focused demo with the interactive and collaborative experience of a webinar. 

How are deminars different from the webinars we know and love?

While webinars are great for generating leads at the top of the funnel, deminars are a powerful tool for engaging prospects at the bottom of the funnel and converting them into customers.

In a deminar, you can demonstrate your product or service while having a real-time conversation with your prospects, which makes it an ideal format for driving conversions and closing deals.

So when your event mix combines webinars and deminars, you’re essentially creating a predictable pipeline that guides prospects through the entire buying cycle, from generating the lead to closing the deal. Booyah!

Why are deminars becoming popular?

As per this Forbes article on the ever-evolving B2B buyer process, nearly 60% of buyers prefer conducting their own research instead of communicating with sales representatives.

And typically, when buyers do their own research, their only options other than a demo call is reading your website or watching a video you have up; neither of these is interactive.

This is where a deminars serves as a bridge - it provides event marketers with a platform to influence high-intent prospects to make a purchasing decision in an open, interactive ‘show, don’t tell’ fashion. 

Highly recommended: To get first-hand experience of how a deminar looks and feels, check out Zuddl’s Product tour - it’s free!

So now that we’ve warmed up to the idea of deminars, let’s look at three great ways to use them to achieve business objectives.

Three effective ways to use deminars:

The Launchpad: 

Deminars are an excellent tool for product launches because they allow businesses to showcase their new offerings in a way that is interactive, engaging, and memorable.

Instead of simply talking about your product, you can demonstrate its features and benefits in real-time, answer questions, and provide additional context that can help potential customers see the value of what you're offering. 

Plus, by offering a fun and engaging experience, you'll increase the likelihood that attendees will share their experience with others and help spread the word about your launch.

Mind the Gap: 

As an event marketer, one of your goals is likely to establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Deminars can be a great way to achieve this by providing valuable insights and education to potential customers. 

By showcasing your expertise and sharing your knowledge, you'll be able to build trust and credibility with your audience, which can help differentiate your brand from others in your space. Additionally, by focusing on education and thought leadership, you may be able to attract a wider audience beyond your current customer base, which can help drive growth over time.

The Onboarding Express: 

If you're looking for ways to improve customer retention and satisfaction, Deminars can be a powerful tool for onboarding and training. By offering personalized training sessions, you can help customers feel more confident in their ability to use your product or service, which can lead to increased adoption and usage over time. 

Additionally, by offering ongoing support through deminars, you can help customers feel more connected to your brand and more likely to continue using your product or service in the long-term.

The event marketing sous chef you didn’t know you need

Deminars bring a lot to the table - they have the potential to help you chop up your competition, season your event mix with the right messaging, and sauté new ideas to fill up the gaps in your event marketing program. 

Now, that’s an enviable platter of benefits.

Zuddl's CTO Vedha Sayyaparaju speaks at a panel
Engagement
Virtual Events

'Strategies and tips on event engagement’ panel: 4 top takeaways

4
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

Four intriguing takeaways from a panel about how to drive more engagement at events that featured Zuddl's Co-founder and CTO, Vedha Sayyaparaju.

Audience engagement is still proving to be one of the biggest challenges that event organizers are facing. 

A poll taken during a recent NXUnite Panel on improving engagement at events revealed that 29% of attendees listed this as their organization’s current biggest challenge, only second to low attendance (44%). 

Speakers at the panel including Zuddl’s co-founder and CTO, Vedha Sayyaparaju, discussed this challenge, and offered insight and advice on improving engagement rates. Here are the four top takeaways from the talk:

1. Your engagement strategy needs to start way before the go live date and last long after it concludes.

An engagement strategy needs to cover the entire lifecycle, the panelists recommend.

“So much of engagement is about what happens before and after - not just during the event”, points out Vedha. “It's about what you’re doing to build and cultivate that community and motivate them to really show up during the event. And then from an after-event perspective, tying back the loop from an impact perspective - why are people part of this community, overall what does that mean, and what is the impact that it has?”

