Feature Article: The Webinar Experience

In issue #6 of this e-zine, just over three years ago, I wrote about Cambashi's experiences attending online conferences and company announcements. At that time, we had participated in crisp, effective webcast and webconference sessions; we had also experienced the frustrations of sessions dogged by technical problems.

My verdict ("vendors, please keep trying") was addressed to the IT vendors experimenting with this channel as an addition to their range of communication formats, and was intended to be positive. Compared to a telephone conference, the addition of illustrations helped most speakers convey more information in a shorter time. The various choices for handling Q&A could all be made to work. Of course, if we wanted the 'inside story', we still preferred to meet face to face; but, in many cases, the online version of announcements saved us time.

Since then, technology has moved on, and, for Cambashi, online events have become routine, with our people taking both 'delegate' and 'presenter' roles. Broadband rollout means many more companies have internet connections that can support audio and perhaps video. Webcasting systems, especially those designed for education, may contain some sort of interactive capability, for example, voting buttons, or the ability to open up multi-way conversations. Greater consistency of network performance more or less guarantees that in a combined telephone/web presentation, the illustrations will be synchronised with the voice. Software systems and systems administrators are more likely to be able to solve the problems created by network firewalls.

That's not to say technology issues have gone away. My experience of voice-over-IP in these sessions, using the Internet for the voice channel, reminds me of air traffic control conversations ("charlie-zero-three on long finals over"). But of course this is not a problem of voip, which is successfully and routinely used without this effect in other environments. But, for me, this is the usual result, with the voice software and the rest of the conferencing software all connected to the required multi-point distribution system, which is being managed from a server that may be on the other side of the world. Curiously, it's not always a bad thing! The switchover delays between speakers are not important when, as in most webinars, a presenter is speaking for some time before handing over to the next speaker. Even in Q&A, there are times when I have felt that this constraint actually helps create a kind of intensity of concentration, as realisation dawns amongst participants that they cannot afford to be casual about speaking and listening.

For an IT vendor thinking about their marketing communications, the opportunity is to extend the reach of 'soft-touch' presentations, useful in relation to image, visibility, announcements and maintaining communities. By eliminating the need for potential delegates to travel to an event, attendance can be increased. The cost of telephone calls and web hosting charges can replace the cost of venues. Sales reps will still be able to use the existence of the event as a reason first to contact, and then to follow up with, known prospects, even if the economy-of-scale of getting multiple prospects in a room at one time is lost.

For these purposes, the "Webinar" must use technology that just works from the point of view of the prospective delegate. So, even downloading a browser plugin may be a step too far. Some systems administrators will have banned their users saying 'Yes' to any download: worse still, the success of attracting several hundred delegates can be ruined when they all try this download in the 30 seconds before the start of the event.

So, the simplest technologies seem to have some advantages right now. For example, one of the most straightforward and reliable approaches is a managed telephone conference call synchronised with display of illustrations from a web page. It is worth noting that distributing charts as an independent file before the event can be counter productive. While this is not a problem with "committed" delegates, waverers may well glance through the file, and decide they've received 80% of the value, and skip the online session.

For many people in the user community, these events still have a novelty value. Requiring delegates to have access to a phone and an online PC is not a barrier. So, with equivalent pre-event marketing, an online webinar seems to get more delegates to sign-up. However, it is probably not surprising that fall-out rates can be even higher than for events at a physical venue.

One question for the marketeer is designing a scheme to gain engagement. The less commitment required, the higher the attendance will be. Even named registrations cause some prospective delegates to turn away. So one choice is to aim for maximum attendance by allowing 'anonymous' participation. Then, to wring more value out of the event it is desirable to make contact with some of the anonymous delegates. In this case, the event needs hooks and reasons that tempt delegates to establish contact in some way - the offer of the written version of the materials in return for an email address is a typical formula.

It is important to remember that IT user delegates may be considerably - even dramatically - less experienced in the use of telephone conferences than the typical organisers. Marketing specialists in a global IT vendor company have probably, for many years, been part of global teams using conference calls as a primary co-ordination mechanism. Therefore, they may easily, and incorrectly, expect widespread participation by IT user delegates in an interactive telephone based Q&A session. This doesn't happen - user delegates stay quiet! This is in stark contrast to, for example, a webinar aimed at the analyst community, for whom conference calls are a way of life, and competition for air time during Q&A can be intense. I suspect, but have no evidence, that at the present time, running Q&A through keyed in questions would gain more involvement from an IT oriented audience.

For vendors and users alike, webinars are developing into a low cost communication channel. The pioneers are exploring many alternatives, from which there will be a pipeline of improvements in the user experience. The successful marketeer will handover technology issues to reliable hosting organisations, be they in-house or third-party. This will enable focus on the key issue of designing the event to fulfil marketing objectives, for example, putting in the effort to include schemes to gain engagement as part of the event.

Peter Thorne

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