How to Use Webinars in Your Business

One of the toughest challenges for any business is finding qualified prospects. Webinars are one of the most powerful and inexpensive marketing tools for finding qualified leads and customers. According to the 2012 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends Research Report from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 46% of marketers are using webinars.

Webinars are still seen as one of the most effective marketing tactics. In fact, research shows that marketers’ confidence in webinars is second only to in-person trade shows.

The fact is, approximately 65 percent of the population are visual learners. Since webinars make use of audio and visual elements as well as prospect interaction, they are a valuable tool for strengthening relationships with prospects and customers.

A 30-second guide to webinars 

• Webinars (also called “webcasts”, “online events” or “web seminars”) are simply real-time online events or presentations hosted through a conferencing tool. Typically, the audience can interact with the host and/or moderator.
• Webinars range in length from 30-90 minutes, with the average length being 65 minutes.
• The most popular days for hosting webinars are Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• According to Clickmeeting, a webinar presentation platform,  the average webinar has 2 presenters and 28 participants.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, how can you use webinars in your business? Let me show you how you can use webinars to generate highly qualified leads.

How to get qualified leads

The first way that webinars help you generate qualified leads is by allowing you to capture a name and email address as part of the registration process. Since most people that register for webinars do so based on the topic of the webinar, you also have a targeted list of people who share a common problem or interest. This is why effective webinar topics are those that solve a problem for the attendee.

Webinar participants can ask and answer questions as well as take polls and surveys. All of these provide invaluable data for your marketing purposes. Another benefit of hosting webinars is that they enable live, real-time, person-to-person communication. This helps boost prospect engagement during the sales cycle.

How to run a webinar like the pros

Hosting webinars increases your visibility, credibility, trust, and expert status. You can use webinars to educate, or to sell products and services.

• You can host several different types of webinars. There are sales webinars, Q&A sessions, coaching webinars, and informational webinars that solve a customer problem. Webinars featuring subject matter experts are high-value and generate high quality leads.
• You can collect additional prospect data like poll data, survey responses, and open-ended questions before and during the webinar presentation.

• Following up with attendees after the webinar is a step many marketers neglect. Use webinar follow up emails to promote further engagement and convert leads into customers.

If you can provide a solution or educate people on a topic of interest you should make hosting webinars a part of your digital marketing strategy.

To learn more about using webinars in your business, register for this free, upcoming webinar.

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