How to Generate More Leads from Your Webinars

By Ashish Arora

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has not only led to severe implications on people’s health, but it has also forced organizations to rethink and realign their businesses. With people locked in their homes, marketers and salespeople have had to find new ways to connect and engage with clients and customers. This was when webinars became more popular than ever.

Although webinars are not a new concept, they have seen tremendous growth during the pandemic. Statista reports that between February and March 2020, the number of B2B brands offering webinars in the United States grew by 36%, from 245 to 332. As webinar hosting activities have seen a huge rise, Zoom has turned out to be the most preferred webinar hosting platform.

With features like interactivity, flexibility, and wider reach, webinars are revolutionizing the way brands connect with audiences. There is no denying the fact that webinars have become one of the top digital marketing trends these days, helping businesses create brand awareness and close more deals.

Before you plan your next webinar, review these tips on how to maximize the impact of your event:

7 ways to generate more leads from your webinars

1. Determine your target audience beforehand and craft your webinar to speak to them

To gain maximum traction and generate more leads, it is crucial to deliver your webinar to the right audience. For this, you need to prepare a buyer persona map of your target audience that contains information about their pain points, requirements, expectations, and personal characteristics. To find out this information, conduct pre-webinar surveys with your social media followers, email subscribers, and existing customers.

2. Motivate as many people as possible to attend your webinar

Lead conversions increase when you have a sizable audience. You can motivate people to attend your webinar by giving them enticing offers at the end of the webinar, such as product discounts or free ebooks. Also include SEO keywords in your webinar title and employ Google AdWords or other digital marketing techniques to target the people who are seeking the solutions you will be providing in your webinar.

3. Include relevant content and engaging visual aids

Since people will be devoting their valuable time to attend your webinar, they expect to receive something back in return. Never host a webinar solely to increase attention to your business. Your objective should be to deliver solutions that will help people resolve their pain points. Include relevant content in your webinar to provide attendees with actionable takeaways. Enhancing your content with graphics, charts, and informational videos will make your webinar more engaging.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• 5 Smart Ways to Use Webinars as a Marketing Strategy
• 15 Essential Skills for Content Marketers—Do You Have Them?
• How to Leverage Social Media to Drive Insane Webinar Attendance
• 10 Reasons Why Visual Content Marketing Is Important for Your Small Business

4. Use numerous channels to promote the event

You can generate more leads from your webinars if nobody knows they are happening. In the weeks before your webinar, make sure to spread the word:

• Leverage social media and search engine optimization techniques, as well as LinkedIn and Facebook Ads, sponsored updates, and appropriate hashtags to promote the webinar.
• Create an impressive landing page.
• Put information about your webinar on the Events and Resources pages of your website.
• Place banner ads promoting your webinar on your blog posts.
• Send personalized webinar invites.
• Partner with an industry influencer; this will also add more value and credibility to your webinar.

5. Rehearse beforehand so you're ready for showtime

No matter if you are hosting a webinar for the first time or you are a seasoned host, practice as many times as possible. Rehearsing may help you avoid technical glitches during the actual event and allows you to assess the quality of your content in case you need to make adjustments.

6. Follow up with attendees (and no shows) after the event

After the webinar, continue engaging with your audience to remind them about your offerings as well as reach out to people who may have missed your webinar:

• Extend the reach and shelf life of your webinar by posting it as a on-demand video.
• Create targeted email campaigns.
• Share free follow-up materials, such as checklists and ebooks.

Remember, the success of your webinar is not determined by the number of people in attendance, but rather by the number of leads generated.

7. Review and assess your performance to improve it next time

Review the performance of your webinar to determine what worked and what didn't work so you can make improvements for next time. You can review your cross-channel performance through webinar platform analytics, social metrics, and other reporting tools.

Generate more leads from your webinars to win more business

Webinars are an effective way to directly connect with your prospects and open up new avenues for your business, with minimal logistical effort and cost. Webinars are effective for both inbound and outbound lead generation, and through webinars you can connect with a large number of people without having to leave your office.

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