Webinars have been a rising force in marketing over the past few years and even more so after the coronavirus pandemic trapped us in our homes.
In fact, almost three out of every four marketers and sales leaders swear that webinars are one of the best ways to pull in quality leads, and this was reported before the lockdown.
Over and above, webinars were ranked as the second most effective way of bringing in new B2B customers after in-person events.
One can only imagine how more popular webinars have become in 2020.
What Makes Webinars Such a Powerful Marketing Force?
There are countless benefits to hosting a webinar. Let's look at some of them in more detail.
Establishing Authority
For starters, webinars help companies demonstrate their authority in their field. After all, such content is more about education than presentation.
To put it differently, while content marketing has proven its value time and again, there are several different types of content, including blog posts and podcast sessions.
Yet, the most efficient type - the one that has the highest likelihood of engaging the audience - will always be video content.
This makes webinars a treasure trove for marketers.
Showing Humanity
In addition to showing that they are leaders in their industry, companies also want to highlight their personality and company culture. Customers don't want to do business with a soulless machine.
So, webinars are an excellent way for companies to show their character and put their culture on full display to their clients.
Generating Leads
Even though webinars are videos you usually make available to the public for free, they more than pay for the cost of making them in leads generated.
On the one hand, high-quality videos are bound to attract the right type of clientele, who will be more than happy to pay a high price for an excellent service.
On the other hand, seeing as attendees who register for a webinar have to leave their email addresses, webinars help companies build their email lists.
How Do You Host a Successful Webinar?
To host a memorable webinar, companies should follow these steps:
Begin by Homing in on the Target Audience
For any piece of content to succeed, video or otherwise, it has to be directed at a particular niche or target audience.
Otherwise, if the content is too general, it will be too unfocused to appeal to anyone and drown in the sea overflowing with new content every minute.
Ergo, companies should begin by defining their target audience, i.e., the customers for whom the content is made.
Companies need to know their demographics: the nationalities, locations, preferred languages, and even the gender of their audience.
Not only will this information prove critical when designing the webinar, but it will also dictate which language should be added in the subtitles or when the content should be published.
Have Clear Goals and Objectives in Mind
With the target audience clearly defined, it's time to establish what you want to achieve with your content.
We mean more than just what you want your audience to learn with a single webinar. Instead, your goals will dictate the entire webinar strategy, i.e., how many videos are published every week? What type of webinar is made? What function does each webinar serve?
Companies should strive to make their webinar strategy value-based.
This means that rather than just focusing on sales and conversion rates, companies ought to always ask themselves how much value their webinars provide.
Anything but high-value offerings might be off-putting to the audience, scaring away new leads and driving away existing customers.
Consequently, the greater part of each webinar should be spent delivering value, and the sales pitch should be kept as short and brief as possible.
And, with the goals come the objectives, which have to be measurable.
In fact, the objectives will form the basis for the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will tell the company whether its webinar strategy is going well or not.
Some common KPIs when it comes to webinars include registration and attendance rates and other conversion metrics.
Pick Fantastic Topics and Deliver Excellent Content
We've already discussed the importance of delivering value, but let's take a closer look at what this looks like in practice.
To begin with, companies should strive to share information no one else is giving out, which helps set them apart from the competition.
After all, almost every SaaS company is facing plenty of competitors with similar products, and each competitor is bound to be hosting their own webinars.
Ergo, every company needs to find a way to make their webinars unmissable, and this can be achieved by sharing the kind of information other companies are too afraid to share, the kind that will genuinely provide value to every attendee.
You also want to pick evergreen topics even when hosting live webinars.
People who may not have been able to attend the live hosting may still be able to watch the webinar on a different platform. If the content is evergreen, this means that the webinar will remain relevant well into the future.
This is why companies should strive to cover subjects that are never outdated.
Pay Special Attention to Attendee Experience
In addition to excellent content, webinars have to provide the audience with memorable, even exceptional experiences. In fact, a key component of planning any event, not just webinars, is maximizing attendee engagement and considering attendee experience.
When it comes to webinars, it all starts with the technology you use.
Companies should strive to offer the attendees a smooth experience and a delightful interaction, so they need to avoid any glitches messing up their webinar, including computer crashes, internet connection problems, and speaker or microphone mishaps.
Companies should also be careful with the webinar software they use to host their event.
Another way to make the webinar memorable is to make it interactive, especially when it comes to live webinars.
Hosts can include Q&A sessions at the end, they can use live polls, or think up different ways to have the attendees interact with the speaker. What matters is that the audience becomes fully engaged.
Once the Webinar Is Over, Follow-up with the Attendees
Just because the webinar is over does not mean your company's work is done.
While some of the event's attendees might convert and buy the service on the spot, others might bide their time, and it is the company's responsibility to follow up with the latter group.
How can a company follow up?
There are several things it can do, starting with a simple follow-up email a couple of days after the webinar.
Alternatively, a company could decide to set up a drip campaign in the hopes of guiding the attendees down the sales funnel. Another option may be to suggest to the attendees other, older webinars, offering additional value to them.
Anything Else?
Well, obviously, there is more to be said. For instance, companies should strive to promote their content via different channels, such as the website, the blog, and the different social media platforms.
Additionally, it pays to be aware of webinar best-practices that might give companies an advantage over the competition.
Nevertheless, the basics have been covered, and you are now ready to go forth and let your company revel in all the benefits webinars have to offer.
Guest Author
Lisa Michaels is a freelance writer, editor and a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland. Being self-employed, she does her best to stay on top of the current trends in business and tech. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter @LisaBMichaels.