Luna, Oakland, CA, a provider of online relationship solutions for big businesses that just starting hosting Web seminars, is hoping to increase the conversion rate of seminar attendees to customers with Web Seminar Blueprint, a software program from MarketFirst, Mountain View, CA.
For the past month, Luna has conducted Web seminars, hoping to reach its audience in a “less labor-intensive way,” said Ed Horst, vice president of marketing at Luna. And though Horst said it is too early to reveal any conversion numbers, he said MarketFirst, and its follow-up process, has helped produce about a half-a-dozen solid leads.
“MarketFirst handles everything up to the seminar and then all of the follow up and everything that will occur after the seminar,” Horst said. “We use an external conferencing service to run the seminar itself.”
Prior to the start of the seminar, Luna will provide MarketFirst with a list of prospects it wants to notify about the seminar. MarketFirst then does some recommended segmentation of the list helping Luna to further identify whom they want to contact.
MarketFirst then creates a process flow chart for the campaign, which maps out everything that is going to take place, such as when the e-mails will be going out and the number of messages that will be sent.
“It is a visual representation of what is going to happen, a living incarnation of what is going to take place,” said Russ Henry, vice president of marketing at MarketFirst.
After identifying who is going to receive a message, MarketFirst creates targeted messages to prospects based on their individual interests. If recipients want to take part in the seminar, the message contains a URL they can click that will link them to another site where they can register and get more information on the seminar.
That information and site is provided by MarketFirst. Those who sign up for the seminar are sent a confirmation/reminder letter a few days before the seminar.
After the seminar takes place, both those who attended and those who registered but were unable to attend will receive a follow-up message from MarketFirst. If they have attended they will be sent a questionnaire about the seminar. It will also contain qualifying questions to find out what they are doing with their business. Those who were unable to attend will be sent a message giving them the opportunity to register for the next seminar. Horst said Luna will be holding Web seminars every two to three weeks.
Luna has seen an average of about five to 10 attendees at each of its first three seminars. Horst said MarketFirst sends out between a few hundred to a few thousand pieces for each seminar. It will conduct its fourth one this week.
“The number of attendees we have seen at each seminar is about what we expect to see at each one,” Horst said. “We have ended up with half a dozen good leads so far and for us that is perfect. We don't need to get 20,000 responses to a campaign to be successful based on the price of our technology. The overall response to the messages and follow-up messages our prospects receive from MarketFirst has been positive up to this point.”
