Webinars are one of the most effective tools to drive prospects and sales to your business. Webinars take time and effort to plan, and you do need some technical skills.
However, if you want to get more prospects and sales, webinars are at the top of the to-do list when it comes to lead generation and making a profit.
What is a webinar?
A webinar, also referred to as a teleseminar, is an online event designed to offer useful information to the audience. It is often live but can be pre-recorded. There might or might not be interactivity with the audience, such as question and answer.
The webinar service used can offer various useful tools to the webinar host, including a shared desktop, white board, polls and more.
Webinars are most effective when they are related to a particular niche or topic, and offer solutions to “pain points,” or problems, within that niche.
Webinars are educational but also promotional. Think of them as an infomercial for your brand or a product you wish to sell.
Why should I use webinars?
Online education is booming. According to the latest statistics, 70% of people are visual learners. In general, they love to watch videos and participate in webinars that teach them what they need to know.
Webinars are particularly useful if you plan to launch a new product and want to make it an attention-grabbing event. Think of a Hollywood movie premiere and you will get an idea of how powerful a webinar can be for marketing your business.
Free webinars can be powerful tools for email marketing list building.
Before the webinar
Once you have chosen a good, valuable topic, and set up the date and time for your webinar, you can market it using both free and paid traffic.
As people join your new list, send them remind of the event date, start-time, time zone, and how to participate. Continue to send reminders until the show begins.
Even after you have started, you can still send out email reminders to get people to jump in, and/or to participate. If you have a helper, have them check your Inbox for questions or other issues.
Also, consider creating a hashtag (#) for your webinar so you can spot their questions and comments easily.
During the webinar
In addition to looking for questions during the event, you might also run a contest or give away prizes. It adds fun and engagement to the live event.
After the webinar
The follow up after a webinar can be just as important as the planning and presentation stages.
Those who have not purchased can still receive information about the product and an exclusive offer. Those who are on the customer list can be given extra content that adds value, making them feel like they really got a great deal.
Send a surprise thank you gift for attending. Make sure it is something of value and is branded with your logo and URL.
Selling on your webinar
Building your list of prospects via your webinar will be great, but sales are even better. During my earlier webinars, I will get so carried away by teaching and presentation that I will forget to pitch my offer until I am almost out of time!
Don’t make that rookie mistake; making that sale is the primary reason for the whole webinar itself.
Always be sure to have the product or service you are offering keyed into the presentation slide. If you are launching a product, show all its features and benefits in relation to one or more common problems.
A product-based webinar is your chance to show off your new item and create buzz about it. Set up a special webinar-only price for it. The information you provide should not be a glorified ad for the item. It should give your target audience information they really want. The context will drive the sale.
Making a recording
When choosing a webinar hosting software (I use the GetResponse Webinar + Autoresponder combo), make sure it offers you the option to record the presentation. There are several reasons for this:
- The courtesy of a replay in case your followers miss it
- Are play for those who want to watch it again
- A replay gives happy attendees an opportunity to tell friends
- A recording can be used for future marketing purposes, or even part of a paid multimedia course. Just edit sections that talk about special offer for attendees.
- Some businesses use “evergreen webinars.” They keep the recordings online for on-demand buys and keep selling the product to people who missed the webinar.
Webinars can seem intimidating at first. Not everyone likes to speak in public, and some people are more nervous about technology than others.
However, the marketing potential can be huge because special events such as webinars are in high demand in every niche.
You can educate and inform your audience and position yourself as an expert in your niche. Even if they don’t buy, you’ve created and grown a new list of prospects.
