Setting objectives is one of the first tasks to be undertaken when organising a webinar. This sets out what will determine the success of the webinar. When setting up the webinar, constantly think about these objectives for the best result. The various types of objectives and their correct formulation are discussed in this knowledge point:
- Formulating SMART objectives for a focused way of working and measurable results
- Generic goals: statistics about the webinar
- Company-specific objectives: content and quality
Setting SMART goals for a focused way of working and measurable results
Objectives are best formulated SMART:
- Specific: clear and concrete description of something observable;
- Measurable: make sure the objectives are measurable;
- Acceptable: does the objective fit in with the policy of the organisation?
- Realistic: is the objective feasible?
- Time-bound: state the start and end dates.
Drawing up SMART objectives prevents vague formulations, such as: “we want to increase loyalty”. Such an objective is not measurable, time-bound or specific, while this is important. A better formulation would be: “we want to achieve a 90% increase by May 2017, in terms of customers who remain customers with our organisation after the contract expires”. Being able to measure in retrospect whether the objectives have been achieved is essential to determining the outcome of the webinar and therefore the ROI.
Objectives always depend on the organisation and the target group of the webinar. Therefore, when setting them, always take both perspectives into account. From the target group’s point of view, the question must be asked as to why they are investing time in the event; “What’s in it for me (WIFM)”? The same can be asked from the organisation’s side; what does it add and is this in line with the organisation’s objectives and policy (acceptable)?
Finally, distinguish between main and sub-objectives. Main objectives include the main reasons for organising the webinar, for example to inform, to improve customer satisfaction, to improve the image or to show a new product. Sub-objectives are goals that have to be reached before the main goal is achieved. For example a high attendance, a high involvement during the webinar or a good rating of the speakers.
Generic objectives: statistics about the webinar
Generic objectives are interesting for any type of webinar. They concern the statistics of the webinar, such as the number of registrations, participants live & on demand, the level of interaction in any polls, call2actions, surveys and the viewing time. These can be expressed in a quantity, such as a number or percentage.
These ‘hard’ objectives can be measured using the statistics that are visible in the Company Webcast system after the broadcast. These are displayed both numerically and in graphs. Some examples of generic objectives are
- Conversion: The conversion from registration to participant must be at least 50% for this webinar
- Interaction in call2action: At least 20% of the participants respond to the call2action(s) in the webinar
- Lead generation: After the webinar, the database has been expanded by 100 new people
- E-learning: At least 90% pass the final test after the webinar
Data that can possibly be collected (partly) via your own system are response to the e-mail invitation (opens, clicks), follow-up and the number of leads generated.
Tip: Generic objectives can be realistically set on the basis of benchmarks.
Company-specific objectives: content and quality
Company-specific objectives are about the content and quality of the webinar and what the broadcast has achieved, including image, customer satisfaction, loyalty and the quality of the webinar. These are described in terms of quality rather than quantity.
Company-specific objectives are usually difficult to measure, as terms such as “customer satisfaction” and “image” are broad and difficult to define. For example, customer satisfaction can include many different aspects, such as opinion about the organisation’s service and product, and different definitions of “image” are often in circulation. These types of objectives tend to form over the longer term. This also means that a webinar is often only one of the means used to achieve these objectives. It is possible to globally measure company-specific objectives such as customer satisfaction and image. This can be done in polls, surveys or call2actions.