Before your event, you need to be creating anticipation and excitement among attendees, and building relationships with stakeholders to drive up your registration numbers. And after it concludes, you need to keep the momentum going by gathering feedback, explaining how your audience can stay connected with you, and promoting the brand and future events.

2. And so you need to go surround sound with your communication strategy

“It’s all about reaching the right people at the right time at the right place,” commented panelist Mike Montalto, Marketing Manager, amplifi. “So don’t just limit yourself to one channel. Use direct mail, use email, use your social media.”

This is especially pertinent today, when consumers are bouncing from channel to channel but expecting to receive personalized communication on each. Against this backdrop, by using different channels, you’re in a much better position to keep your event and brand top of mind. Case in point: using even  2-3 different channels increases engagement by 24% according to Mike Lewis, author of “Stand Out Social Media.”

3. Use data to personalize your event communications and improve your event

The data that you collect about your attendees is a goldmine of information - especially if you’re using one tool for all your event activities as opposed to 4-5 different tools that lead to silos of data.

“We have the tools to be able to really personalize how you reach out to people,” said Vedha. “You can put people in different buckets based on how people behaved, how they engaged in the event, how active they are. It doesn’t need to be the same communication and the same engagement that goes out to everyone.”

For instance, using a event registration form or before-event survey to gauge an attendee’s interest in a conference’s tracks can let you personalize email outreach which can then help to improve turnout.  

After-event surveys are a great tool as well - don’t be afraid of them. “Let them say what they didn’t like”, said panelist A.J. Steinberg. “Let them say the chicken was bad or if you have people singing like that again I’m never coming.” The feedback reinforces that which you’re doing well or its constructive criticism about what you need to change and will help you make that next event better.

After-event communication can be tailored based on an attendee’s actions or interactions. For instance, since a significant part of the audience who attended the NXUnite panel polled that they needed help improving engagement at events, we sent them our guide to efficiently planning before-event strategies.

But this is just one small example. When you’re able to see a holistic view of an attendee’s interactions with your communications, then you’re better able to create an enjoyable, personalized experience that engages and converts. 

4. Don’t sleep on using micro-events 

Micro events, as the name suggests, are smaller sized events that can be used to drive better engagement and connection with your audience. And these events can be really valuable, agreed panelists. Especially if you use a blend of different formats.

Hosting small virtual events for instance, lets you build small intimate connections, and nurture them over time so that they will be more likely to come to your larger in-person events (Click here to read more about micro events and how best to use them).

“Tech has really helped organizers with having a mixed strategy”, Vedha commented. “Rather than just having 1 event, [it allows you to organize] many little things before and after so that you’re building an event strategy as a whole.”

Watch the entire panel here.

Zuddl's product updates for April
Product
Virtual Events

All that's new with Zuddl - April 2023

5
Mins Read
Philson John Philip & Om Karanjkar

Want a sneak peek into the latest developments on our product front? This blog post spills the beans!

April was action-packed with updates!

We released a bunch of support features to enhance the overall experience for your attendees, and also give you more control over your events and webinars for smooth management.

Schedule sync

Track every session with Schedule sync

The schedule sync feature from the old backstage is now available on studio. All sessions that you add to the Schedule setup are listed in a dropdown on the studio backstage.

Select a session before you start streaming, and the session’s status will be updates on the schedule shown to attendees.

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Wistia integration

Push your Zuddl recordings to Wistia

The new Wistia integration lets you share your virtual event and webinar recordings to Wistia. A new ‘Push to Wistia’ option is available for every recording.

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Credits and Certification

Setting up training courses has never been easier

The new Credits & Certification feature lets your attendees earn credits in your Zuddl event. This is especially useful for educational conferences, specialized IT trainings, and any events where credits are awarded based on time spent by attendees that count towards certification.

You can customize the time range and how credits are offered for sessions. The certificates are made available at the end of a session, and you can personalize them with brand and sponsor logos.



