In April, we unveiled the latest ON24 digital experience solution with ON24 Forums, a new virtual engagement experience designed to help marketers and sales teams build better relationships with audiences through live, two-way video discussions. We think it’s an excellent product — and we also think it’s an excellent venue for facilitating executive briefings.
Let’s see some examples of how Forums can be used to connect with the executive class.
Solution: Increase C-Level Engagement
If your organization wants to increase engagement with executives, consider using Forums for executive networking. With Forums, like-minded executives can easily discuss the latest trends, share insights they’ve found useful and network without worrying over travel limitations and geographic restrictions.
In the past, executive networking events usually took place at industry events, like conferences and conventions, and would vary in size, scope and purpose. But COVID-19 — and its subsequent restrictions — meant many of these sessions had to go virtual.
Today, executive networking events either remain virtual or contain hybrid elements. For example, a virtual happy hour through Forums can emulate the casual atmosphere of a conference networking session.
An additional benefit of virtual, however, is that hosts can plan prompts, surveys or discussion topics throughout the conversation to encourage debate and see how engaged participants are.
Marketers can take these networking events even further and provide cocktail kits and dinner coupons for participants to use during an event — giving audiences an additional reason to attend the event and encouraging a casual environment.
Solution: Executive Briefings
Executive briefings are high-impact events where c-suite staff can spend face-to-face time with subject matter experts. These events allow executives to understand a target market, new technology, solution, or situation that may significantly impact their business’ bottom line.
Traditionally, executive briefings would take place at a host company’s headquarters or regional office. But the move to a digital-first world has cut down on the number of face-to-face meetings.
Here, Forums shines as a compelling venue for executive briefings. Subject matter experts can give presentations, slides and all, while responding to executive questions as they pop up through face-to-face dialogue or a moderated Q&A tool.
An additional benefit Forums provides, one that in-person meetings lack, is the ability to offer on-demand recordings. With a recorded presentation, organizations can send the briefing to executives who couldn’t attend the live event or even repurpose content from the event itself.
A final benefit? On-demand attendees can still get their questions answered by SMEs through the Q&A tool.
Solution: Coordination Across the Business
Often, enterprises govern subsidiary companies. However, these subsidiaries are rarely located in the same area, so coordinating efforts between organizations can be difficult. And while conference calls may be an option, they often lack the interactivity needed to be productive.
Forums proivdes a solution by bringing a range of teams and executives together for face-to-face meetings — even at a distance.
Let’s say, for example, a company owns dozens of brands and wants to get its various personal care product CEOs together to discuss multi-branded gift packs to sell at big box stores for the upcoming holiday season. They need to pick a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant and lotion for the gift pack.
The team needs to discuss which brands should and should not go together, which markets to sell these in, what strategies succeeded and failed from last year’s product packs, the price point, and so on. With Forums, participants can exchange ideas and information face-to-face to foster real growth, partnerships and innovation between different divisions and organizations.
Solution: Customer Feedback Sessions
As companies create and launch new solutions, they often reach out to a small group of customers to test or trial the new product. Being part of a test group often stipulates that the customers provide feedback to the company before the product is launched — feedback that executives may want to collect first-hand.
With Forums, executives can monitor and review global customer reactions to products and services. It also provides marketers with a convenient and efficient method for capturing customer engagement and feedback. The result: executives get the insights they need to improve customer satisfaction.
Forums’ capabilities to host tailored, interactive networking events are crucial to continuing business development in the evolving digital landscape. In addition, Forums provide an exclusive, small group setting that can facilitate engagement with executive business partners that benefit the host organization and the executive participants.
Interested in how else you can use ON24 Forums? Read our previous article on training and continuing education here.