Learn how to integrate Webex Webinars and how to schedule and manage Webex Webinars in Act-On.

Instructions

Integrate Webex and Act-On

Before setting up the connector, make sure you have the following information available:

• Webex Login – Webex account email login is assigned by your company or Webex account administrator
• Webex Password – Your Webex password is usually assigned by your company or Webex administrator

Once you’ve gathered your Webex account information, log into Act-On and access the Settings menu item and choose Connectors. Once on the Connectors page, select Webinars and ensure you have selected the Webex option.

From here, click the link that says +Connect under Webex Webinars (New) and enter the information you collected above (email login, password).

Webinar Header Icons

The Details Icon

• Throughout the process of creating your event, you can click this icon to quickly see the important details, including links the host, panelists, and attendees will need
• Attendees and panelists will receive their links when you send them invitations. If you are not the host, you’ll need to share this link with whoever will host the session. There is a convenient Send Webinar Details link at the bottom of the field so you can easily share this data.

The Campaign Icon

• You’ll see this only if you have integrated your Act-On software with Salesforce. Click this icon to adjust the Salesforce campaign you have associated with the webinar.

The Start Icon in the Header

• Click this to begin the webinar immediately

The Panelists Icon in the Header

• Click this icon to begin the process of adding panelists to your Webex Webinar
• Add panelists one at a time, which will notify Webex that they will attend
• After the panelists have been added, hover over each individual panelist to send them an invitation
• If a panelist loses the URL to join the webinar as a panelist, you can find the correct link in Details and send an email using the corresponding box

Other Icons in the Header

• Edit – Lets you edit the details of the webinar
• Refresh – Refreshes the browser you’re working in
• Close – Closes the webinar, saves your changes, and returns you to the main Webinars start page

Using Webex for the First Time

• Once your connector has been set up, use the Quick Start menu or the Automation drop-down menu to access Webinars and begin scheduling and managing webinars. On the Webinar home page, you’ll see a notification indicating which Webex account you are using, so you can change it if necessary
• The webinar listing page will show Webex Events (Classic) and Webex Webinars if both are connected
• The main navigation of the listings area separates webinars into two categories, Upcoming and Past (Upcoming is the default category)
• If you’ve used your Webex account to schedule meetings prior to using Act-On, Act-On will automatically pull both past and upcoming events into the Act-On Webinars listing
• If you have created a webinar in Webex or Act-On and it's on the listings page, you can access the details by clicking the title of the event
• If this is your first time using your Webex account, the Upcoming and Past areas will be blank
• Both Upcoming and Past webinars are listed chronologically

Schedule a Webinar

Click New Webex Webinar in the upper right corner of the content area. This brings you to the webinar scheduling page.

• CRM – If you have integrated Act-On and Salesforce, you’ll have the option to make this event part of a campaign
• Webex Event Type – This will reflect the options available to you based on your Webex plan
• Event Name – Create a title for your webinar
• Date – Choose a date and time for your webinar
• Time Zone – Select the time zone you would like displayed on your event collateral—this can be different than the time zone set for your profile
• Duration – Set the intended duration of your webinar
• Password – Set a password for your webinar. It must conform to the password criteria set by the administrator of your Webex site
• Teleconference – Act-On gives you access to teleconference options available through Webex, including Mute on Entry and Attendee Entrance options, such as beep, silent, and name announce
• Unlisted: – Webex displays a public listing of events and webinars on your company's Webex site. Checking this box means that this meeting will not be listed on your Webex public listing page
• Alerts – An email message that includes all the webinar details can be sent to the email address you specify. You can also send an alert later using the Webinar Details page.

Once you've selected your preferences, click the Create Webex Webinar button in the upper right corner. Act-On will create the webinar in your Webex account and take you to the Webinar Program Editor screen. You can create your invitation and promotional materials at this time.

Create forms and messages

In the Webinar Program Editor, you’ll build the collateral (forms and messages) to help register attendees and promote your webinar, and you'll create automated messages for reminders and follow-up. Verify that the title and time of your webinar are correct.

1. Registration 

First, you’ll need to create a registration signup form. You can choose either Create Default Form or Copy Existing Form.

To use Create Default Form:

• Upon clicking the button, both a form and an auto-response email message will be created for you. Each will contain all the standard and custom fields defined in your webinar.
• Click Continue to be taken to a page where you can edit the default messaging. Hover over Signup Form, then Auto-Response Message, to edit each individually.

