I have done webinars since 1998. It was very difficult back then due to no one having or knowing where to plug in their speakers or microphones!
Recorded webinars, like most content can be used to generate their maximum potential through diversity.
Maximizing multiple webinars and physical products are often the simplest AND most overlooked revenue streams.
Pull out nuggets from multiple webinars and sell a "Best Of" on the particular topic/niche.
Combine multiple webinars in full and sell as a Compilation, Volume or "COMPLETE" Series.
Turn the webinars into books.
Turn the webinars into physical DVDs.
Turn the webinars into a monthly subscription via physical mail or membership site.
I would love to have a call with you to answer any followup questions or map out specific strategies with you.
Many marketers will be scrambling to identify new routes to market considering the current crisis. However, creative, and long-term marketers will be increasingly reliant on webinars to ensure sales pipelines get replenished with qualified, sales-ready leads. Before lockdown InsideSales.com reported that 73% of marketers and sales leaders find webinars to be one of the most reliable ways of generating quality leads. If asked again, I would wager that percentage would have increased. Firstly, webinars help to engage your existing pipeline. Customer engagement is now more than critical than ever to ensure that valuable market share and brand recognition are not lost before the recovery starts, particularly if your business is shuttered. The popularity of webinars was already rising before the current pandemic; they are a powerful tool for showcasing thought leadership and increasing brand visibility. What is more, as part of a more comprehensive content marketing strategy, webinars provide a valuable opportunity to secure the 'top of funnel' leads that will be critical to future sales opportunities. So, as traditional face-to-face marketing channels have become unfeasible under lockdown, think events and client meetings, webinars are filling the gap to demonstrate technology and services, alongside highlighting critical industry best practice.
Traditionally, industry webinars will secure anywhere between 400-800 registrants, but timely topics or major executive speakers will vastly increase attendance. For instance, on May 20th we ran a live webinar in conjunction with executives from Blackrock, Goldam Sachs & Co, PRI and others to explore the impact Covid-19 had on the market and ESG going mainstream. This webinar reflected environmental, social and governance information on companies is being utilised as a guide to the movement of capital and discuss the end of short-termism returns. As a result of the webinars timeliness, the total number of registrants surged from an expected 600-800 total to an incredible 2,950. Admittedly, high-level thought leadership discussions may not be achievable or relevant to all businesses. Instead, Business-to-Business (B2B) marketers more generally should use webinars to emphasize any experiences or solutions they have for customer needs. While emotive messaging is rampant amongst Business-to-Consumer marketing, B2B sales involve reasoned, analytical decision making. The sustainability market especially is being counted on to work harder and leaner than ever before. Conversely, gimmicks are out. B2B messaging should stress reliability and durability over the chance for buyers to become more cutting-edge, regardless of how much more competitive the product will help the buyer become in future. Under such parameters, well-crafted content such as a webinar provides an invaluable opportunity to provide critical knowledge and demonstrate technical prowess at solving real-world business challenges.
In our upcoming 'Marketing during Covid-19' report, we look at the wealth of lessons learned marketing through recessions from 1930 to 2009 and apply them to the current coronavirus downturn. The message though is simple. Invest in marketing if your business is able, and you will become more profitable than if advertising gets cut. The logic, proven time and again, rests on two findings. First, marketing is one of the only business functions that generates revenue. Second, companies who increase or maintain their advertising budgets during a downturn grow their sales far quicker as the market improves. Webinars, as a function of a comprehensive marketing strategy, provide an essential service in generating leads at the 'top of the funnel'. Furthermore, they are increasingly valuable if webinars are prioritizing new leads.
For example, on April 29th, we delivered "Purpose-Driven Communications - Simplifying the Sustainability Message" This webinar brought together senior executives from Clariant, Pernord Ricard, Merck & OP Financial Group to analyse the challenges for businesses face to deliver a simplified sustainability message that engages key audiences while demonstrating integrity and leadership. Not only did the webinar offer to deliver insights and analysis that are critical to business decision-makers, but by prioritizing new leads and external channel marketing, Ethical Corporation was able to secure more than 1,500 new subscribers for our database. These results were only possible because we were able to offer invaluable insights in return for customers providing their data. Over time, these new leads will be nurtured and create new business, leading directly to new clients and sponsors for our future webinars and digital products.
One of the chief mistakes made by marketers, as they invest more in digital marketing, is that they try to go viral. Put plainly, webinars or any B2B marketing for that matter do not need to go viral. What is more, the virality of marketing only serves to skew results and provide a false sense of success. Instead, webinars should always focus on capturing leads in each target audience. Quality is king. For example, delivered on April 15th, our webinar with Public Good targeted decision-makers involved in the niche of communications and marketing. This webinar brought in 369 leads, but based on keywords such as communications, marketing, sales, etc. we were able to calculate that nearly 70% of our audience were directly relevant industry professionals. Similarly, an April 8 webinar sponsored by Domini Impact Investments found that 65% of its registrants fit the intended target audience of key process engineering stakeholders. Creating a profile for what a 'good' lead looks like is essential. Your marketing strategy can then be optimized to use the routes most visible for your target audience. Likewise, judge the return-on-investment of a webinar based on the quality of leads generated, not the quantity.
The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly and unexpectedly emerged as the defining crisis of our generation. On top of all the social and economic challenges, business viability will necessitate that marketers become more agile, creative, and accountable than ever before. Accordingly, companies must leverage the full spectrum of marketing channels available to ensure success. As such, direct emails should get heavily reinforced by paid social media, advert retargeting, influencer promotions, partner marketing and more to provide higher pick up by your target audience, and most of all, registrations from new contacts. However, while webinars provide an invaluable opportunity to bring in critical leads, many B2B marketers lack the resources to bring them together in the first place. Let alone market them in a way that has a lasting impact on their businesses direct sales. Working with reliable and experienced partners can be pivotal, especially when they have a legacy of effective marketing to your target audience. For instance, Ethical Corporation is home to a network of more than 100,000 decision-makers with outreach potential to 250,000 more sustainability professionals through our partners. Moreover, our ability to create, segment and market effectively to our audience means that our digital products, webinars included, are becoming relied upon more and more by industry marketers. As a result of our laser-targeted marketing, our webinar sponsors can be sure they are getting a marketing campaign that truly penetrates the noise and resonates with the buyers, end-users and executives that matter most.
Furthermore, as pioneers of content marketing, we foster year-round contact with our customers. The quality and value of information our subscribers receive inspires loyalty and high engagement across all marketing we send out. This approach further underpins our status not just as a leader in business intelligence, but also digital content and marketing services for the business market.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
