If you're like most B2B marketers, you're always looking for new and innovative ways to generate high-quality leads. You've probably tried a million different tactics, from email marketing to content marketing to social media advertising. But there's one form of content marketing you may not take full advantage of: webinars.
Webinars are interactive virtual events that could be presentations, panels, seminars, or workshops that allow you to educate your target audience on a particular topic. They're an incredibly effective way to attract, warm, and convert leads. Here's why:
Webinars Build Relationships with Your Target Audience
When you host a webinar, you're not just giving a presentation—you're building a relationship with your target audience. You're showing them that you're an expert in your field and passionate about educating others. This builds trust and credibility, which are essential when it comes time to make a sale. After all, who doesn't love getting their questions answered in real time by someone who really knows their stuff?
Planning a webinar? Check out the Webinar Best Practices Guide to ensure your webinar program is a success!
Webinars Allow You to Qualify Your Leads
A webinar is a perfect opportunity to qualify your leads. When qualifying them, it's important to consider both the webinar's content and the registrants' behavior.
Consider what type of content you'll be presenting. Is it educational, thought leadership, product demo, or product training? Whichever category it is, the content type provides insights into the prospects' buying stage.
Content like best practices and thought leadership are best used for awareness and don't generally generate sales-ready leads. However, signups for a product or new feature demo could indicate readiness for a sales follow-up.
The next way to further qualify the lead is to take note of the registrant's behavior during the webinar. Webinars are an excellent opportunity to ask more questions and gather more info about registrants. Conducting polls is an easy way to do this. And if you're rolling up behavior into a lead score, assign specific poll answers points that will help indicate lead quality.
Another idea is to include a CTA overlay in your presentation to prompt the attendee to take the next specified action. For instance, in an awareness-type webinar, have a CTA button to download a guide or sign up for your newsletter or next event. In more bottom-of-the-funnel webinars, include a CTA button for a demo. Whatever the CTA, the attendee's action or lack of action can help indicate their readiness and interest. This allows you to separate the tire kickers from the serious buyers, so you can focus your sales efforts on those who are more likely to convert.
Webinars Expand Your Reach
Finally, webinars are an incredibly effective way to generate leads because they allow you to reach many people with minimal effort. A single well-executed webinar can generate hundreds or even thousands of high-quality leads you can nurture through your sales funnel. Think about it this way: a webinar is a live presentation that your audience can attend from the comfort of their homes (offices or wherever they happen to be). No need for costly travel expenses or time spent out of the office—a win for you and your potential customers.
Lastly, webinars are insanely shareable. If someone misses the live event, they can easily watch the replay (which means more eyes on your brand). And people who attend the webinar that find the content valuable are likely to share it with their friends and colleagues—providing even more exposure for your business. It's a win-win!
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How to Make Webinars Work for You and Your Business: 3 Tips for Success
Now that we've talked about why webinars should be a part of your marketing repertoire let's talk about how to make them work for you and your business. Here are three tips:
1. Keep it relevant. Your audience will only tune in if they believe the content will be valuable to them—so make sure it is! To do this, get laser-focused on who your target audience is and what problems they're facing. Once you understand their issues, develop content that will speak directly to those pain points.
2. Make it engaging. A live presentation requires…well…a presenter! That means it's up to you to bring the energy and keep things moving along. No one wants to listen to a monotone voice droning on for an hour. So, ensure you keep things interesting by varying your tone and delivery methods throughout the presentation (think: interactive overlays, recorded videos, etc.). Not only will this help keep things fresh for your audience, but it'll also prevent you from burning out halfway through.
3. Promote, promote, promote! Just because you're hosting a digital event doesn't mean you can skimp on promotion. To ensure people show up, take some time beforehand to spread the word through email marketing campaigns, social media posts, and good old-fashioned word of mouth. The more eyeballs you have on your event, the better!
As a marketer, it's important to always be on the lookout for new lead-generation tactics—and webinars should definitely be on your radar. Webinars are an excellent way to build relationships with your target audience, qualify your leads, and generate high-quality leads. So if you're not already incorporating webinars into your lead generation strategy, now is the time!
Still not convinced? We host our own webinars every week! Sign up now and see just how powerful these events can be!
