Sunday, November 10, 2024
Are you really getting the most from your webinar marketing efforts? Or, perhaps, you’re sick of the greasy high-pressure approaches that so often are used during the webinar? So much has been written about so-called webinar best practices, but not so much has been written about using webinars to generate leads WHILE ALSO BUILDING LONGER-TERM TRUST.
It’s critically important to recognize that webinars are used for two very different purposes: to educate, and to generate leads.
Educational webinars (think the college professor) are optimized to get as much knowledge into the audience as possible, in order to achieve a particular learning objective.
Lead gen webinars are designed to take a qualified prospect, give them a chance to test drive your knowledge and experience, and then move them to the next step on their buying journey with a specific call-to-action. (The next step could be anything: a discovery meeting, adding you to an RFP, agreeing to a pro-active pitch, making a referral, etc.)
As you could guess, educational webinars are typically in the service of the attendee, while lead gen webinars in the service of your organization. The irony is that if you lean too much in one direction (only info, or only a pitch), then you will never be successful in your marketing and business development. Without educational content, there is no reason for a prospect to attend. And without a relevant call to action that will help the prospect take the next step, there will not be a lead.
This week’s action plan:
Consider the last webinar that you delivered – or attended – what was the balance between education and lead gen? And what would happen if you made a slight modification one way or the other.
This week, make it practical: Take your next webinar deck, and make two different versions: one that is 10% more educational, and the other that is 10% more focused on lead gen. Once you’re done with the deck, which do you think would be more successful? And which builds longer-term trust?
Presentation insight: You probably will take elements of both, and meld them into your final version. But before you do, consider doing a dry run in front of your colleagues and a few friendly clients; their reactions, and their insights, are just as valuable as your own.
Related post: Ten Webinar Utilization Strategies
Additional Resources from the Braintrust Professional Institute:
Upskill your team: Browse 75+ professional development topics
See Randall in action: Browse topical Q&A interviews with Randall on leadership and strategy topics
Build your leadership skills with a self-paced course: Browse our library of self-paced courses
Does this topic resonate? Reach out to Randall: he can present it to your group. (More presentation topics)
Download Randall’s professional credentials: Speaker credentials one-sheet or Management Advisory credentials.
Content Authenticity Statement: 100% original content: no AI was used in creating this content.
@RandallCraig (Follow me for daily insights)
www.RandallCraig.com: Professional credentials site.