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Historically, in-person meetings have been the preferred way to communicate critical information. But as travel budgets are slashed in today’s challenging economy, holding face-to-face meetings has become inefficient in terms of both time and cost—particularly when addressing a geographically dispersed or global audience. Research conducted by the National Business Travel Association predicts that travel managers will be stepping up cost-containment strategies by implementing or expanding a number of measures, including reducing nonessential travel and enforcing new travel policy mandates.
Similarly, the cost of companywide teleconference calls can be prohibitive, especially as organizations expand globally. For example, a one-hour operator-assisted call with 300 participants costs about US$7,200; for more participants, the operating cost can quickly top six figures. Teleconferences also fail to provide the same level of engagement as a multimedia presentation, and do little to increase the visibility of corporate executives during uncertain times.
Webcasting is one response to the twin pressures of delivering effective communications and reducing travel and venue costs. It is being used more and more for all business-critical communication across a corporation, from product marketing to employee communication.
But the benefits of webcasting extend beyond global reach and cost savings. The increased adoption of broadband connectivity at home and in the workplace means that companies can offer content in a more interactive, engaging way than with traditional communication tools. Once limited by connection speeds, the use of high-resolution video and Flash animation has now become commonplace.
Another by-product of the economic downturn has been the increased scrutiny of communication budgets—especially in marketing. The Web has enabled us to tie quantitative metrics to particular activities for years, yet this trend continues to gain momentum as the need to justify each expenditure continues to grow. Sophisticated webcast providers can offer detailed reporting and analytics that give managers ways to quickly gauge the success of a webcast by examining audience activity such as length of attendance, supporting material downloads, questions submitted during live Q&As and feedback through post-webcast surveys, in addition to overall viewership. These reporting tools help deliver a more clear assessment of the ROI impact webcasts can have compared to other communication formats.
There are several webcast solutions available, from live audio webcasts that allow audiences to view synchronized slides as they listen to the presenter’s message to on-demand presentations that integrate high-definition video and Flash animation. The solution that’s right for you will depend on your strategic and budgetary needs.
Webcast planning tip No. 1: Identify your target audience
An audience profile that considers the relationship with your organization (e.g., customer, employee, prospect, investor) will help you not only tailor your messages but also how they are presented. If you’re communicating with employees around the world, for example, your management team may want to reinforce the company culture in the way they dress and speak on an interactive video webcast.
Similarly, in the event that your leadership is responding to a crisis situation, their body language and tone will convey their thoughts in a video webcast as much as their words. Even if the core message is the same in all your webcasts, you should customize your presentation for each segment of your audience (especially internal vs. external) to meet the individual needs you have identified.
Another important consideration is audience location, which isn’t necessarily geographic. For example, will users be accessing your webcast from your company’s internal network (e.g. employees), through their own Internet service provider (external audiences) or a combination of both? Your answers to these questions will help you and your IT team determine the webcast’s bandwidth requirements. Also consider the computing capabilities of your audience, including whether they have access to broadband connectivity. When communicating with a global audience, it is important to consider time zone differences as well, especially for live presentations, and whether a multilingual presentation would increase attendance and retention.
One of our clients, Nuance, a provider of speech and imaging solutions, was challenged with keeping its workforce engaged and informed after several acquisitions. The workforce now consists of 3,500 employees in 20 countries, including many who work from home. A live video webcast of the organization’s quarterly town hall meeting allowed workers from all over the world to participate. Those with scheduling conflicts could access the on-demand archive at their leisure. By considering their audience’s needs, Nuance was able to maximize the reach of their message and successfully connect the company’s leadership with its global workforce.
Webcast planning tip No. 2: Define your objectives
Too often, business communicators are concerned with integrating the latest and greatest tools into their toolkit without stopping to consider how these tools will affect their overall strategy. It’s important to have a clear vision of your primary objective. For example, if your objective is to engage a remote audience in a live product launch event to increase brand awareness, your webcast requirements may vary significantly from those of another user looking to increase lead generation following an educational seminar delivered via webcast.
Consider what you want your audience to take away from the presentation. Do you want them to be more knowledgeable about the presentation’s subject? Do you want them to feel excited and interested in purchasing a new product or service? Or in the case of a virtual employee meeting, do you want your workforce to feel motivated and engaged?
Webcast planning tip No. 3: Determine metrics of success
How you plan to measure success also determines which webcast solution best suits your needs. Your metrics of success will affect the features and capabilities you will need to include, such as polling and surveys. Is it more important to attract the largest possible audience or deliver a more personalized message to a select group of stakeholders? Reporting tools can provide detailed analytics about your audience, including who they are (if you require registration), where they are located, and how they interacted with your webcast (e.g. if they asked a question or downloaded supporting materials). By having a clear understanding of what information is pertinent to your primary objective, you can create detailed reports that will help you demonstrate success to your internal stakeholders.
Another client of ours, Reverb Communications, a full-service video game agency, was tasked with generating excitement around the much-anticipated Star Trek Online game and chose to deliver a live video webcast of the product announcement featuring actor Leonard Nimoy. Reverb established the following metrics of success for the webcast: 5,000 viewers and an increase in registrations to the Star Trek Online community. The result? They had 30,000 viewers, and registrations nearly tripled, giving Reverb compelling metrics to showcase to their client.
If there is a positive outcome of the recession, it may be that it has served as a catalyst for communicators to reevaluate the use of antiquated tools in a world on the verge of Web 3.0 and look toward more measurable, cost-effective technologies to take communication to the next level. Webcasting, for one, has proved effective not just as a short-term strategy in a depressed marketplace, but as an essential part of a best practice toolkit for communicators in organizations large and small.
Michael Cotter is senior vice president of corporate communications services at Thomson Reuters. |
