How Webinar Marketing can Boost Your Business

Webinar marketing is becoming a big deal, and that’s not surprising.

Thanks to advancements in technology, teaching and learning are no longer confined to the classroom walls. Online education continues to grow, proving that it’s here to stay.

The number of students who were enrolled exclusively online increased to 15.4 percent up from 14.7 percent in 2016. Also, the number of students who mixed online and in-person courses grew to 17.6 percent in 2017 from 16.4 percent in 2016.

The number is projected to grow even more in the coming years. According to Forbes, the e-learning market could be worth as much as $325 billion in 2025.

Using webinar marketing, your business can quickly take advantage of the growing online education adoption. But before we delve any deeper, let’s begin with an introduction.

What is Webinar Marketing?

The term “webinar” comes from the words “web seminar.” It means using an online seminar to promote your business and connect with a broader audience.

Most brands use webinars as lead generation tools to provide free, valuable information. The ultimate goal is to suggest the need for consumers to pay for a product or service which the company offers or upgrade their current plan.

Aside from demonstrating products and services, businesses also use webinar marketing to showcase their expertise and expand on content published in a blog.

It’s the perfect place to sell, but without a sales pitch.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 58 percent of marketers use webinars for promotion. Thirty-two percent of them also think webinar marketing will be critical to their success in 2019.

Since webinars usually involve visual mediums, presenters can easily connect with participants. Also, it becomes easier to grasp the information.

Now to address the reason you clicked on this post: how can you use webinar marketing to boost your business?

5 Tips to Use Webinar Marketing in Your Business

1. Find a Topic

The first step to take in your webinar marketing campaign is to find an engaging topic. But how?

Start by checking your social media comment section for ideas. Also, you may want to ask your customer service team to compile a list of questions that your clients keep asking.

If you have a blog, mine the popular, relevant topics to identify the ones that might make useful webinars. These include items that generated the highest interest in the form of questions or comments.

But, it’s not enough to have an engaging topic; you must also have a catchy title to go with it.

Like all content marketing, webinars rely on a catchy title to pique interests. It should be interesting, informative, or humorous, just as long as it’s eye-catching.

Now that you’ve selected an engaging topic and created a catchy title to go with it, now comes the next part.

2. Create a Webinar

Earlier, we said webinars are supposed to help you sell specific products or services. Well, now it’s time to select that desired product or service.

There’s just one thing; you cannot directly market the products.

Rather than talk about your business or brand, focus on being helpful. Provide the ultimate solution to any of your customers’ issues. After a successful presentation, you can always talk about how useful your product or service is on the last slides.

To create the perfect webinar, you must focus on four “U“s. These are:

Unique: Your presentation must be original.
Urgent: Your webinar could be about an hour-long – 45 minutes for presentation and 15 minutes for Q&A.
Ultra-Specific: Focus on a single topic
Useful: The item must address or solve a problem

Also, consider using the right technology to provide a great experience. If you’re using webinar marketing to promote your product or service, it’s worth mentioning that your video and audio quality must be top-notch.

3. Webinar Hosting

There are several webinar hosting platforms such as GoToWebinar, Cisco, WebEx, among others. Since these are paid providers, they offer features which include:

Registration option
Automatic recording
Screen and video sharing
Integration with email marketing service
Chat

However, if you’re interested in a free opportunity, YouTube Live could be perfect for you. Aside from serving as a platform to run your webinar, the video streaming platform can also host the recorded video when the webinar is done. Other video hosting options include Wistia and Vimeo.

4. Create a Webinar Marketing Plan

We’ve nailed all the basics of organizing a webinar, from the topic to the hosting. Now, it’s time for promotion, and it begins with a registration page.

You could include information such as the webinar title and description on the main page. Then, add some bullet points to highlight the speakers, their expertise, and the webinar’s duration.

How can you promote the event, you ask?

Email remains the primary promotion tactic for webinars. According to reports, nearly 70 percent of all webinar signups occur via email. Other ways to market your webinar include promotional banners on websites, creating promotional videos, and using social media.

Also, you may want to invite an influential guest to co-host or speak at your webinar. That way, your reach and appeal would increase.

5. Marketing After Webinar

So, what happens after the webinar?

At this point, you must have converted several audiences. Send a link to the replay video to your participants, and change your registration page to replay page.

Finally, follow up with the webinar participants to convert more leads into sales. Also, encourage people to signup for the next webinar. Offering a time-limited discount may be an excellent place to start.