Webinars have been around for years now and have gone through a surge in popularity over the last couple months due to shelter-in-place. These virtual meetings and forums allow you to create an alternate experience with your team and potential clients that are accessible simply with an internet connection. Anyone can launch a webinar. But what exactly makes it a successful marketing effort that converts?
Promote It
While this may sound like a no-brainer, this step is often overlooked. You can’t just create a registration page and expect the sign-ups to roll in. Instead, examine who your target audience is for your webinar topic, figure out where that group is spending time online, and promote your webinar in those arenas. One of the most popular ways to promote is by tapping into your email list. In fact, email is said to drive 79% of webinar registrations. Why? You’re promoting your virtual event to an audience that is already warmed up to you and trusts your expertise. Here are a few other ways to promote:
- Digital advertising
- Facebook and LinkedIn groups
- Social media posts
- Go LIVE and tease your webinar
- Ask referral partners to reshare your signup link
Send Reminders
Have you ever signed up for a webinar with every intention of attending but when the day came to tune in you completely forgot? Your registrants have probably done this as well. They’re most likely juggling work, family, and personal matters making it easy for your virtual event to slip under their radar. That’s why it’s important to set up an email drip campaign that reminds your potential attendees to join the webinar.
Focus On The Content
As tempting as it may be, if your webinar is not meant to focus on you; try not to spend a majority of the webinar talking about yourself. Your attendees are there to learn from you, gain insight, and hopefully opt-in for the service/product you’re offering. While sharing your story is important, make sure you don’t forget to deliver the educational message as well. A great way to stay on track is to create a structured outline for your webinar and set a limit on how much time you will spend on each section.
Do What You Said You’d Do
Similar to focusing on the content, it’s important to deliver on what you promised. Have you ever sat in on a webinar that you were so excited to learn from just to get to the end and feel like you didn’t get what you signed up for? That can be very frustrating for an attendee and can negatively impact them ever signing for your webinars again. Always do what you said you’d do. If you’re promoting that you’re going to share 5 tips, give those 5 tips. If you’re promising a free download for anyone who stays until the end, send that free download to those who stuck around. This shows the value you bring and helps you nurture those attendees to possibly becoming loyal clients in the future.
Follow Up
There’s power in a follow-up. It’s easy to launch your webinar, host it, and disappear. Follow-up is just as important as promotion. Be sure to send an email to those who attended and even those who didn’t, sharing a webinar replay with them and a limited time offer. Research shows that 84% of B2B customers opt for replays over live webinars. Sometimes people get busy and no longer have the time to sit it on your webinar. This shows your dedication to delivering value to them and making the resources accessible on their own time.
Do you need help launching your next webinar campaign?
KWSM provides the software, guidance, and best practices to help you successfully create and launch your webinar campaign. You bring the subject knowledge; we turn it into an engaging presentation.
CONTACT US to learn more about creating an effective webinar marketing strategy.
