The internet is radically changing the speed and manner in which people pass on knowledge to others. The ability to transmit information in almost real-time to any place around the world is making it much easier for people to exchange ideas and transform data into actionable insights. A portmanteau of the words “web” and “seminar,” a webinar is one of the many channels that modern businesses use to relay information to the members of their respective organisations. Broadcast through various platforms, webinars provide businesses with a means to engage with live audiences through chat boxes, polls, surveys, and other activities.
But more than just transmitting data, webinars also serve as excellent marketing tools for organisations of all sizes. This is especially true if a webinar is made available to other members of the industry and the general public. Using a powerful webinar platform to impart useful information to its target audience, a business can widen its reach, improve brand recall, solidify its reputation as an expert in the field, and turn itself into a preferred brand for its market. Here’s how to maximise webinars as a marketing tool:
Use the Webinar to Generate Leads
Webinars are an effective means of collecting the contact details of the individuals and businesses that a company aims to connect with. The host company can focus on a topic that will generate a lot of interest among other businesses and everyday consumers, for example, and then promote the resulting webinar on various platforms. Then, it can collect the contact information of interested attendees to give them exclusive access to the page or platform where the webinar will take place. This can also be a good place to ask attendees if they are willing to receive promotional or marketing materials from the host company, such as early announcements of upcoming webinars related to the current topic.
Offer a Glimpse of User Experience
Another way to turn webinars into effective marketing tools is to use them to showcase the kind of experience that customers can expect from the host company. A fintech company, for example, can offer a consumer-oriented webinar that’s focused on recognising, preventing, and reporting financial criminal activities like phishing. Such a presentation, in turn, can highlight the safety measures that the business implements to secure each and every user account, its accessible customer service channels, and its swift response to security breaches and suspicious transactions. A digital marketplace, on the other hand, can host a webinar that highlights how its mobile platform can make online selling much easier for budding entrepreneurs. These can help convince the target audience to use the host company’s products and services instead of those of its competitors.
Establish Expertise and Earn Market Trust
A business can also use a webinar to establish itself as an expert in its chosen field or industry. Cultivating such an image to show its target market can help a business become a preferred option among other companies and customers that want nothing but the best for their commercial and personal endeavours. At the same time, this can also help the host company attract employees who are passionate about furthering their field. This can be done by using facts and turning data into actionable information that the webinar attendees can easily digest and apply.
For example, a business that focuses on online marketing for other companies can hold a webinar about how an upcoming search engine algorithm rollout can affect businesses. The webinar host can then suggest changes that can help affected companies soften the blow of the rollout on their digital channels. This paints the webinar host as a proactive business that’s capable of anticipating changes and turning these into opportunities to improve the business of its clients.
Share and Use the Webinar Repeatedly
While it can take significant time and resources to put together and host a seminar, the recording of this event can be repeatedly used by the company. It’s a given that a copy of the speaker’s presentation or a video recording of the webinar itself will not generate the same level of interaction with future audiences. Still, these resources can continue to demonstrate the quality of the products, services, and experiences that the company offers to a certain degree. The recording can be added to the company’s online repository of resources, made accessible to website visitors, and posted and shared on official social media platforms. These steps can help increase the webinar’s reach and perhaps even encourage others to attend the host company’s next online and offline events.
Webinars can certainly be a cost-effective component of a successful marketing strategy. Applying these tips can help any business make sure that its webinars will not only make a good impression on its attendees, but also maximise the reach and effectiveness of its marketing campaigns.
