As good Web content has become more important to a company’s marketing strategy, one method of thought leadership has stood out among the rest: Webinars. Webinars are an effective way to simplify complex topics and disseminate them in a user-friendly way. Because of their unique traits, webinars are effective for both B2B and B2C enterprises.
Webinars capitalize on multiple trends in the digital marketing world, including the growing focus on mobile, non-textual content. They are ideal for building trust and establishing your expert credentials. In addition to being informative, they can lead users to make purchases or contact your sales team.
Let’s consider some ways to make webinars effective:
Structure Your Presentation Around the Audience
It’s not easy to get someone to dedicate an hour – or even 30 minutes – to hearing your message. In the early stages of webinar planning, come up with four or five major takeaways that the audience will get: Ideas, tools, or other resources they can use right away. As always, making an impact means recognizing and responding to your prospects’ genuine problems.
Work With Other Thought Leaders in the Field
It’s never too late to get started with webinars, but odds are there are experienced presenters hard at work in your field. By partnering with a company or thought leader whose offerings can complement yours, you virtually double your chance of a response. Your partner can direct the audience to your offerings and vice-versa no matter whose list a prospect lands on.
Use an Efficient, Robust Webinar Platform
There are many different webinar platforms out there. Many of them are free up to a certain number of attendees. No matter which you pick, make sure it has the features you need. You’ll want to be able to host all your attendees at low cost, for example. It’s also key to ensure your webinar is recorded, so you can use it to attract those who couldn’t see it live.
Reward Your Audience for Showing Up
A webinar is an exciting project, but leave plenty of time to generate buzz before you launch. It’s a good idea to provide yourself at least a month of lead time so you can build rapport. For example, you might offer attendees a free report or other content they can’t get otherwise. With the right incentive at the close of your webinar, you can drive immediate sales.
Developing a webinar can be seen as a long-term investment in good content. Most webinars can be reused or re-released with only minor updates in the future. When a webinar reflects the rest of your content strategy, it can incite prospects to action for years to come.