Webinars have been a tried and tested method for effective B2B lead generation since the term was first coined by Eric R. Korb back in 1998.
The benefits to businesses hosting them of are obvious – they become instantly portrayed as thought leaders on their given subject, cross promotion opportunities are aplenty, there’s no geographical boundaries for those wishing to register and best of all, they are free.
Using webinars for lead generation
Skip to 2015 and over 62% of marketers are now using webinars as part of their content marketing programs. Of all lead generation tactics available to sales and marketing teams across the globe, webinars proved to be the second most effective type of premium content for marketers.
Furthermore, based on a survey conducted into webinars for marketing, between 20% and 40% of webinar attendees turned into qualified leads (not bad for an hours work!).
Promoting your webinar
Now that you’ve decided webinars are right for your business and have filmed a winning video preview with the speaker(s), how can you successfully promote your webinar without being repetitive? Here is a list of ways to promote your webinar and guarantee sign-ups!
10 Ways To Ensure Your Webinar Is Shared, Saved and Searched For!
1) Get every member of the team in on it
Do your colleagues have Social Media profiles? If so, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to widen the reach of your marketing efforts. Ask them to provide postings on each account up until the day of your webinar.
2) Create a Slideshare on the topic
SlideShare receives 500 percent more traffic from business owners than Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, so creating a strong presence of the platform is vital to integrate yourself into the Slideshare Marketing community.
3) Email previous attendees personally
Perform a data mine on all of the contacts that have registered for one of your webinars within the last six months. Personalisation is key to successful marketing, so identify them and you’ll be more likely to see repeat attendees. This is also a great opportunity to catch potential leads that can be re-entered into the funnel.
4) Team up with a co-speaker
There are many benefits to teaming up with another thought leader; expert speakers add further quality to your webinar, they offer variety, and by having them, it shows attendees that you are fully integrated within the industry.
5) Pay a visit to Google Analytics
Take a look at your best performing blog posts from the last month. Are you able to tweak the content to base a new CTA around your webinar? If so, you can then promote these via Social without being overt in your marketing.
6) Create an irresistible landing page
Getting landing pages built and tested is one of the top five challenges faced by B2B marketers. This is the page that will guarantee the success of your webinar, so it needs to be in tip-top condition. Make sure it includes sharing buttons, contrasting colours, and if you have them, endorsements from previous attendees.
7) Utilize webinar listing websites
Further your reach by sourcing specific websites that allow you to list your webinar. Many will take this a step further and even tweet it out to their followers. Try Webinar Listings or Webinar Base to get you started.
8) Consider a giveaway
Businesses need as many reasons as possible to give up an hour of their day to listen to your advice, so why not add further value by creating a competition whereby one attendee is picked at random at the end of your webinar for a free 30-minute consultation? Use this to publicise your webinar and watch your attendee list grow.
9) Boost interaction with live critique
Attendees register for your webinar looking for answers to a problem they are currently experiencing with their marketing. Boost engagement for your webinar by inviting attendees to send in a link to a recent campaign / landing page / etc. for live critique during the session.
10) Cater to Social
Do more than just post about your webinar on your Social Media channels – why not design a new version of your current Facebook cover photo to promote the webinar, create a unique hashtag on Twitter or post blogs where the call to action is registering for your webinar in relevant LinkedIn groups?
Life after your webinar
Just because someone has decided to join you for your webinar, doesn’t mean he or she is ready to chat sales with you. Develop a relationship which involves providing real value to them and their business.
This can include providing eBooks with useful advice and even a free consultation, trial or exclusive offer to thank them for attending. Whichever you decide, ensure those registers don’t fall into the abyss once you click the ‘end’ button on your webinar, or you could be losing potential future customers.
Interested in knowing more about how to create a killer online presence? Download this free eBook ‘The Definitive Digital Marketing Checklist‘.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 10 Creative Ways To Promote Your Next Webinar
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