Generate Leads From Webinars Using B2B Email Marketing
A webinar, which is really just a web conference with audio, is an excellent way to generate leads by offering valuable industry and product information in an online format.
If you format your landing page well, you should be able to secure high visitor to lead sales conversion rates for your webinar.
1. Offer good unbiased content
Content is king, and also is key to driving interest in your webinar. You want to ensure that you are providing unbiased insights into an industry problem, where your product happens to offer a unique solution.Choosing a punchy webinar topic backed up with an industry research is also important.
One website security client of mine had an extremely successful free webinar entitled "Hacking 101: How to keep your website secure". This title was punchy, and benefit oriented without being overtly too sales. When promoted via opt-in email list rentals to Chief Security Officers, the click to lead conversion rate was an incredible 50%! Basically 1 in 2 visitors to their landing page signed up to learn more.
2. Get a recognized guest speaker
Guest speakers can add generate real buzz and add a tremendous amount of credibility to an event. A videoconferencing client of mine recently held a number of webinars to generate leads targeting corporate executives across an array of industries. Their company brand was not very well known, so they not only had to educate prospects first on who their company was, but then also what their company could do for them. They decided to partner with CISCO Systems for their next webinar series - a well established brand name in the IT/Networking space. Their guest speaker was a senior executive from CISCO commenting on the exploding growth in video conferencing and the cost savings it can achieve. The click-through rate on email programs (both internal and 3rd party rentals) jumped over 100%, and their conversion rate from visit to lead was 40% - well above industry norms.
3. Keep it brief, get to the point
Webinars are not like in person meetings where you have a captive audience. Typically, webinars last anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes at most. It's important right away to show an agenda of what you will be covering and when. An online audience is very fickle and impatient.
4. Create a schedule - and stick to it
Whether your webinar participants are customers, partners, employees, or some other mix of people, you should make every effort to respect their time. As the moderator, it's your job to help steer the discussion back on topic if necessary.
5. Don't just recycle classroom materials
While webinar technology is great in many ways, you shouldn't expect to cover the same amount of material in a one-hour webinar as you would in a one-hour classroom session. Plan to include slightly less content than you would in person, especially if you're new to online conferencing.
6. Take a look at yourself
Many webinar providers include options to archive your presentation. If you're just getting started, try watching your own event afterwards. You'll get a sense of what the audience experiences, which can be much different than the experience you thought you were providing. It will also help you determine what you should improve on for future webinars.
7. Know what you need to know
In addition to being the subject matter expert, you can expect to get at least a question or two about setting up the webinar. If the participants are required to install software plug-ins, make sure you can point them to the download location; if there are particular browser requirements, make sure you know what they are. Beyond that, though …
8. Know what you don't need to know
Your webinar provider will give you a technical support number. Have it ready - not filed away - in case you encounter any significant issues. Your focus should be on running your presentation - not on solving technical problems.
Related article: 10 Tips On Hosting A Successful Webinar
Contact us for help on promoting your online seminar or marketing your business.
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