How to Change Webinar Platforms

You've probably heard by now that Verizon's webinar and video conferencing platform, BlueJeans, rode off into the sunset on February 29th, 2024, leaving customers to move to another webinar provider - no small task! After the time, money, and resources invested into building your webinar programs on the platform, this news likely made you cringe. What now? 

Welcome to the The EventBuilder Webinar Migration Survival Guide. Read on!

Company Alignment 

Features are nice, but if the prospective webinar company and their approach gives you an "uh-oh" feeling once you start researching, are they going to be a good match? Remember, both you and your customers will be stakeholders in the experience they offer. If you pride yourself on offering a high-touch, personal experience for your customers, wading through 18-layers of a chatbot before you reach a human being is likely not a good fit. A few things to consider while narrowing the field:

• The company's vision, mission, goals?
• Transparency with business practices? For example, if they make a statement regarding accessibility and inclusivity, do their goods and services back this up?
• Are they innovating and keeping their products up-to-date?
• What's their approach to customer acquisition and retention? Are you and your customers "users" or real people?

• How can your customer's experience with their product help you meet your company's overall vision, mission, and goals?

Your Goals and Objectives

It's time to nail down and refine the goals and objectives for your webinar programs. Common goals and objectives include:

• Increase Lead Generation - Attract a wider audience and more qualified leads for your sales pipeline.
• Improve Attendee Engagement - Give your prospects a memorable, interactive event experience. 
• Increase Brand Awareness - Good word of mouth and overall buzz about you and your company's products and services.
• Build Credibility - Your content is number one, followed closely by a stable webinar software experience. This includes an easy registration process, timely event communications, and simple, secure access.    
• Deepen Customer Relationships - Data-driven measurements to target specific audiences and personalize the event experience. 

The Must-Haves For Achieving Your Goals

Now that you've honed in on your goals, the next step: deciding what capabilities and services are necessary to achieve those goals. Some of those non-negotiables may include:

• Scale - Can it grow with you, in both per-event capacity and event volume?
• Seamless Integration with Existing Tools - Will it fit in and play nice with what you're currently using, including your network tenant? 
• Branding and Customization Tools - Does it allow for branding and customization across the entirety of your attendee's experience, and help you stay within your brand guidelines? 
• Accessibility and Inclusive Design - Are accessibility basics such as Closed Captioning available? 
• Implementation and Onboarding - Can your vendor implement and onboard in the timeframe you have in mind, from sign up to your first event delivery?
• Multiple Delivery Modes - A live webinar may be your meat and potatoes, but what are your other options for event delivery, such as hybrid and simulated live events? 
• Ease of Use - Is it easy to get started and learn how to use? This includes resources such as staff training, a searchable knowledge base, and responsive technical support.
• In-Depth Analytics - How are the reporting tools? Are you able to glean the data you need and obtain meaningful metrics from it? How about connectors for your custom reporting, such as API and PowerBI? 
• Security, Privacy, and Compliance - Is your potential vendor aware of and have specific protocols in place to ensure your data is secure? Do they have certifications and disclosure information readily available?
• File and Recording Management - Recording webinars for on-demand viewing later extends the life of your content and keeps bringing in leads. How does your potential vendor store and manage your event resources?
• Customer Service and Support - Are they there when you need them? Responsive? Do they treat with respect and like you matter to them?

Get Proof

A conversation with the company's representatives certainly help you understand what a webinar provider can offer, however, proof in the form of case studies, live demos with Q&A sessions, whitepapers, and customer testimonials are essential steps in making your decision. 

Moving On From BlueJeans

While Verizon may have pulled the plug on BlueJeans , bigger players like Microsoft Teams are still on the field, with an ever-expanding line up of webinar and virtual event tools at event organizers' disposal. The elephant in the Teams Room? The difficulty of making Teams work smoothly for high-volume, professional event programs that require advanced features, such as robust registration, security, and in-depth analytics. High-volume webinar programs require event program servicing, like development, implementation, production, management, technical support, staffing, and on-going strategy. EventBuilder has the experience, skills and the right tools to be the solution to your webinar worries.

Make 2024 The Year of the Webinar

Moving to a new platform presents the perfect opportunity to regroup, align, and make your webinar and virtual event programs do much more for you. From lead generation and conversion, robust analytics and reporting to measure your success, 2024 will be the year you win big with webinars.

We're a small, women-owned and led company and we're on a mission: To transition and transform your webinars and virtual event programs with our personalized, human-first and customer-centered approach. Our team of event experts do the production and technical heavy lifting so you spend the year implementing your winning webinar strategy and creating awesome content that blows you past your goals. Let's talk about your virtual event vision: get in touch today!