Corporate marketing has shifted significantly towards online activities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Business meetings via Zoom and other platforms have become the norm, and more and more exhibitions are being held as hybrid online-offline events. This trend is unlikely to change much in the future.
Video is a very effective way to communicate with customers and potential customers online. Typical examples of its use include holding online events and distributing videos on owned media.
So, how can you organize an online event to attract potential customers (leads)? And how can you effectively use the video content you have created on your owned media?
## Attracting many leads through online events
One of the top online events for business in Japan is “PLAZMA”, hosted by Treasure Data Inc. It started in February 2018 before the coronavirus pandemic, and has been held regularly online since 2020.
PLAZMA is an event where opinion leaders and technology partners from various fields take the stage to hold multiple sessions on themes such as promoting DX (digital transformation). In July 2020, it also attracted attention for featuring Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Minister of IT.
At “PLAZMA 2020 KANDA”, which was held in February 2020 when the spread of the new coronavirus began to accelerate, a live broadcast was suddenly implemented. At the time, there were around 1,300 pre-registrations for the event, and the expected number of visitors was around 600 to 700. However, by streaming the event live, the venue was visited by approximately 400 people over the two days, and the number of online viewers recorded approximately 850 people on both days. In other words, it means that we were able to provide content to 90% of the people who had pre-registered, and to more than 200% of the expected number of visitors.
Even before this, PLAZMA had been recording sessions at the venue and posting videos on its own media. By combining our experience of recording and filming with a video distribution platform, we were able to achieve great results in a short preparation period.
How is PLAZMA created and managed? Hiroki Kobayashi, marketing manager at Treasure Data, says
“At Treasure Data, we use a variety of channels to disseminate information, including our own media, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Our team is always discussing how to deliver the best content in the best way. Holding events is one way to deliver content.
When we were doing live streaming, we used the Brightcove Live system. Recently, we have been using a method of pre-recording videos and scheduling them to play back, rather than doing live streaming in real time. In the past, PLAZMA has taken on various challenges, such as holding events for three weeks in a row and streaming for 24 hours. Brightcove’s video distribution platform makes it possible to use a variety of distribution methods, and it has been able to smoothly support the initiatives we wanted to try.
At Treasure Data, we provide a solution called a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that integrates and analyzes customer behavior data, etc., to improve the customer experience and bring about business innovation. So, of course, we also use data in our own marketing activities. To analyze the viewing data for PLAZMA, which was held online, in detail, we linked Brightcove Campaign and Treasure Data CDP, and we are using the dashboard to understand viewing trends.
## Effective lead nurturing requires the use of data
The number of applications to attend the event was said to have increased significantly due to the online format. Many people may have found it difficult to attend the event in person, but were able to participate online. On the other hand, it is difficult to arrange appointments and business meetings with people who want to know more information, which is an issue with online events. Mr. Kobayashi said that they are also looking into holding hybrid events while monitoring the situation during the coronavirus pandemic.
Whether online or offline, the key to a successful marketing event is the follow-up after you’ve acquired the leads. The main purpose of the marketing department’s activities is to pass on promising potential customers (hot leads) to the sales department within the company.
What kind of follow-up do you do for the leads you acquire through events at Treasure Data?
We see participants in PLAZMA and subscribers to our owned media as top funnel leads. They are aware of our products, and we are at the stage of further highlighting their issues. Based on viewing and browsing data, we are conducting lead nurturing in line with scenarios such as ‘for those who watched this video, we would like you to read this document next’ and ‘for those who downloaded this document, we would like you to watch this video too’.
It is important to know whether viewers have watched the entire video, stopped watching partway through, or not watched it at all. We send out emails to encourage those who haven’t watched to do so, and send out different content to those who have watched the entire video.
Understanding the interests of leads is particularly important in online marketing. I feel that being able to grasp viewing data in detail is one of the benefits of using the Brightcove system.
Analyzing the viewing status of content also leads to improvements in the production of future content. However, it is not necessarily the case that videos with high view counts and low dropout rates will also have high MQL (marketing metrics). Kobayashi pointed out that it is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of content for your company in a complex manner.
## Reusing videos from events on owned media
As mentioned earlier, Treasure Data has been posting video content on its owned media for some time now. The site is designed so that users need to register with their email address in order to view articles and videos, and it is a system that allows you to see what kind of users are viewing what kind of content.
“On our owned media, we distribute videos of past presentations and various related articles. We also have a lot of introductory articles that explain what DX and CDP are, and by participating in our events and webinars, people who are interested in this kind of content can deepen their understanding of our services. We can expect a synergistic effect between our owned media and our events and webinars.” (Mr. Kobayashi)
Currently, Treasure Data is holding regular webinars while keeping the scale of the events themselves compact.
“We’ve tried a lot of things, but we can’t say that we’ve found the ‘right answer’. What’s important is to keep acquiring data, analyzing it, and exploring ways that are right for our company.” (Mr. Kobayashi)
