Back in the late '90s, Microsoft provided the technology for webinars to go public with the launch of the platform - NetMeeting. There was no such concept as webinar marketing. Since then, webinars have come a long way since its inception. As we approach 2020, the next stage of digital marketing has already begun taking shape. Exceptional user experiences as well as UI designs of all content including webinars have become essential. AI has enabled data privacy and cybersecurity to take a front seat and digital platforms have to be designed with the upcoming 5G revolution in mind.
In light of these upcoming disruptions, enterprises will have to rethink the way they approach marketing for webinars in order to stay ahead of the curve. A lot of the time, webinar marketing strategies that chase more webinar attendees lose focus on the bigger picture i.e., creating the highest quality, most audience-focused content possible. Getting your audience to click on your webinar link and reach your landing page is only half the battle. The make-or-break situation lies in creating a content strategy that keeps them intrigued with valuable information for the live webinar of 30-45 minutes.
Keeping that in mind, let's take a look at 5 crucial successful webinar strategies that marketers may often end up overlooking.
1. Nail Your Invitation Emails
An optimal sequence content marketing strategy for a webinar should have invitation emails that look like this:
- First contact - invitation email 3-4 weeks prior
- Reminder email - 2 weeks prior
- Second reminder email - 1 week prior
- Last reminder - 1 day prior
- Feedback/Thank you email - 1-day post
The best time to start sending out your promotional email invitations would be around 3-4 weeks prior to the webinar event. Yes, the first invitation emails have to be spot-on and it's important that you leave no useful information behind, but what is even more critical is the follow-up and reminder emails to cover everybody from your webinar funnel. A typical email open rate in B2B marketing plans is just 15.1% so having periodic follow-up emails is vital for maximum exposure. According to Drip, not following up your webinar invitations may cause you to lose up to a third of your sales. Ideally a first follow-up email should be sent 1-2 weeks post your first invitation. Here is an example of how Foundr does reminder emails:
2. Choose the Right Mediums for Promotion
In order to keep up with your lead generation game, you need to promote your webinars on the right channels to gain maximum exposure. Having an omnichannel approach to promoting your webinars will provide you with more number of webinar registrants.
Influencer Marketing:
Partnering up with an influencer for your business niche can be the perfect way to generate more audience for your webinars. Influencers usually use their social media presence to create awareness for your webinars with headlines like: 'I'll be attending XYZ webinar on intent marketing; it's a great way for marketers to stay in the loop of current marketing trends'. Having the right influencers endorsing your brand will certainly make a huge difference to your webinar marketing plan in how your contacts in the industry approach your webinar promotion.
Social Media:
For B2B trends look no further than LinkedIn. Share your webinar registration forms with connections and don't forget to attach a personalized InMail along with it. You can also create events on and a Facebook ad to promote your webinar as well as use Twitter by generating relevant hashtags as a part of your social media marketing strategy.
3. Select the Optimal Webinar Software
Hosting a live webinar can come with a lot of technical challenges. Poor connectivity, audio quality, random disconnects can become a real hindrance to your webinar success. Days of one-directional discourse in webinars are over, audience engagement and interactive tools for active participation are essential. Keeping that in mind, some of the factors you need to consider while selecting your webinar software platform for a seamless digital experience include:
- Compatibility with browsers and operating systems
- Having a user-friendly interface with easy navigation
- Extremely hassle-free and quick setup and boot time
- The number of attendees the software can handle
- Automatic live recording and replay integration
- Auto-response features
- Must-have interactive tools
Considering these points here are some of the best software solutions that you can choose for an upcoming webinar:
4. Plan According to Viewer Time Zones
Timing is everything, whether it is setting up weekend promotional offers or holiday season campaigns. When setting up your webinars, factor in your audience background and location. Certain days and times will definitely work better when trying to attract the largest audience possible.
When it comes to webinars for B2B marketers, overwhelmingly the data shows Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are most likely to get maximum attendance.
As for the timings, a recent survey by GoToWebinar showed 11 AM to be the most engaging with 2-3 PM coming in as the second most preferable timeslot.
5. Exceptional Audio Quality
When it comes to communication, only 7% of the meaning is derived from the words we use while 38% comes from the tone of voice, and the remaining 55% from non-verbal cues. Needless to say, while hosting a webinar presentation, audio quality is way too critical to neglect. Poor audio is bound to cause an instant turn-off and spoil all the efforts you have made to get your viewers to the webinar in the first place. If you end up sounding distant or crackling, it will seriously impact what otherwise might have been an exceptional message.
Final Thoughts
Webinars are an effective way to build sustaining connections with your prospects and play a crucial role in their customer journey while simultaneously allowing you to distinguish your brand from your competitors. With evolving buyer preferences and video consumption stats rising through the roof, marketers will need to get creative and evolve their webinar marketing strategies over time. Use these tips as a base for weaving your own creative marketing plan to become an excellent webinar host. For further in-depth analysis, you can also check out our webinar benchmarks report here.