Savvy marketers understand the need for frequent contact with their target audiences, but frequency alone doesn’t determine effectiveness. Add the right message and the right medium, and there’s a winning combination.
Webinars, short for web-based seminars, are an increasingly popular medium for delivering a company’s messages. When well-conceived and well-planned, they educate, entertain and inform, generating the much sought after live discussion between recognized experts and participants who attend these events. Additionally, webinars are effective marketing tools because they offer an inexpensive way to showcase a brand, build business contacts, capture sales leads and create a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
As with any marketing initiative, there are important guidelines to take into account when planning and implementing a webinar. They include these best practices:
- Solve problems, don’t sell. The sole purpose of a webinars is not to sell services or products. Instead, design your webinar to address a problem or challenge experienced by attendees and engage them in a conversation about potential solutions.
- Connect with the audience. Use storytelling and visual aids as one way to engage participants. Think entertainment. “If the audience likes what they are hearing, they will be more inspired to reach out after the webinar to learn more about how your organization can help them get better business outcomes,” said Mike Agron, executive webinar producer and co-founder for WebAttract.
- Involve the audience. Consider conducting an online poll and share the combined results with the participants as an ice-breaker. In this way the audience feels they are part of a community and can see how their peers voted. If time permits, do several polls throughout the webinar and use the information to shape your messaging.
- Pay attention to scheduling. According to the ON24 Webinar Benchmarks Report (2014 Edition), the middle of the week is the best time to hold a webinar. Attendance for webinars held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays averaged 27 percent, while it’s only 10 percent on Mondays and even less on the other days of the week. The 2013 Edition of the report found that the best time to schedule the webinar is at 11:00 am PST, a time that is convenient for audiences on both of the U.S. coasts. Limit the webinar time to one hour.
- Develop a winning format. The ideal format for a webinar includes a planned welcome and introduction, a short poll or questionnaire, presentation of the topic, a question and answer period at the end and a thank you along with a request to participate in an online survey to determine level of audience satisfaction.
Use webinars as a marketing tool if you want to share information that helps participants learn how to achieve better outcomes or solve challenging technology or business issues. “Webinars are a wonderful way to reach an audience and tell a story that goes beyond sound bites while creating a live sense of interest from an audience,” said Agron.
Trade Press Services helps business leaders share their expertise through webinars and currently has a number of opportunities available for qualified speakers. To learn more about our webinar-booking services, call us at (805) 496-8850.
Marketing Tips
What if you held a webinar and no one logged on? Try these tips to ensure great attendance at your next webinar.
- Craft an appealing title that quickly details the webinar’s topic.
- Make sure you and your presenters are well-versed with the technology and that you conduct a dress rehearsal before the event takes place.
- Start promoting the webinar at least three weeks before the event. If the budget allows, consider using paid media. According to the 2014 Benchmarks report, 58 percent of the audience registers during the week of the webinar.
- Use email and social media (including your blog) to advertise the webinar and continue advertising until the day of the webinar. Ask the webinar speakers (if they are not part of your organization) to promote the event through their social media channels.
- Keep the registration form simple and easy to complete. Use a landing page on your website so interested parties easily can find more information about the webinar and registration process.
- Send a thank-you email after participants register for the webinar. This also serves as a registration confirmation.
- Send reminder emails, preferably one to two weeks before the webinar, the day before and the day of the webinar.
- Make the webinar accessible via on-demand after the event, to extend the shelf-life and reach of the event.
Quarterly Quote
“Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.”
–Marshall McLuhan, Author, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man