In my last post I asked the question "what's holding you back from doing webinars?" The
response from Leesa Watego and a few others was that a lack of knowledge about how to start was the top inhibiting factor.
The purpose of this post is not to be an all-inclusive guide to delivering webinars but rather some suggestions to consider as you begin your program. My hope is that these ideas will make the concept of webinars less daunting so you can start generating some great leads using webinars.
1. Pick a Compelling Topic or Series
What is the most compelling and interesting education that you can give your target audience? First off, it can't be exclusively about your product or service. Who wants to attend "Come Here to learn How Awesome Our Widget 7 Is"? Pick a topic that relates to the product or service that you're marketing and build an outline. You might try setting up a series of three webinars. If I was marketing financial services right now (and I'm glad I'm not) I might do something like this:
Topic #1: Why Economic Uncertainty is an Opportunity: How to Gain from the Downturn
Topic #2: When to Hold 'Em and When to Fold 'Em: What to Buy and Sell Right Now
Topic #3: Investments 101: Understanding your investment options
Think of webinars as an ongoing conversation with your prospects and develop a compelling series of educational topics before you start.
2. How will you get people to participate?
Your Email Database - What email addresses do you already have access to?
Social Media - Post links on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and anywhere else you have a following.
Partners - Are there other companies or partners that have a common interest in reaching your audience?
Post on Your Website - Put a link right on your home page
3. Build a Team
Will you be able to handle all the responsibilities on your own? For the first few webinars, this may work but over time it might make sense to get some help. Here are the different roles and responsibilities for conducting a webinar:
Marketing - Handling all promotional material and campaigns to get people to attend - plus follow-up with registrants.
Content Management - Making sure the presentation is in line with the marketing message and quality for the audience.
Speaking - Presenting the actual content (this may be one or more people).
Live Q&A - Answering questions and comments during the session through text chat and aloud.
4. Attend Other Webinars and Read Up
Here are a few valuable resources I've come across and use:
Twitter Search
The Virtual Presenter
Webinar Wire
5. Prepare Your Team for Follow-up
Whoever follows up on the webinar leads needs to be prepared to discuss the topic (not just your product or service). You may elect to follow up via email and nurture the leads but if you follow up with phone calls be prepared to talk about the webinar topic. This is problematic if you have a sales team that isn't in tune with the webinar content. I suggest setting up a few questions and conversations points around the topic for your team. If I were following up with the financial topics above I'd likely want to ask "How do you feel about your financial portfolio right now?" And be prepared to discuss the content of the webinar in detail. Make sure you and your team understand the webinar topics and how to discuss them in follow-up.
6. Set Realistic Expectations
If you're expecting 500 live attendees for your first webinar then you're setting yourself up for failure. Your first webinar may have 3 people in it but that's 3 people you've established a relationship with that you wouldn't have otherwise. webinars take time...I've done hundreds of them over the last 3 years now and I learn something every time I do one.
So what does success look like for you on your first webinar? If you're able to get 1 new sales opportunity from the webinar then I'd consider that success.
These are all things you should consider before you pick the technology you're going to us. And I'm going to stay away from the technology considerations as I'm obviously partial to GoToWebinar ;)
Hope this helps. Reach out to me on Twitter if you have any more questions about getting started with webinars ... and good luck!
Photo by: sridgway
response from Leesa Watego and a few others was that a lack of knowledge about how to start was the top inhibiting factor. The purpose of this post is not to be an all-inclusive guide to delivering webinars but rather some suggestions to consider as you begin your program. My hope is that these ideas will make the concept of webinars less daunting so you can start generating some great leads using webinars.
1. Pick a Compelling Topic or Series
What is the most compelling and interesting education that you can give your target audience? First off, it can't be exclusively about your product or service. Who wants to attend "Come Here to learn How Awesome Our Widget 7 Is"? Pick a topic that relates to the product or service that you're marketing and build an outline. You might try setting up a series of three webinars. If I was marketing financial services right now (and I'm glad I'm not) I might do something like this:
Topic #1: Why Economic Uncertainty is an Opportunity: How to Gain from the Downturn
Topic #2: When to Hold 'Em and When to Fold 'Em: What to Buy and Sell Right Now
Topic #3: Investments 101: Understanding your investment options
Think of webinars as an ongoing conversation with your prospects and develop a compelling series of educational topics before you start.
2. How will you get people to participate?
Your Email Database - What email addresses do you already have access to?
Social Media - Post links on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and anywhere else you have a following.
Partners - Are there other companies or partners that have a common interest in reaching your audience?
Post on Your Website - Put a link right on your home page
3. Build a Team
Will you be able to handle all the responsibilities on your own? For the first few webinars, this may work but over time it might make sense to get some help. Here are the different roles and responsibilities for conducting a webinar:
Marketing - Handling all promotional material and campaigns to get people to attend - plus follow-up with registrants.
Content Management - Making sure the presentation is in line with the marketing message and quality for the audience.
Speaking - Presenting the actual content (this may be one or more people).
Live Q&A - Answering questions and comments during the session through text chat and aloud.
4. Attend Other Webinars and Read Up
Here are a few valuable resources I've come across and use:
Twitter Search
The Virtual Presenter
Webinar Wire
5. Prepare Your Team for Follow-up
Whoever follows up on the webinar leads needs to be prepared to discuss the topic (not just your product or service). You may elect to follow up via email and nurture the leads but if you follow up with phone calls be prepared to talk about the webinar topic. This is problematic if you have a sales team that isn't in tune with the webinar content. I suggest setting up a few questions and conversations points around the topic for your team. If I were following up with the financial topics above I'd likely want to ask "How do you feel about your financial portfolio right now?" And be prepared to discuss the content of the webinar in detail. Make sure you and your team understand the webinar topics and how to discuss them in follow-up.
6. Set Realistic Expectations
If you're expecting 500 live attendees for your first webinar then you're setting yourself up for failure. Your first webinar may have 3 people in it but that's 3 people you've established a relationship with that you wouldn't have otherwise. webinars take time...I've done hundreds of them over the last 3 years now and I learn something every time I do one.
So what does success look like for you on your first webinar? If you're able to get 1 new sales opportunity from the webinar then I'd consider that success.
These are all things you should consider before you pick the technology you're going to us. And I'm going to stay away from the technology considerations as I'm obviously partial to GoToWebinar ;)
Hope this helps. Reach out to me on Twitter if you have any more questions about getting started with webinars ... and good luck!
Photo by: sridgway