To use Copy Existing Form: 

• Upon clicking the button, a box will open, allowing you to review all registration forms already created, whether they have been used or not.
• Click on a title to choose a form; this will activate the Preview and Copy options.
• Click Copy to choose a form for the event you’re creating. You can edit a copied message to customize it for this webinar.

Edit the default registration form

When you create a default form, it will display whatever branding you have already established for your templates. All fields can be edited, moved, or deleted. You can also insert new fields.

Your contacts' event registration and attendance will become part of their Act-On Activity History and can be used in lead scoring and list segmentation.

• You can cookie registrants for Beacon Tracking. This will let you set alerts to notify you if someone who registered for a webinar visits a particular web page on your site.

• You can track where registrants come from. Act-On will let you create multiple URLs for a single event; you can use different URLs for different channels (email, event page, landing page, partner promo, ads, etc.) This shows you which promotional methods work best.

Edit the default Auto-Response form

• Hover over the Auto-Response Message to bring up a menu
• Click Edit to open an editable form that will be used as a trigger email to acknowledge registration
• You can also click Replace to create a new confirmation message

2. Promotions

Here you can create an email invitation message(s) and an email Last Chance message(s).

As with all Act-On email messages, you can create a new message or use a draft, template, or sent message. You can also upload a pre-made HTML message or create a plain text message.

Invitation messages have additional functions that can be utilized as you’re building the email message:

• Choose the lists you will mail to (in Step 2 of creating an email message). If you prefer to wait, you can choose lists later.

You must attach the registration form to your invitation message. There are two ways to do this:

• Hyperlink text or an image 
  • Add a rich text block or work in an existing one
  • Click to edit
  • Choose text, or add text, and highlight the portion you want to hyperlink the registration form to
  • Click the Insert Link to Act-On Form button, and when the next window opens, choose the form you picked for this webinar—you can also insert an image (such as a Register Now button) into the block
  • Click on an image to create a hyperlinked button to the form
• Insert a Form Link
  • On the message builder, select to insert a Form Link. You’ll be taken to a dialog box to pick the registration form you have created for the webinar. This will place a button centered in the body of your message which links to the form. If you don’t specify a graphic to serve as the button, it will be a dark blue rectangle.

The External Promotion option under 2. Promotion is used to get a trackable URL of your form for your external campaigns and test it.

Views, Signups, and Updates are tracked. 

Once a promotional message has been sent, you can hover over it and click Open to see a performance report.

3. Reminders

Create your Reminder message(s). As with all Act-On email messages, you can create a new message or use a draft, template, or sent message. You can also upload a pre-made HTML message or create a plain text message.

4. Follow-ups

In this section, you have three main actions to take:

• Click Attendance to import the attendee list from Webex, both before and after the event.

• Click Follow-up Segments to see three options:
  • Upload registration – Upload your registered attendees to your Act-On database
  • Import from Webex – Trigger the Act-On/Webex sync
  • Create Segments – Create different follow-up segments, so you can tailor your follow-up messages to each group
• Create one or more new follow-up messages.

Choose an Invitation List

If you didn’t choose your lists when you created your invitation, you can go back and do it whenever you’re ready.

Go to Webinar Program Editor > Promotions > Invitation. Open the unsent invitation email and move to Step 2, Address. By default, the message you built is set to be sent to entire lists, but you can choose segments to send to, as well as lists or segments to suppress.

Reporting

After your event, click the Reports link at the top of your webinar dashboard. You’ll see a graphic representation of webinar attendees, registrations and event views, and segments. You’ll also see a full list of all registrants and whether they attended or not. 

Click the Change Reports button to drill down into more reports for:

• Webinar activity, including traffic sources and length of attendance
• Messages, including invitations, last chance invitations, reminders, and follow-up messages

In addition, click Registrations to see all registrants and all affiliated data.

You can also look at Promotions to see at a glance how the various messages and traffic sources performed. 

Syncing Data Between Webex and Your CRM

Act-On pushes registration data to Salesforce, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics, and Infor CRM.

Note for Salesforce users: Salesforce users also have the option to add records directly to Salesforce campaigns, so a prospect's membership status is automatically updated as they progress through the event.

• On the webinar header, click the Salesforce campaign icon.
• Click the Change button to select an existing campaign or create one from scratch.
• Once the campaign is selected, map the potential webinar statuses – Initial, Invited, Registered, Attended – to any standard or custom statuses in your Salesforce campaign.

The status of prospects currently in your Salesforce campaign will be updated to "Invited" when your promotional messages go out.

When prospects register or attend, their Salesforce campaign status will also be automatically updated. If they are not yet part of the campaign, they will be added.