Goldcast

If the thought of attending a three-day virtual event on a standard video call software makes you want to log off right now, you aren't alone!

Nicole Grunt, Global Virtual Events Manager at Brandwatch, had been hosting a number of virtual meetings, webinars, and one-hour events, but in 2023, they wanted to pull off something bigger—Spark Summit, a three-day remote conference for digital innovators around the world. The thought of hosting it on other platforms filled her with concerns about the attendee experience.

The impressive speaker lineup included folks from TikTok, Lionsgate, Ogilvy, and other brands, and marketers would be sharing actionable strategies for sparking positive change.

The only challenge? Finding an events platform that could reliably host the event, engage attendees, and help Brandwatch efficiently repurpose content afterward.

There are some tools that are great for meetings, but they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to webinars and virtual events, especially big ones—and Nicole knew Spark Summit was going to be big.

Nicole wanted to find a tool that would provide a great attendee experience and make it easy for people to jump on throughout the three days and find relevant sessions. Spark Summit would have a total of 18 sessions throughout each time zone, and the goal was to be as global as possible and offer people a forum to learn and connect with other innovative marketers.

When she discovered Goldcast, Nicole knew that she'd found the right partner when she experienced the Goldcast difference.

Nicole saw right away that the Goldcast attendee experience was elevated, with folks choosing fun profile pictures or sending emojis and GIFs to react to the content being presented. There were also several other key differences that stood out to her.

Whereas the other platforms chat is just a running chat log, with messages disappearing quickly if you've got a lot of people talking, Goldcast provides a dedicated space that's easy to navigate. Nicole enjoyed that the Q&A could be set apart and easily distinguishable, and she liked that questions could be moved on stage to showcase them for attendees if a speaker wanted.

The Resources tab also stood out; when doing events in the other platforms, the Brandwatch marketing team would have tons of tabs and documents open. Someone from Nicole's team would be tasked with trying to drop links in the chat as fast as possible, but the whole process was frenzied and stressful, and no one could ever be sure if the resources were seen.

In Goldcast, however, Nicole saw that she could just drop info in the Resources tab before the event and not worry about it again until show time, when speakers tell attendees what resources are available to them from within the event platform. Plus, she'd be able to see who clicked on what—a key insight she could not get from other platforms.

Once Brandwatch made the decision to go with Goldcast, it was time to get to work making sure Spark Summit would be a success.

Nicole worked closely with the Goldcast team leading up to the event, with Goldcast providing examples of how the 18 sessions could be structured throughout the event for best results. While she found the platform easy to set up, Nicole definitely appreciated having the support of the team behind her.

The fact that Spark Summit went off without a hitch encouraged company-wide adoption. Now, client-only webinars, the company's Brandwatch community for social listening users, client-to-client sessions, enablements, and other smaller events are all hosted on Goldcast!

Getting ready to run your own large virtual summit? Check out our step-by-step guide for marketers How to Host Online Conferences in 2024.

Pipeline is obviously important to Brandwatch, but Nicole also wants to know that an event was educational and engaging for attendees. She loves to see people posting about Brandwatch events and spreading the word, and she's also looking to see how many people attended the actual event.

In the 10 months since Brandwatch has been using Goldcast, engagement has skyrocketed. The chats have exploded in a good way—at press time, Nicole had clocked 4,000 total messages coming in through the chat alone! And that's not including the Q&A, where 600+ questions have rolled in.

This kind of engagement bolsters event speakers because so often, it's hard to know how your virtual audience is reacting to your content. Speakers can feel uncertain if anyone's out there paying attention, so this constant stream of engagement builds confidence and increases momentum during and after your event.

See how Goldcast encourages your audience to interact through a variety of fun features. Learn More

Once the event ends, the sales team takes the data on what people clicked on so they can use that in their follow-up messaging, which is super helpful. Brandwatch is also using Content Lab to get the most out of their event recordings.

With Content Lab's AI-powered capabilities, Nicole no longer has to watch an entire hour long webinar to find the key moments. Instead, she just goes into Content Lab, where the recording is already uploaded, and extracts the content she needs!

From an hour to five minutes—that's a 92% improvement in time spent, and every minute saved is a minute Nicole can put toward other, high-impact marketing tasks. Content Lab produced event highlights and a transcript Nicole used to follow along. She also gets copy she can use in blog posts, email blasts, and on social media—all in just a few moments.

As Brandwatch continues to position itself as a global events leader, Goldcast will be there to help Nicole's team execute seamless, on-brand events and quickly repurpose content after each event!

If you'd like to learn more about the Goldcast platform or try Content Lab for free on a 14-day trial, please get in touch with us below. We can't wait to hear from you!

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