In 2020, brands are using virtual events more than ever.
And while some marketers once believed that “webinars were dead,” many are reconsidering that statement as they plan and promote this very type of event.
Webinars or online events, often modeled like a class or seminar, often include a lesson, slide deck, interactive elements such as polls, and occasionally time for viewers to ask questions virtually.
Because of their educational format, webinars can offer brands a number of great benefits.
First, you can build a sense of credibility by hosting a webinar on a topic that your company has expertise in. Second, your fans can interact with you digitally through webinars.
Finally, and most importantly, webinar registrations can lead to a larger contact list, more prospects, or the purchase of conversions.
However, webinars are not always easy to plan and conduct.
Because webinars require viewers to sign up and remember to tune in, clever marketing is required to ensure that a large audience is actually there. With most brands going virtual in 2020, some competitors in your field may be planning a similar webinar that your audiences may be more drawn to.
Fortunately, by doing research on your target audience and learning more about what drives attendees to sign up for webinars, you can create and promote an event that effectively attracts and excites your audiences.
So where do you start
To help you find the best webinar tactics for your brand, I surveyed 400 consumers about their webinar preferences and motivations for attending these virtual events. In this blog post, I’m going to highlight some key takeaways that you can keep in mind as you develop and promote your webinar content.
What Consumers Are Saying About Webinars in 2020
People want webinars that help them explore their passions.
When choosing the webinars to sign up for, are people mainly drawn to events to help them improve their careers or do they attend for recreational purposes?
To learn more about consumer motivation to attend a webinar, I asked 400 consumers, “Which webinars are you most likely to attend in 2020?” 27% chose “Webinars that teach me more about a passion or hobby.” 24% chose “webinars that entertain me”.
Data Source
If you have a webinar strategy or series designed to help people improve their careers or work tactics, don’t panic. Almost a fifth of the group (18%) said they wanted to attend webinars that helped them learn more about their career or industry, while 22% said “All of the above”. These results suggest that consumers will definitely still sign up for a webinar that deals with career, work, or industry related topics.
Additionally, you should keep in mind that this survey was sent to a small general pool of consumers of all ages and career levels. Had this been given primarily to executives or B2B business representatives, the results might have focused on industry-related content.
Regardless of what industry you’re in or how large that survey pool is, marketers should consider the above data when creating and promoting a webinar. Since people are naturally curious and eager to learn, your webinar promotions should intrigue them by clearly stating what they are going to learn, noting potential experts, and highlighting how attendees can use the knowledge they will gain from the program Event.
Webinar viewers sign up to learn – but prefer certain teaching styles over others.
As with any personal class, each professor – or webinar host – can have a slightly different style of teaching.
While some hosts come in with a great presentation on the slide deck, others may bring in an expert and have the audience ask questions. Or they bring in some experts and hold a panel discussion where the audience just listens instead of asking questions.
There are many ways to format an informative webinar, but what style of teaching actually intrigues people enough to get them to sign up?
When I asked, “Which webinar format sounds most interesting to you?”, 30% of participants said, “A presentation that teaches me how to do something specific.” Meanwhile, 20% said “All of the above.”
Data Source
The above results suggest that a simple webinar with fewer bells and whistles can still appeal to the audience if you’re looking for little bandwidth and creativity. However, if you have the time to coordinate a webinar that feels more like a live Q&A, this can be a great formatting option too. 39% of respondents said they were drawn to any of the Q&A webinar formats.
While a more basic presentation or lecture-style webinar will still grab the attention of potential viewers, content marketers should still make sure that their presentations educate the audience about something specific – like a strategy – rather than an incredibly broad or very vague one Discuss topic. like an entire industry. Only 12% of respondents say they have participated in webinars in which a moderator discusses a broad topic.
Chances are a person attending a webinar already knows the basics of their hobby, industry, or passion. But they want to learn more or become an expert on something related to it. For example, as a content marketer, I may not attend a webinar with a broad topic like Marketing, but I may attend webinars like Senior Editor Tips for Advanced Blogging or The Basics of SEO in Marketing.
As a marketer or webinar creator, you need to create a buyer personality for your target audience to identify the best expertise for creating valuable content. If your target audience is filled with beginners to a subject, you may want to create more in-depth webinars that explain basic tasks or tactics. If your target audience is made up of subject matter experts, your webinars may need to be more advanced.
Interactive content: the key to an engaging webinar?
In the modern classroom, teachers will often spice up a number of different class outlines by giving students the opportunity to interact with or test their knowledge. This may include interviewing the class by asking them to raise their hands, ask quizzes, or ask questions.
At online events, marketers can use a variety of tools and video software to make their webinars more interactive and engaging. And based on our research, it appears that consumers enjoy interactive webinars.
When asked, “Which element would you most like to see in a webinar?” Received “A moderator or moderator answering audience questions” received 22% of the vote, followed by “No preference as long as the webinar feels interactive.” “with 19% of the vote. Another 20% say they want to see polls or quizzes.
Data Source
If you’re a marketer who regularly creates webinars, it may be worth considering where to make your programming more interactive.
For example, if you’re hosting an expert, give the audience time to ask questions in the chat section of the webinar tool. When discussing a strategy that is common in your area, interview your audience to see if they used the tactic.
Although polls or Q&A may seem like a basic webinar element, they can get your audience to listen more actively and enjoy the content they are consuming more. This could ultimately lead to them becoming more engaged with your brand, signing up for future webinars, or converting to a client.
If you are marketing a webinar with interactive content, you should promote this aspect. For example, let your target groups know directly in your messages, e-mails and follow-up e-mails that they can actively participate in quizzes, surveys or questions and answers during your event.
In a competitive webinar pool, anything you can do to make your webinar appear more active and engaging than others that are more basic can help increase signups and attendance during the actual event.
Create and promote a successful webinar
While creating a unique and engaging webinar is a critical step in your virtual event strategy, the right promotional tactic is also crucial.
Once you’ve created a webinar schedule that will educate the audiences, allow them to interact with you, and add to your contact list, make sure you are promoting all of the great things your online event covers.
When promoting your webinar, don’t forget to consider aspects that make your event stand out – such as surveys or questions and answers. This transparency shows the audience exactly what to expect and sets you apart from competitors with vague webinar promotions.
For more information on creating a truly compelling webinar, check out this ultimate guide. Would you like to learn how to promote your next online event? Here are some great tips from HubSpot marketers.