Everywhere you look, you’ll see entrepreneurs desperately trying to shake up their marketing strategies to ensure they remain commercially viable in the era of COVID-19. For the most part, this has resulted in a massive pivot towards the digital mediums of commerce, as those businesses which weren’t already digitizing themselves were forced to do so by the massive economic shutdown which has beset most of the developed world. Despite this massive disruption, only a few entrepreneurs are embracing relatively newer marketing methods, such as leveraging webinars as part of your marketing strategy.
From finding the right platform to keeping people engaged long after it’s finished, here’s a review of how to use webinars as part of your marketing strategy.
What is a webinar?
Some entrepreneurs and marketing gurus may be unfamiliar with the concept of a webinar. Webinars are typically defined as digitally-mediated online events where a speaker (or group of speakers) addresses a large digital audience, which may or may not interact with the speakers in question by submitting questions or reactions in real-time as the webinar proceeds. As you may imagine, webinars have become vastly more popular over the past few years because of the availability of cheap and easy to use digital technology. Nevertheless, many entrepreneurs continue to ignore webinars at their own peril.
It’s time to embrace the future by hosting a webinar for marketing purposes. Webinars are generally considered to be one of the most effective modern marketing methods; according to one report, approximately 73 percent of marketing-affiliated respondents listed webinars as the second most effective method for generating quality leads. Now that you’re convinced of the efficacy of webinars, how do you actually go about managing one? The first step is to pick a great platform.
It can’t be stressed enough that there is no ultimate webinar platform pick – different platforms provide different options, and whichever platform you ultimately choose will largely depend upon your business and marketing style. It’s worthwhile to review a large list of multiple platform options before deciding upon which platform you want. Listen to the testimony of others who have relied on those platforms before, and consider how your specific business goals can be met with the help of any given platform’s specific features, and you’ll have identified the right option for your company in no time.
Incorporating webinars into your marketing
While producing an evergreen webinar that can be referred back to for years to come can be helpful, most marketing efforts should focus on producing timely webinars that tap into the enthusiasm for ongoing events if they want to maximize their success. COVID-19 specific webinars which discuss how your brand is reacting to the crisis, for instance, can drum up the attention of webinar attendees who have been thinking about that issue lately. No matter which platform or marketing strategy you embark upon, you’ll need to set some time aside to review common webinar mistakes which have been immensely costly to those who have gone before you.
Wasting your audience’s time or producing an aesthetic nightmare of a presentation won’t get you very far. For your webinar marketing efforts to succeed, you’ll need to create a visually-impressive and engaging webinar that loops attendees into the process. Consider letting attendees of your virtual presentation ask questions in real-time, as this lets your speakers address their problems in a head-on fashion. A skilled digital marketer can help you design and execute these webinars effectively, ensuring they align with your broader marketing goals and generate quality leads.
There’s no denying that investing in a local SEO company for franchises and webinars is one of the most important things that modern entrepreneurs can do – there is, after all, very little chance that we’ll be back to “business as usual” anytime soon. Make sure that you’re educating your audience with actionable information that sincerely improves their lifestyle, as doing this is the most effective method of ensuring your webinar is a hit. Virtual attendees who walk away from your webinar having learned something aren’t likely to forget about you or your company anytime soon.
When properly conducted, webinars are one of the most effective marketing methods in the modern world.
