Webinars – online multimedia broadcasts that connect presenters with large audiences spread around the world – are an often-overlooked tool in the marketing mix but have proven to be highly effective at boosting web traffic, increasing brand awareness, and establishing authority. Fifty-nine percent of executives would choose video over text if both are available on a subject[1]. So why aren’t you leveraging webinars to build your business?
Video-based marketing companies grow revenue 49 percent faster[2] than their non-video counterparts.
Webinars use the power of video to attract professionals looking to increase their knowledge in a particular subject area and connect with subject matter experts. Webinars are a perfect medium for technical subjects because the rapid pace of technology change challenges individuals to stay current with the latest trends, tools, and best practices. Plus, webinars can breathe life into static content like surveys.
While webinars are very effective tools for lead generation, it’s important to note that the most successful webinar content is not a blatant sales pitch. The webinar should not be about you; it should be about providing value for the audience.
BrightTALK is a popular webinar platform that both presenters and audiences praise for its simplicity and ease of use. Live presentations with live audiences are automatically recorded and become instantly available for on-demand viewing as soon as they are over. With a subscriber community of more than 7 million professionals across a wide array of channels, a compelling, relevant topic garners a sizeable audience.
Tips to Make Webinars Work for You
Here are some tips and tricks for optimizing your webinar results.
#1. Include Speaker Photos in your materials: Photos of the speaker or panel of speakers promise an engaging, human experience online and allow attendees to get to know the speaker before the event kicks off.
#2. Plan Follow-up Emails: Less than half of the people who register for a webinar actually attend during the live broadcast[3], but you should engage the absentee audience through follow-up emails providing the link to replay the content on demand. Twenty-eight percent of webinar viewers sign up after pre-registration is over, pointing to a growing on-demand audience who tune in when it’s conveniently available.
#3. Get Into a Routine: Like the best storytelling, a series of webinars or a routine of regularly scheduled webinars on a variety of topics helps establish you as a consistent, authoritative voice and keeps your audience engaged.
#4. Make Your Webinars Interactive. Make use of the audience interaction tools that the webinar platform provides, including pushing audience polls (and taking the time to have your speakers comment on the results), encouraging the audience to type questions in the console, and allocating time to address those questions at key points throughout the presentation or at the end.
#5. Embed Webinar Recordings on Your Website: Make it easy for your core audience to find and view your webinars by embedding them on your site for on-demand viewing. Archived, evergreen webinars provide a foundation for future content marketing success with very little effort. Linking in emails and social posts, and writing related blog posts helps you develop long-tail content for greater ROI.
Turn to the Content Marketing Experts
Sixty-six percent of marketers are convinced that webinars are effective in the B2B world[4]. If you’re ready to up your content game, turn to the marketing experts at Katzcy. We can help you zero in on a topic, prepare your speakers, create engaging presentation materials, craft an integrated schedule of promotional communications, and last but not least, broadcast you on the Katzcy BrightTALK Channel to our engaged audience of several hundred registered members. Let’s BrightTALK today!
[1] https://digital.gov/2017/08/07/by-the-numbers-why-video-is-effective/
[2] https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/258537/brands-using-video-grow-revenue-faster-study-says.html
[3] https://medium.com/@BigMarker/12-webinar-statistics-you-need-to-know-b3e28b275abe
[4] https://www.emarketer.com/Article/B2Bs-Webinars-Winning-Tactic/1012574
