If you register for a Webinar and do not attend, what is typically the reason?
Viewing of Replays
From a Webinar audience perspective, 97% of the people we surveyed said that when they failed to attend a Webinar for which they were registered, it was still very likely that they were interested in the content or the topic – in other words, a “no-show” did not necessarily suggest a lack of interest. Rather, something else may have taken precedence in the moment and prevented them from attending. For this reason, many companies have made the Webinar replay an important, if not mandatory, part of their planning. That replay allows the registrant to listen to the content at their convenience, and even distribute it to others in the organization.
Our survey indicated that 84% of companies that produce Webinars have made replays available, and more than half always create a replay. Brainshark produces two to three Webinars per month; and on average, for every person who attends, another person will view the replay. Certain topics will even see a 4:1 ratio of replay viewers to live attendees. And because the replay can have significant impact on the overall success of the Webinar program, it is incumbent upon Webinar producers to think seriously about the quality and effectiveness of this element – they need to do more than just click the “record” button and post the replay.
Replay Challenges
All Web conferencing platforms offer some type of recording. The leading providers handle recording in different ways. If there is no audience and the replay is for documentation or the creation of a regulatory audit trail, then replays are just a “click-and-record” exercise. However, if the replay is intended for a larger audience, then the quality and structure of the replay must be considered as part of any Webinar best practice. Among the elements Webinar producers should consider are:
• Immediate reporting of who viewed the replay, when, and for how long. In the case of demand generation, it is usually critical to follow up within 48 hours of a person attending a live Webinar or viewing a replay.
• Ability to ask polling or test questions to the replay audience. The data collected from polls should be relevant and important to the producer – asking questions for the sake of asking questions is distracting to the audience. In addition, the polls should make the replay more interactive and demonstrate to your audience that you care about their opinion.
• Ability to edit the opening and closing or any other portion of the replay. Editing can be used to shorten the replay or delete embarrassing or less-than-relevant segments.
• Updating of the replay as information begins to change. The typical shelf life of a replay is three to six months before the content needs to be refreshed or changed altogether.
• Tools that allow the audience to fast-forward, rewind, and find segments of interest. The audience will engage with your replay for approximately 15 minutes, and they must be able to find relevant information with ease.
• Ability to easily submit questions via e-mail or live chat. By extending the ability for the audience to ask questions, the Webinar creates more of a dialogue.
• Hosting the replay and making it available in common playback formats. Each audience member should be able to view the content in a format that is most convenient for them.
Live vs. Replay
Our data indicates that the average viewing time of a Webinar replay covers only 30% of the actual content, as compared to 60% viewing time for an on-demand presentation created outside of a Webinar, such as a presentation built on the Brainshark platform. Two likely reasons for this are:
• Length. The average Webinar replay lasts 45 minutes, while the average on-demand
presentation lasts eight minutes.
• Organization. Using Brainshark’s table of contents, the viewer can access the information more quickly than in most replays, where it is very difficult to find relevant sections.
It is interesting to note that those who participate in a Webinar tend to stay connected for most of the event. However, almost 90% of Webinar participants admit to multi-tasking during a live Webinar, thus minimizing its impact. These results are similar to the 2009 Forbes Insight Study, which found that 64% of respondents prefer technology-enabled business meetings because they can multi-task (see Additional Resources).
Replay Options
What is a Webinar producer to do? We suggest searching for replays or registering for live Webinars (see Webinar Hero) to get a feel for the ways that companies handle their replays. But, in summary, there are three different modes of replays to consider:
• Simple Replay. Because replays are often an afterthought or an add-on to a live Webinar, many Web producers just click the “record” button on the Web conferencing system. If it was a 50-minute event, the replay will be 50 minutes. This also means that any technical or presentation glitches that occur during the session will be captured in the recording. But the benefit is that the replay is available in a few hours.
• Edited Replay. Third-party providers and media specialists can quickly trim the opening and closing, but it will take much longer to listen to the entire event and decide which segments should be edited without impacting the integrity of the information. The benefit of editing is that it allows the producer to provide a condensed version of the session.
• Bypass the Webinar. Less than 8% of those responding to our survey will frequently bypass the live Webinar and use their Web conferencing tool to create a replay. This can be challenging in that, if there is a mistake during the recording, the presenter has to start all over again. However, the benefit is the elimination of any “day-of-event” concerns or live mistakes.
By: Irwin Hipsman
Director of Customer Community
Brainshark, Inc.