What Drives Virtual Communications? ON24 Has the Answers

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – December 3, 2013 – ON24, the global leader in webcasting and virtual communication solutions, today announced research data that explores the key drivers of online events, in a new report entitled “Virtual Events: Drivers of Adoption and Attendance.” The report provides a breakdown of the key findings of research conducted in September 2013 by Trendline Interactive, in conjunction with MarketingProfs and ON24.

This research study is an update to a study conducted by the same organizations in 2011. One purpose of the latest research was to investigate the evolution of industry best practices in the past two years. The new survey evaluated the experience of virtual environment users and producers, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of virtual communications. The findings include the following data:

• The top drivers for participants are no need to travel (82 percent) and cost
  efficiencies (81 percent).
• The top drivers for producers are the ability to provide greater access to subject matter
  experts (83 percent) and more content to attendees (79 percent).
• There has been an increase in the variety of applications offered. The most popular
  use case in 2013 is online user conferences (56 percent).
• More organizations are using virtual environments for learning and development
  – 45 percent of producers report conducting more virtual customer and internal
  training programs.

As part of the survey launch, ON24 will host a Virtual Events: Drivers of Adoption and Attendance webinar today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This 45-minute webinar will recap the survey data, illustrate key benefits of online events and provide actionable information for marketing professionals looking to host virtual events, including:

• The drivers of virtual communications adoption and attendance
• How to extend reach and value using virtual environments
• Attendee attitudes and actions pertaining to virtual environments
• How metrics improve the effectiveness of virtual communications
• Ways to leverage virtual communications to meet business objectives
• The impact of virtual alternatives on in-person event attendance

Morgan Stewart, CEO of Trendline Interactive, and Tom Masotto, Vice President of Product Management for ON24, will host the webinar, which will feature a survey recap, relevant examples and case studies, as well as a live Q&A. The full survey report will be available for download from the ON24 website.

“Virtual alternatives continue to grow in popularity because they enable marketers to drive ROI,” commented Denise Persson, ON24 CMO. “And the results from our latest survey with Trendline Interactive and MarketingProfs bear this out – the data tells us that virtual communications are desirable for marketers and audiences because they’re convenient; they can reach large, distributed audiences with ease; and they allow delivery of highly tailored content in a cost-effective manner that end users enjoy.”

About ON24, Inc.
ON24, the virtual communications platform for the global enterprise, provides interactive, impactful cloud-based solutions that drive outstanding results. ON24 offers a broad and innovative product portfolio, including webcasting, virtual events and virtual environments, accessible from any device and supported by robust reporting and analytics. Applications for the ON24 platform include demand generation, partner enablement, virtual talent onboarding and development, product launches, company town hall meetings and user conferences. More than 800 organizations, including IBM, CA Technologies, Merck, Unilever, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, Credit Suisse, Ernst & Young, Amazon and SAP, rely on ON24. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices throughout the world.