The journey from inception to optimization
One year ago the GetResponse team began working on a new feature. There was an idea to create a totally new, simple, and easy-to-use tool for webinars. After two months of strenuous work, I presented the prototype to the management team. I was feeling proud of the product and eager to keep the progress going.
With some suggested changes to the prototype, the updates were completed within three weeks and a new feature was ready to be released: GetResponse Webinars!
GetResponse, the online marketing solution, was now the proud owner of an elegant feature to host webinars. But the most important thing to us was to provide GetResponse customers with a totally new way to grow their list and engage with their audience.
How did we do it?
The plan for the Webinars project was very simple, and was accomplished in four stages:
- Create a simple and easy-to-use platform for hosting webinars, while making sure we do so within a stable backend.
- Ensure the feature’s utility while adding additional functionalities; so the webinars could be integrated with GetResponse contacts, generate the meeting functionality and adding the reminders and invitations capabilities.
- Release the feature for GetResponse customers and compile feedback.
- Develop additional features and functionalities.
Stage 1
The first stage was completed after two months of development which resulted in a fully-operational feature. Webinar sessions could be hosted with an attendee’s authorization and registration. Additionally, all attendees would now be added to the predefined campaign, within GetResponse, and could be located within the Search Contacts feature. These were vital functionalities for the stage 1 release.
Stage 2
Stage 2 was more business-oriented than the technical development at Stage 1. At this stage we made it possible to send email, with the webinar module included. As a result, webinars could now be integrated with all other existing GetResponse features.
We implemented sending webinar reminders and invitations at this stage, and optimized the Create and Manage Webinar pages. We wanted GetResponse Webinars to be fully functional. Hence the feature came with detailed analytics and relevant filters.
Stage 3
Stage 3 began in November 2015. During this stage all GetResponse free trial accounts were granted access to the Webinar feature and paying accounts had the option to purchase the feature. Everyone in the team felt a great sense of achievement on the day that the webinar feature actually went live. It was a big deal for us!
We didn’t have to wait long to learn what customers really thought about the new tool. After just a few days, we had a list of new features that we wanted to add to Webinars. And we were impatient about the fourth stage of our product development process.
Stage 4
This brings us to today. We’re currently at the fourth stage and every day we strive to make the feature better and better. Since our official release date, we’ve added many new functionalities:
- December 2015 – The webinar recording functionality.
- January 2016 – The duplicate webinars functionality: now you don’t need to manually re-write a webinar’s settings, simply duplicate it.
- February 2016 – The functionality to add an attendee to an autoresponder cycle, and dictate what day they should be added.
- March 2016 – Launched the Landing Page integration. Now you can add the webinar widget to your GetResponse Landing Pages.
- April 2016 – Now you can choose your own custom “thank you” page to be displayed at the end of the webinar.
- May 2016 – Chat download functionality. Now you can easily download your chat transcript after the webinar.
- June 2016 – The new login and registration pages were launched. We gave them a fresh new look and design.
- July 2016 – Webinar statistics optimization. Now your webinar statistics will be even more precise.
Onward
Our one year of hard work on the feature has allowed our customers to host more than 15,000 hours’ worth of webinars through nearly 66,000 webinars. Over 200,000 subscribers have been added to GetResponse customer campaigns through the hosted webinars!
We promise to continue to optimize GetResponse Webinars to the max and make it everything you need to engage with your audience and build your list.
Are you using GetResponse Webinars? Do you regularly host webinars for your audience? Let us know your feedback in the comments!
The post GetResponse Webinars: One Year Later appeared first on GetResponse Blog - Online Marketing Tips.
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