News & Trends

Volumes were written during the early days of the pandemic on how working from home would lead to diminished job performance and feelings of employee isolation. Now, over a year in, both employees and employers have realized the "tremendous efficiencies built into remote work." Aside from less commuting time and a greater work/life balance, the rapid development and improvement of technology tailor-made for working from home have been the main driver in employer willingness not to force people back into the office.

Leveraging video conferencing to drive efficiencies from a marketing perspective is the main focus of Forbes writer Kimberly A. Whitler's in-depth interview with John Knightly, the CMO of Bluejeans. Here are some of his insights:

Kimberly Whitler: What are some of the significant ways you have seen marketers—and others—use this to drive efficiency? Any data you can share?

John Knightly: We’re seeing B2B marketers increasingly use video conferencing for events – like analyst and press conferences, product launches, user conferences, and customer advisory board meetings – and taking them virtual. The video event is immediately accessible to people who otherwise might not be able to spare the time or travel budget to fly. Now with modern tools—polling, Q&A, chat, and promoting audience members to video—virtual events can be quite interactive as well as efficient. We saw a 300% increase in the number of video events and webinars on our platform in 2020 versus 2019 and are on pace to deliver even more virtual events in 2021 – indicating virtual events are here to stay.

Whitler: The same thing can happen with effectiveness. For example, as a professor who shifted from in-class to a virtual world last year, I found that there are many areas where learning can be enhanced via the virtual model (e.g., people remotely working on a shared document during a class breakout session that all can see). What are some of the ways in which marketers can leverage video conferencing to drive effectiveness?

John Knightly: Marketers can improve effectiveness of creative processes using video conferencing because...

For more of Whitler's interview with Knightly, read the entire piece at Forbes.

Kimberly A. Whitler is a Forbes senior contributor and Author of Positioning for Advantage.