We often come across questions like ‘Do webinars still work?’, ‘Has the webinar strategy come to an end?’, and, ‘Who sits through webinars these days?’
While there are different opinions on whether webinar marketing is good for a business or not, around 73% of the sales and marketing executives suggest that hosting webinars can be the best way for a business to get quality leads.
Webinars are a more common practice for business-to-business (B2B) marketing. However, they are excessively being used for business-to-customer (B2C) marketing as well.
Today, businesses are increasingly focusing on how their content can be improved and how they can strategize their presentations in a more professional manner.
According to a report by DemandWave, 60% of marketers attend these webinars for the very purpose of enhancing their content.
In this blog post, you’ll learn what a webinar is and how it can help you transform your business. Plus, you’ll discover a few ingredients that can make your webinars engaging and interesting.
What Is A Webinar?
A webinar is an online event hosted by a business to market their product or service to their target audience.
Imagine yourself sitting in an auditorium, listening to a presentation, and asking questions as the event goes on.
Now apply the same concept to a webinar.
The only difference is that a webinar is carried out over the internet and is live transmission. However, there are pre-recorded webinars as well, which can be replayed whenever needed.
The Purpose of a Webinar
The main purpose of a webinar is to educate your target audience and registrants by presenting them with step by step instructions or useful information on a certain topic.
From the business perspective, it’s a powerful tool that can help you give away knowledge to your target audience as a hook, enticing them to buy your product/service in return.
Webinars are a great way to remotely reach an audience that’s not accessible physically.
For example, due to the sudden Coronavirus outbreak, many companies are using webinars to train their employees, market their offers to the potential customers, as well as to create brand awareness.
For example, The Growth Company, a UK-based not-for-profit organization, is hosting a series of live webinars to help companies prepare for the potential economic impact of Coronavirus.
Why You Need A Webinar
Here Are 5 Reasons Why You Need A Webinar:
1. To Create Brand Awareness And Market Your Product/Service
Webinar marketing is a vital need for businesses to make sure that they reach their target audience and make their sales pitch as effective as possible.
As a business, your main aim is to put your word out in the market through a well hosted online, live or recorded webinar. You want to educate the customers about your products, services and other important details that they otherwise would want to know if they were physically present in front of you as a customer.
Platforms like Facebook are continuously being used by entrepreneurs who are streaming their webinars through the ‘Facebook Live’ option.
Here, they are virtually displaying their product, conveying all the important information about their product, giving the live viewers a better view of the product and showing them live features of the product.
These modern live webinars are automatically recorded on Facebook, for instance, where Facebook users can watch them at any time of the day.
2. To Drive Sales
You will notice that companies all over the world are excessively using webinars as an important marketing tool for business. Whether on a small scale or a larger scale, these webinars help attract customers through interactive sessions.
This in turn helps increase the sales for a company.
What businesses do through these webinars is that they give their customers a better insight, and also answer live questions that are being asked about their product or service.
This real-time interaction with the business owners attracts customers, increasing their interest in the product, and then often end up buying it.
3. To Promote Business Growth
Carrying out a live webinar, or even a pre-recorded one, enables the buyer to know the seller as well as the product in a better way.
These continuous interactions between the company and the potential customer encourages them to eventually purchase the product that you effectively marketed. And as a result, you experience increased sales, your business boosts and grows, and your revenue multiplies over time.
With the help of engaging webinars you can change the outlook of your customers and earn their business.
4. To Gain Customers’ Trust
A buyer will never purchase a product unless and until the seller makes them believe that this product is the best.
In order to make people believe through an online platform, webinars are the best options for business owners.
You present your product in an appealing manner, making the customers look at it through the webinar, enlightening them about its features, and carrying out professional conversations with them.
All this would make them believe you and trust your product’s quality through this online interaction.
For a business to flourish, it is very important to gain the customer’s trust. And a webinar helps you earn your customer’s trust through your powerful content.
5. To Build Strong Relationships With Customers
A customer wants to be heard and wants to gain the maximum benefit it can get from a business.
When they see that a business is making an effort to create such online events and webinars for them to be a part of, they are overwhelmed. They feel important and, as a result, they connect with you on a much stronger level.
This is what turns them from a mere looker to a loyal buyer. And that is exactly what you as a business want.
How To Make Webinars More Productive And Fruitful
Now that you know the impact a webinar can have on the purchasing behavior of your consumers, we’re sure you’d want to create one for your business.
To create a successful webinar, here are a few things that you must keep in mind.
Keep The Content Interesting And Relevant
Make sure that the content that you are creating is good, educational, and informative for the customers who will be watching your webinar.
If it is something they already know and the way you are presenting it does not interest them, then there are chances they won’t sit through it. So make your presentation more engaging and interactive.
Know That The Audience Is Aware
Since you are the content creator, you must be self-aware of the fact that your audience has done their homework about the topic/product and the related market. They perhaps would know the facts better than you.
Your role here is to make sure that you are well-prepared for any questions that come your way so that the customers are rather impressed by your presentation.
Don’t Lie Ever
Since you are part of a live webinar, or even a recorded one, you cannot afford to lie to your audience. You have to build your relationship with them based on complete honesty.
This is because you are selling them a product and if you lie during the webinar, and later the customer confronts you with the truth, you might get into some serious trouble.
Anticipate And Avoid Technical Problems
When launching a webinar, you just cannot afford to face any technical difficulties while you are at it. This gives a very unprofessional impression of your business, and may also be perceived as an ‘irresponsible’ act.
So make sure all of your technical aspects are thoroughly checked, especially your internet connection. Plus, ensure that the tool you choose to host your webinar is reliable, offers good customer support, and is easy to use.
Make Your Sales Pitch ON POINT
Everyone attending your webinar knows that you are here to sell the product.
Now it is your job to make your sales pitch so effective that everyone who leaves the webinar does come back to your business.
Whether it is for more queries, more information, or even for asking when you will be hosting your next webinar, the trick to keep them coming back for more is to deliver real value.
No bullshit or fluff but valuable and actionable content that they want and need.
Conclusion
Webinars are still seen as an effective tool for increasing sales and improving interactions with customers.
As a business, you learn new things everyday with the changing trends. You have to be on your toes to impress the audience and compete with other businesses in your industry. So embrace the exciting trend of hosting webinars.
Use the advanced technologies to make your webinars stand out in this era of cut-throat business marketing. Interact with your customers during your live sessions, and hear their ideas out.
You as a business can make some loyal and regular customers through these events so make the most of it.
Businesses all over the world are using webinars to attract customers, promote products, and build loyalty. It is very important that your webinar creation and marketing process should be flawless.
The secret to a successful webinar session lies in the way you design and exhibit it.
Want to make money with your webinars? Check out our article here.