Caption and multilingual support for webinars

Making your webinars more accessible for everyone

You can now enable multilingual translations and closed captioning for webinars. On a live stage, attendees can enable closed captions for the spoken content to view it as readable texts. They can also enable the simultaneous translation of the incoming audio.

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Enhance timer function

Keep track with a dedicated timer in the Studio

A countdown timer is now available on the bottom-left corner of the stage. You can find the Start Timer option inside the Extras menu on the sidebar navigation. The timer countdown can be made visible to everyone or the speakers only.

1-Timer-for-Webflow.gif

Highlight active speakers

Put the spotlight on the speakers

When a participant speaks on the stage, their video feed is highlighted with a border in the chosen brand color. When someone speaks on the backstage, a wave bar animation at the bottom-left corner in the user tile shows who is speaking.

This feature can be turned off from the Extras menu of the sidebar.

1-Active-for-Webflow.gif


In-room screen sharing

Keep the screen clean with screen sharing controls

Get more control over the rooms with screen sharing controls. Organizers or room moderators can now stop all other room participants from sharing their screens. The toggle is available in the options menu beside the audio/video controls.

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That's all for now. We'll be back with more exciting updates in a month - see you on the other side!

Driving ROI from repurposing video from your virtual event
Virtual Events
Marketing

The gift that keeps on giving: 4 ways to maximize on-demand virtual event content

6
Mins Read
Pavi Sagar

Learn 4 proven strategies that B2B event marketers can use to drive long-term ROI.

B2B marketers are always looking for ways to get the most bang for their buck, and on-demand event video content presents a prime opportunity to do just that. 

While these recordings are often viewed as a one-and-done asset, savvy marketers know that with a little ingenuity and effort, they can be transformed into a wide array of high-value content pieces that drive ROI long after the event has ended. 

In other words, 1 video recording from your virtual event = 10 pieces of multi-format content pieces.

So let's talk about how you can take those hours of footage and turn them into a marketing machine that keeps on giving. 

The impact of repurposing explained in numbers

Calculating the ROI of repurposing content from a virtual event

First, let's consider an example to illustrate how repurposing on-demand video from a virtual event can help B2B marketers reduce their cost per lead + drive more ROI.

Assume a B2B company invests $50,000 in producing and promoting a virtual event that generates 500 leads, resulting in a cost per lead (CPL) of $100. 

Now, let's assume the company repurposes the on-demand video content from the virtual event. This repurposed content generates an additional 250 leads, bringing the total number of leads generated to 750. 

As a result, the cost per lead for the virtual event decreases to $50.

The overall cost per lead for the campaign decreases to $66.67.

The potential you can squeeze from just one virtual event video is so clear, it’s impossible for marketers to look the other way.

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The most effective ways to repurpose on-demand virtual event content 

While there are a variety of content formats that marketers can transform their on-demand video content into, let’s look at the best ways that it can be used towards these goals:

a) Create a top of mind recall for attendees so that they remember what they gained from the event, and are eager to register the next time around, and

b) Extend the reach of their message to engage with a wider audience and pull in new leads.

Keep in mind that video helps 83% of marketers to generate leads, 87% to increase website traffic, and 80% to increase sales. So, the more ways you can make short and snackable videos from your on-demand video content and the more channels you can distribute them on, the better. 

Here’s a handy visual guide to doing so:

Let’s break this down further.

1. Develop high-quality social media content

Creating videos for social media is one way to use video from your virtual event

This one’s a no-brainer.

  • Video posts will pull in traffic

    Sharing these short videos on social media sites, especially those featuring speakers presenting an important insight or an intriguing point-of-view as snackable mini-lessons, is a fantastic way to increase brand visibility. You can encourage viewers to dive further into the topic by prompting them to visit your on-demand event page.

