Webinars have been increasing in popularity as a core component of digital marketing strategies. It’s easy to see why. Webinars provide marketers the opportunity to give live presentations without ever having to leave their homes or offices. As a result, your customers and prospective customers feel connected with you and it’s possible to impart knowledge, build relationships, and effectively sell products with minimal investment. It’s also fair to say that webinar technology is better than ever before, overcoming some of the cost and logistical challenges that may have prevented you from adopting them up until now. If you’re interested in doing more with webinars for your small business digital marketing plans, here’s what you need to know.
Webinars by the numbers
Adobe recently released some impressive analysis of the company’s webinar activities. There was a 51% conversion rate from individuals that clicked on the webinar invite and visited the landing page, to those who registered. 36% ultimately attended the webinar (which is slightly higher than the industry average of about 30% attendance). Meanwhile, for software company Unbounce, webinars were their top marketing channel just one year ago. The average marketer understands that these are compelling numbers. But there is an art and a science to getting webinars right that includes everything from the topics you choose to your marketing and technology decisions.
Packaging and Framing Matter
When you’re developing a webinar or webinar series, it’s important to think through how you’ll market it. The packaging and framing matter. Consumers have a number of different things competing for their attention. As a result, your webinar needs to pack a punch to stand out. Start with a topic that’s closely aligned with your customers’ or prospects’ interests. The more you can align the topic with your company’s core product or service offerings, the more results you’ll see in terms of post-webinar conversions and sales. Packaging your webinar professionally with a compelling title, a snappy description, and clear logistical and technological information will also help show that you have a track record of success.
Think in Terms of Value and Focus
Customers get excited about webinars that meet two key criteria: they deliver a lot of value and they’re laser focused on the needs of the people you want to attend them. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it’s simple for someone to attend your webinars, so they take less work than an in person seminar. But these are high-value and important brand touch points that are worth delivering as strategically as you can. Look at your topic and plans for the webinar to make sure that it delivers clear value for attendees and is more than just a sales pitch. Does it include information that will help attendees perform better, solve problems, or yield direct results in some other way? Is the topic focused? For example, it’s better to do a webinar on “How to Use Instagram to Market Your Business” than it is to do a broader topic like “Marketing 101.”
Consider Incentives to Reach Your Goals
Another strategy that’s helpful to making your webinars a success is by setting registration and attendance goals. Once you’ve set a goal that makes sense for your business, think about value-added content or incentives that could help increase your likelihood of reaching them. Is there a specifically focused piece of content that you can create for attendees? Could you offer a service such as a complimentary in-depth consultation or raffle off a product to attendees? Incentives don’t have to be large in terms of monetary value; they just need to be relevant to your audience.
Invest in the Right Technology
The technological decisions that you make for your webinars can make all the difference. Since webinars are a visual medium, start with your webcam. Is it high enough quality? How about the sound quality of your microphone? The second decision that you need to make after your equipment is what technology you’ll use to broadcast the webinar. Look at features such as the ability to record and play back your webinar; whether you’ll be able to offer chat features or a call-in number; and whether there’s a cap or maximum number of attendees. The right technology facilitates a great experience and people will view your final result as ultimately more professional.
Are you ready to explore new tools for your digital marketing? Contact us today to arrange for a personalized consultation and learn how webinars and other tools can improve your company’s performance.