Tips to Execute Better B2B Webinars

Over the last two years, webinars have become more popular than ever before. Even as events resume in person, companies are including webinars and hybrid events as a key component of their marketing strategy because of the global reach, low cost, and above average return on investment. 

According to research from GoToWebinar, 73% of marketers said webinars are the best way to generate high-quality leads. Whether your goal is to generate leads, build your brand, or position your company, perfecting the skill of executing a webinar is essential for B2B startups in 2022.

1. Create quality content

During webinar or a hybrid event, you typically have about 30-60 minutes to tell your story in a clear, concise and enticing way in order to build credibility and establish rapport with your audience.  How can you avoid going down a rabbit hole?  Select a topic that is applicable to the broader audience, identify and clearly articulate your unique point of view and/or present your story in a compelling way to address the current needs and/or pain points of the attendees.

No one wants to listen to an unclear message or worse spend an entire hour of their time listening to a monotone presentation from an “expert”.  As a result choosing a dynamic speaker is CRUCIAL and will make or break your presentation.  Finally, your presentation deck should have more graphics, less text so that the speaker can use it as a guide to engage with the audience and reinforce your message. Best practice: Each slide should keep text to a minimum (6-8 lines per slide, no more than 30 words per slide). Most importantly, don’t hesitate to be human. From guru’s such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and dare we say Elon Musk to leading psychologists, all in unisent echo that a key to successful marketing and sustainable company growth is building  an EMOTIONAL CONNECTION with the audience. In 2022, most people are experiencing “zoom fatigue”. You can inject personality into your webinar by using live polling, humor, quizzes, video, etc.

2. Promote, promote, promote! 

Great webinar promotion is often overlooked by webinar organizers, usually due to time constraints. Using a combination of marketing channels to drive registration for your webinar including social media, email, website, etc., will yield the best results.

Markletic identified that 80% of marketers utilize their website for webinar advertising by taking advantage of their news/blog page, banners, and thank you/confirmation pages.

It’s no shock that 76% of marketers use email as a tried and tested method to drive webinar registration. The best time to launch your email campaign is 3-4 weeks before your webinar. Sending emails on Tuesday accounts for 24% of total registrations, according to GoToWebinar. Emails sent in the morning between 8-10 am will spike registration as well. 

60% of marketers take advantage of social media by creating engaging posts that can be re-shared by employees, speakers, and partners to quickly drum up webinar attendance.

3. Connect with your team

Your webinar will involve a team ranging from employees to partners to clients. As the webinar organizer, it’s your role to keep your webinar team informed and prepared.

Here are some helpful tips to avoid issues on the day of your webinar:

• 1 month out- Communicate webinar goals and assign team roles like host, key speakers, and moderators.
• 3 weeks out-  Schedule a webinar content strategy meeting to discuss the presentation, polls, surveys, etc.
• 1 week out- Offer a dry run for all participants to practice presenting and using the webinar platform.
• 5 days out- Send your webinar team the proper login information and webinar scripts/schedules.
• Day of- Invite your webinar team to log in 15 minutes before the webinar to address any last-minute questions or technical issues.

4. Get the most from your follow up

After your webinar is complete you may be ready to dive into analytics or begin planning your next webinar, but effective follow-up is an important step in the webinar lifecycle and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Follow-up enables you to maintain contact with your attendees, build relationships, and increase lead conversion. It’s best to follow up within 24 hours of your webinar, while your presentation is still top of mind.

Here are a few follow up ideas for better lead conversion:

• Engage no shows- It’s a no-brainer to send a follow up email to attendees after your webinar concludes, but what about the over 50% of no shows? Nurture your prospects by sending a personalized email to no-shows with a copy of your webinar recording.
• Q&A is your friend- Holding a Q&A session at the end of your webinar gives your attendees a chance to ask questions about issues. Reaching out to each inquirer to offer assistance with these issues could lead to a follow-up meeting and product demonstration.
• Add more value- Linking to blog posts, e-books, and white papers during the webinar will show attendees your expertise about the topic at hand. 

Executing better webinars will directly contribute to the success of your startup in 2022. We are here to help guide you through your webinar journey as well as your overall marketing strategy. Let’s chat.

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