| One of the most effective sales lead generation tools in Internet marketing is the use of Webinars. Below are my top tips for using Webinars to generate leads. WDFM is sponsored by...
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Did someone forward this email newsletter to you? If so, welcome. I invite you to subscribe yourself so you can get each upcoming issue as soon as we publish it. Subscribe to this newsletter at http://wdfm.com Internet marketing firms have been advertising Webinars in my Web Digest For Marketers email newsletter for well over 10 years. I've also been hired to speak at dozens of Webinars myself. Below are my top tactics for getting the most out of your Webinar events. 1. How Far in Advance Do You Start Advertising Your Webinar? If you start too early, people often forget what inspired them to sign up in the first place. In Web Digest For Marketers, I've noticed Webinar sponsors typically think advertising more than two weeks in advance is too long a lead time. Most advertisers of Webinars I know think a day or two before the event is too late to advertise, as B2B execs (assuming that's your target) often already have their schedules booked. Having said that, sometimes I see ads run just prior to the event in order to re-stimulate interest in those who already signed up, or to give a last opportunity for interested parties to register. Sometimes people don't sign up for a Webinar or white paper the first time they see the offer. It may be on the second or third pass (or even when the ad is seen in another venue) that convinces them to sign up. 2. 50% Rule From what I've observed over the years, roughly 50% of those who sign up actually wind up attending the Webinar. This means that once you reach your target threshold of registrations, you'll want to continue to promote the event because it is a safe assumption that many who sign up will in fact not attend. You want to avoid investing lots of money in a Webinar only to have too few people attend. 3. Who Should Attend? A Webinar is an event just like one that happens in real space. Assuming the topic is of interest to your target audience, they're going to ask similar questions. One such question is "Who Should Attend?" One effective way to communicate this is to clearly list it in your ad/offer. Both those who are within and outside of your target will appreciate the clarity you show by stating whom you want to reach, whether it's specific types of companies or specific titles/areas of responsibilty. WDFM is sponsored by...
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Download Your Free Copy Now | 7. Send Reminders When people sign up for your Webinar, don't forget to ask for permission to use their email addresses. This way, you can remind people of your upcoming event. More sophisticated firms will email helpful pieces of content to those who've signed up. This way, the audience becomes more familiar with the speakers, anticipates hearing more about the topic and is reminded of the Webinar itself. Don't overdo the reminders, though. They can get annoying and be counterproductive if they're overused. 8. Oh, You Missed It For those who missed it, no worries. That's because you're going to email them and show them where they can see a recording of the Webinar at their convenience. Remember, many people are apt to sign up and not make it to the live event. You might as well try to recoup some of those who missed it, no? 9. Sales Lead Leakage Probably the biggest sin in online marketing is the dropping of qualified sales leads that register for Webinars and white papers. The more sophisticated advertisers in Web Digest For Marketers break leads down into 4 or so categories. The A and B leads are contacted within 48 hours after the event. The C leads are often put into a so-called "warming tank," where they are nurtured over time. This nurturing may be by way of useful emails sent to these people, or human contact weeks or months later. But so very often, marketing departments somehow disconnect from sales departments and huge numbers of leads are just dropped. This is wasted money falling to the floor. Before holding a Webinar, buying media to promote it or writing the copy for the ad offers, make sure your internal lead routing process is air-tight. WDFM is sponsored by...
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to improve results. Download the complimentary Lyris HQ tool now. | 10. Don't Read Your Webinar Speech Nothing sounds so boring as listening to someone read their presentation verbatim. This does not mean you should wing it. Far from it. When I give a presentation, I practice it out loud six times. I don't actually write out the speech. I have what I call "connectors," which are words on cue cards that lead me from one point to the next. By the time I'm finished rehearsing the speech, the bulk of it is word-for-word exact from one rehearsal to the next. Once it is "rote," I then feel comfortable enough to "riff" live at the presentation. This riffing comes across as spontaneous, and the audience senses and enjoys this. Over the years, I've also found it is the live riffing that gets picked up by the press. 11. Prep for Questions If you're going to have a Q&A session, it's a good idea to ask for questions prior to the Webinar. No one wants to be the first person to ask a question. Once the ball gets rolling, others tend to jump in. Don't throw yourself Nerf ball questions. They only come across as a shill for you to give pat answers. You'll lose credibility if you do this. You want challenging questions. Don't be afraid to pause before answering. Pauses indicate that you are being thoughtful about what you say next. This goes for answering questions as well as the content of your speech. Attention Bloggers and Twitterers: You can link to the content in this newsletter at url below and know it will live there permanently:
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