Tags: webinar, webinar series, lead generation, registration, mailing campaigns, live streaming, gamification, networking, Speed Networking, appointment setting, Social Wall, engaging participants, contest, studio implementation, presentations, speakers, 3D studio, marketing, sales

Online Conferences 2.0 is a series of free webinars that Gridaly organized on its platform in cooperation with Webcomm studio. The series consisted of 5 webinars, during which 6 experts shared with the participants their knowledge on organizing online and hybrid events, event marketing, and speaking in front of the camera. All of the webinars took place in the summer of 2022.

Challenges:

• collecting 250 signups during the entire cycle with a very small budget ($200 for the entire cycle),
• generating a base of leads for sales and marketing activities,
• familiarizing participants with the technological capabilities of the Gridaly platform for live broadcasting as well as managing broadcasts and increasing event participant engagement,
• familiarizing participants with the technical and implementation capabilities of the Webcomm studio,
• building the expertise of Gridaly and Webcomm brands and opinion leaders.

When planning the webinar series "Online Conferences 2.0", the organizers set an easily measurable goal of 250 registrations during the entire series with a budget of about $200 for the whole cycle. The base of leads from the webinar in the long run was to be used for sales and marketing activities (e.g. for creating a newsletter base).

"Online conferences 2.0" were intended as an opportunity for organizers to introduce participants to their product offerings. The audience was to have the opportunity to learn about the technological capabilities of the Gridaly platform for broadcasting and managing video transmissions and increasing the involvement of online event participants. They were also to learn about the technical capabilities of Webcomm's webinar studio.

Organizers also wanted to use the webinar series to build the expertise of the Gridaly and Webcomm brands and to build the expertise of opinion leaders associated with each company.

Solutions:

• organization of 5 webinars within one event on Gridaly: no need to create separate landing pages, increase the effectiveness of mailing campaigns sent to series participants,
• focus on organic promotion (social media, newsletters, channels of partners, and invited speakers) and support with paid activities in the Meta advertising network,
• maximizing the possibilities of the Gridaly platform: creating an Expo area with the organizers' offerings and the possibility of arranging meetings and product demos, modifying the event platform for each webinar, and incorporating different functionalities (social wall, Speed Networking, gamification, reactions to video), use of different transmission methods (RTMP Vimeo player, ClickMeeting webinar room, native RTMP Gridaly player),
• use of different possibilities of Webcomm webinar studio set-up: greenscreen and moving background, greenscreen and static background, physical background,
• speeches by experts on behalf of Gridaly and Webcomm.

In order to achieve the goal, the organizers decided to hold all 5 webinars in one event, which allowed them to increase the participant base with each succeeding webinar. The event's landing page changed after each webinar ended, and materials and information about the next meeting appeared on it. As the base grew, so did the effectiveness of mailing campaigns sent from the Gridaly platform - people who attended the first and each subsequent webinar received teasers of the next meetings and reminders to attend them

When planning promotional activities, the organizers relied mainly on organic promotion. For this, they used their own channels: company and personal social media accounts (Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram), Facebook and Linkedin events, and newsletter mailing lists. They also used the channels of their business partners and speakers invited to participate in the webinar series. A small budget (about $200) was allocated for a paid campaign on the Meta network (Facebook and Instagram), but these were mainly experimental activities to support organic efforts.

Example of a mailing sent to cycle participants

In order to familiarize attendees of the "Online Conference 2.0" with each organizer's offerings, they decided to do two things using the Gridaly platform. First, they created an Expo zone on the platform, in which they embedded their booths. Each booth featured detailed product offerings and was assigned accounts for representatives from both companies, who were ready to respond to inquiries during the webinars. There was also an opportunity to schedule a meeting or product demo. Second, the organizers used the webinar series to present their offerings "live." Gridaly had the opportunity to demonstrate some functionalities aiming to increase attendee engagement during events, including live reactions, social wall, Speed Networking, or gamification, as well as the platform's technological capabilities for video broadcasting and management. Viewers had the opportunity to watch the webinar broadcast implemented by the RTMP Vimeo player, by the ClickMeeting webinar room, and by the native RTMP Gridaly player. Webcomm, in turn, took the opportunity to show attendees the capabilities of their webinar studio, including the ability to set up with a green screen and computerized static and animated backgrounds, or the technical capabilities of their audio and video equipment.

Gridaly's native RTMP player

The "Online Conferences 2.0" webinar series was ultimately an ideal opportunity for Gridaly and Webcomm to build the expertise of both brands, as well as to build the expertise of the opinion leaders speaking on behalf of each.

Results and conclusions:

• 331 registered participants (132% of the target),
• average attendance of participants was 81%,
• 75% of participants engaged in webinars thanks to Gridaly functionalities: surveys, video reactions during streaming, social wall, gamification, Speed Networking

The organizers managed to collect 331 registrations for "Online Conferences 2.0." This was 132% of the goal that both companies set at the very beginning (→ goal: 250 registrations).

The average attendance during the entire series was 81% of all registrations, and 75% of those who showed up for a minimum of one webinar interacted at least once with the features for increasing engagement on the Gridaly platform.

The organizers' success was possible with a small budget. The organizers focused on using their own resources - their technology, studio, experts, and time. They also benefited from their connections and barter partnerships, which allowed them to deliver a better quality event and reach a wider audience by using the channels of their own invited experts. The additional budget was used by the organizers to support an organic promotional campaign for the series on the Meta advertising network.