    Using on-demand video content also lets attendees relive the excitement from the event and gives non-attendees the chance to see what they’re missing out on. 
  • Turn quote/insights from video in infographics + creatives is a must-do too

    Infographics are often seen as a high-effort, low return activity but this is completely wrong. HubSpot states that infographics have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers over the past few years. This may be because, according to Springer – a leading research platform – people who follow directions with text and illustrations perform 323% better than those without.

    Here’s one of our favourite examples:

2. Turn video into different content mediums like a podcast episode, webinar session, or blog post

Video from your virtual event can be turned into a podcast episode, webinar session or blog post

This helps get extra mileage from your video content.

  • Podcasts will reach an even wider audience

    Extracting the audio from your video clips and turning them into podcast episodes lets you tap into a huge audience who prefer to consume information in this format. In fact, approximately 80 million Americans are now weekly podcast listeners, and 43% of decision makers say they use them to get business related content. 
  • Webinars will help build credibility in your industry

    30% of your audience will watch the webinar, rather than the live event, so it’s worth the effort, especially since a majority of B2B marketers (73%) agree that webinars can be the most effective way to generate high-quality leads.

    And a simple way to keep the content fresh and engaging is to simulive it- by which we mean you can enable a live chat to provide interactivity, and if possible set up a live Q+A at the end of the video.
  • Blogs will drive traffic to the website

    At Zuddl, we do this quite often, taking short, digestible learnings from a video recording from an event like our quarterly product launch ‘Spotlight’, or from our webinars, and turning it into a blog post. In a similar vein, you can use the Q&A section from sessions at the virtual event into blog posts too.

    For further inspiration, take a look at HubSpot’s blog content which showcases key quotes or lessons from their event speakers.

3. Use in email outreach and nurtures

Use video from your virtual event in email outreach and nurtures

Enable Sales and GTM Teams to generate and nurture leads

  • Event videos can boost ABM email marketing engagement

    Sending leads emails with informative, engaging video snippets from your virtual event might seem like a lot of extra effort but by including them in your outreach and follow-ups, your colleagues can position your company as a trusted partner who’s invested in helping them succeed.

    This is especially effective if the prospect’s pain points and challenges have already been identified via analytics from the virtual event. Using insight about the prospect via the sessions they attended or a poll they answered for instance, they can reach out with a link to an on-demand video that is contextual to the prospect. 
  • Videos can be useful in cold emails or a ‘wake up the dead’ campaign

Firstly, using video in cold emails is a recognized way of increasing engagement, with sources indicating that it can drive an average 96% increase in click-through rates. An encouraging statistic in itself. Sharing informational, educational video snippets by your event speakers is a subtle way to showcase your authority in the industry (for example, if the session topic is about the newest trends in the field). If they opt in to view it, your sales colleagues can reach out with more helpful information.

4. Create a learning hub or educational course

You can create a learning hub using the video from your event

There's always room to grow.

  • A video hub can enhance lead generation

    Creating a video hub allows you to organize and distribute all the videos, presentations, and other resources that were part of the virtual event. This way, attendees who couldn't attend the event live or missed some sessions can access the content at their convenience. 

    You can also leverage the content hub to attract new leads by using gated content that requires visitors to provide their contact information before accessing the resources. The content you offer can serve as a demonstration of your expertise and help build trust with potential customers.
  • Educational courses to build brand stickiness

    With a bit of editing and repackaging, you can break your multi-day or multi-session event into a series of educational videos that you can offer as a course. Through purposeful training, you can build and instil trust in your target audience.

    And research by Intellum-Forrester showed that with a customer education program in place, bottom-line revenue of the companies surveyed increased at 6.2%, and customer retention at 7.4.

    Here’s a great example of how Drift does certification courses.

Repurposing is the key to better ROI

On-demand virtual event content is a valuable resource that you can leverage to generate long-term ROI for your business. It continues to provide value to leads and customers, makes them feel seen, heard and understood, and builds a lasting connection with them — talk about a supportive and friendly way to build pipeline.

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