Replace Events with Webinars! Keys to a Great Webinar Strategy

The key to successful businesses not only lies in impactful ads, original content, and disruptive business models...success also lies in strategy (which is nothing more than the sum of all the above, implemented properly.)

Right now, most Marketing Directors and CEOs have the following question on their minds: What do we do now? The fact is, our typical Marketing Strategy needs to be reorganized for the remainder of 2020 and probably into 2021. 

The way out of the crisis we're experiencing will be different in each economic sector (according to this Deloitte study) and it will heavily depend on how organizations are adapting their strategies to the new scenario.

Up until now, many traditional Marketing strategies included in-person events, conferences, or networking to meet, attract, and retain customers. This is lo longer possible.

An increasingly likely scenario is that in-person events will disappear during the remainder of 2020. It seems logical to think that health restrictions, social distancing, travel control, and also the mood of those attending will have a very serious impact on this sector.

So, it should be obvious that we need to replace these face-to-face events with online actions. To do this successfully, we need to go back and look at our Marketing Strategy from the beginning of the year, get down to the real goal of these events, and consider if a webinar or online event could replace them. 

Let's take a look at a relevant example:

We had planned to attend an industry event, where we were going to promote our products/services through product demos and brand positioning among an expert community. For this to be replaced by a webinar, all the conditions of that environement would need to be replicated. 

Below, we offer 3 keys for a great webinar strategy in order to successfully substitute webinars for events. 

1. Invitation

1. We need to target a similar audience as the industry event we had planned to attend. To do this correctly, work on segmentation within your own database or use external sources (i.e. LinkedIn) to find leads with the right characteristics.
2. The next step is reaching out to and attracting that audience. We must create an attractive invitation and have a suitable technological solution tailored to webinars. Since we no longer have a booth with large signs or plasma screens to draw the attention of event-goers, we need to create attractive online invitations and know how to condense our key messages into an interesting agenda.

2. Agenda

1. The agenda of the webinar must respond to needs of the audience. Some talking points may be circumstantial, but this "emergency" situation will pass, and our unique value proposition must be clear.
2. In addition to an interesting webinar topic, we have to highlight our speakers, their experience, knowledge, and qualities. If you can put a face on the invitation, even better.
3. The structure of the event must be simple. Don't go overboard on topics and keep the webinar relatively short. 45 minutes of the audience's undivided attention is usually the most we can ask for, any longer is more complicated considering they're probably at home with their families. Finally, it's important to open a Q&A at the end for interaction. 

3. Follow Up

1. Besides valuable webinar content, your follow-up might be the most important part. Thank those who attended, as well as those who registered and did not attend. Send both segments the necessary materials to learn more. 
2. From this point, if you have centralized the information you have on prospects or leads in a CRM and you have a Marketing Automation strategy, each prospect will follow the Buyer's Journey that you have designed; new leads will be sent more information, uninterested leads will filter themselves out, and "warmer" leads will have the proper pathways to connect with sales reps.

As we said at the beginning, the key to success lies in the strategy. Substituting one tactic for another requires rethinking the goals of your Marketing actions and trying to replicate them in a new environment, in this case, the digital one.

If you need more information on webinar strategy or Inbound Marketing Strategy, don't hesitate to get in contact with us. We'd be happy to help you!