2020 Sees A Rise in Webinars
During this era of social distancing, finding effective ways to attract and connect with prospects is limited. While webinars have risen in popularity in 2020, convincing people to carve out an hour or so from their busy workweek is not easy.
Here are a few things to consider if you are thinking about hosting a webinar.
Why A Webinar? While many think that the goal of hosting a webinar is to fill up seats, they’re only partially right. Conducting informative webinars gives the host a distinct advantage in the marketplace: positioning themselves as the expert in their industry. Done right, they promote lead generation and create sales opportunities.
What’s Included? Webinars can include top-of-funnel thought leadership events, live and/or on-demand demonstrations, study result reviews, panel discussions and more.
What’s Needed? Preparing course material for your event is equally important, as your reputation depends on supplying your audience with an informative and organized event. Creating subject matter that is relevant and appealing as well as persuasive.
How Long Should It Last? The average time for a webinar is 56 minutes, which includes a 10 to 15-minute question and answer period. Having an agenda and keeping the program schedule tight is important to the success of your event.
How to Promote It? An effective way to drive attendance includes paid and organic marketing tactics. This can include email, video, social media, newsletters, paid ads, and more.
Get Your Partners Involved If you are partnering with other experts, make sure everyone involved is in sync and pushing the messages out. It extends the reach from beyond your own audience to theirs as well.
Include Your Sales Team Sales team participation extends your budget and ensures that the word gets out to your current clients and prospects. Make sure your sales team understands everything about your webinar’s strategy. This gives your sales team another reason to connect with prospects. It showcases your company in a new light – as an expert who can help.
Use Every Marketing Channel You Have Make sure your website has a landing page setup that explains the webinar’s details. This page should also capture their information for the purpose of registration, as well as continued marketing and follow up.
Drip Emails A drip email campaign allows you to reach out to your target market with relevant and interesting content with the goal of increasing interest and building registrations.
Video Create and promote videos that summarize the benefits of your webinar. Place these on your site; share on social media.
Paid Ads Analyze your target market to determine where to best place any social media ads. Platforms like LinkedIn have tools that are very helpful for webinar promotions.
Print Often disregarded, direct mail marketing is an effective method for catching the reader’s attention. With the right combination of art and words, a direct mailer can make a lasting impression that persuades a prospect to consider attending the event.
Have you been thinking about a webinar but need help figuring out how to implement this for your company? Contact us for more information on ways to hold a successful event.
