Industry Perspectives: Beyond Compliance—Webcasting Evolves into a Strategic Communications Tool

Webcasting Comes Of Age
Based on the successful experience in IR, other departments are also hopping on the Webcasting bandwagon. According to the Yankee Group, 47% of large enterprises will use streaming media by the end of the year. The primary areas for this type of "enterprise Webcasting" are in marketing, sales, public relations, and human resources applications.

Marketing
In marketing, branding is important, and with Webcasting, your company brand gets airtime, the entire time. This makes all the difference in marketing, considering the current demands on mindshare. Webcasting here can help you stand out and get more attention with a sleeker, more effective way to communicate and stretch your cost-per-lead to the fullest.

Sales
Nothing beats meeting with your client face-to-face, but when you can’t be there in person, holding a Webcast is the perfect solution. With Webcasting, you can expand your reach by communicating one-to-many. Want your product manager in Boston and client support rep in Dallas on the call too? You can easily use multiple presenters from various locations simultaneously. You can also archive your presentation for clients or prospects to access as often as they’d like. Examples of how companies are using Webcasting in sales include sales training, sales presentations, lead generation, and tracking client and prospect responses.

Public Relations
The PR roller coaster never stops. Keep up with the ride by Webcasting your on-the-fly PR emergencies or interviews. Increase your visibility with the media or expand your reach globally, especially if your company is attempting to enter the international arena for the first time. Examples of how you could use Webcasting in PR include partnership announcements, media tours, interviews with senior management, crisis management, and company road shows.

Human Resources
Communicating internally is one of the most important responsibilities of HR, and it’s difficult to attract the level of attention you need from employees. Webcasting offers the interactive appeal of multimedia and keeps your employees engaged in internal communications. You can also archive your presentations so employees can access them as many times as they’d like. HR Webcasts can include employee training, internal communications, new hire training, benefits training, and senior management Town Hall meetings.