With her first virtual product launch, Emilie Bridon, SQL Server digital marketing manager at Microsoft, discovered the initial set-up was relatively easy, but content development and attracting an audience were not. Bridon shared her experiences leading the development of a virtual launch for Microsoft’s SQL Server 10, at the 2012 Virtual Edge Summit, Jan 9-11, in San Diego, CA
“Virtual Product Launches that Rock the Globe,” is just one of more than 60 presentations given during the 2012 Virtual Edge Summit – and one of dozens to be presented in the VES Virtual Epic Event on Thursday, Jan 26. There are deep-dive presentations, 15-minute snippets, 30-minute conversations, interview sessions and technology demos. And the entire event is free.
After some discussion on the merits of physical versus virtual events, Bridon and her team decided a virtual event would be the best way to drive engagement, satisfaction and efficiency in marketing spend. Going virtual allowed the team to reach a wider audience (including translating the material into 10 different languages) and to showcase and demo the software.
Bridon and her team planned over seven months working through their platform, design, content, localization, marketing and launch plans. Bridon suggests staying away from “shiny objects and ideas that take too long to implement.” It’s important to keep timelines and the customer in mind at all times, she says, because one of the worst things to do is push back the date and lose traction.
SQL Server 10 will launch on March 7, 2012 in 10 languages and four time zones, each nine hours apart. The goal is to attract 200,000 unique attendees over the course of the launch. Bridon expects 4,000 to 7,000 attendees on the first day. Considering typical attendance for on-site event—usually a few hundred people—going virtual represents an important opportunity to capture a larger audience.
Watch this session – and dozens of others – during the VES 2012 Epic Virtual Event, January 26. In addition to the captured content, we’ll have subject matter experts on hand all day for live Q&A. Design your own day, and get just what you need!
