It has officially been more than 5 months since Atlanta businesses started closing their doors and shifted to working from home in the wake of COVID-19. Now, even as businesses reopen and employees begin to make their way back into the office, it’s clear that many things simply cannot go back to the way they were before the pandemic — at least not yet.
One of the most prominent adjustments these professionals are having to make is the diminished networking and public speaking opportunities that many rely on to make connections and bring in business. Even as individual office spaces in Atlanta open up, it will likely be quite some time before large networking events and in-person meetings and conferences take place.
That being said, there is a tool that has proven to be more successful than ever during this time, particularly for our clients in the legal services industry: webinars.
Our digital marketing team in Atlanta has been utilizing webinars to help lawyers stand out, establish themselves as leaders in their areas of practice, develop new relationships with potential referral partners, and ultimately bring in business.
Here are some of the key takeaways from our success in helping lawyers host effective and engaging webinars.
Good Promotion Can Lead to Good Business
Sometimes, the best rewards from hosting a webinar take place before it even starts.
Recently, we were promoting a webinar for an estate planning attorney in Atlanta. We developed an email marketing campaign that consisted of multiple eBlasts to take advantage of the many contacts in the client’s email list. After the first two emails went out, the client received a response from a woman on the list explaining that she wouldn’t be able to attend the webinar, but the eBlast she received reminded her that she was overdue to update her estate planning documents, and she wanted to schedule an appointment ASAP.
This brings me to my next point…
A Live Audience Isn’t Everything
Time and time again, we have seen professionals give up on webinars because they don’t believe they are acquiring enough registrants to make the process worthwhile. This is a mistake! Even if you only have a few live viewers, there are countless ways to use the recording of your webinar to bring in leads, nurture business relationships, and connect with your target audience.
One of our favorite ways to do this is by pulling short clips from the recording and sharing them on social media, in newsletters, and more. People may not have time to watch an entire webinar as they’re scrolling through Facebook, but a 1-2 minute clip might just grab their attention.
You can also host the entire webinar in YouTube and optimize it for search, accumulating views long after the live presentation is over.
Use Working Remotely to Your Advantage
If there was ever a time to connect with your networking partners who work farther away or to develop new business relationships across states, it’s now!
Another one of our clients is a fiduciary litigation firm in Atlanta who, prior to the pandemic, had their attorneys host a monthly radio show in a local recording studio. For each episode, they invited other professionals to come join them in the studio for a roundtable discussion on air. When COVID-19 hit and that was no longer an option, we helped them pivot the show to an entirely virtual experience. While you might have expected this to generate less interest from potential guests, it actually presented a wonderful opportunity for the attorneys to invite their out-of-state networking partners to join the show remotely.
Use this time to your advantage! Co-host a webinar with that lawyer in another state who would provide great insight on the topic you’ve been wanting to cover. Now that travel isn’t an excuse, what’s stopping you?
Did you know that email drives 57% of webinar registrations?
Our digital marketing strategists are up-to-date on the best practices for promoting and sharing your webinar to expand your reach, connect with your target audience, and help you achieve your unique business goals during COVID-19.
CONTACT US today to learn more.
