by Laura Heinrich
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Knowing where to start with webinars as a lead-generation source can be daunting for most marketing executives. It's tempting to host a one-time, make-or-break event that alone will determine whether webinars will continue to be part of the corporate marketing plan.
However, it takes time to understand how to devise the most compelling topics, and even more effort to plan how to reach the target audience with this relatively new marketing tool.
The reality is that B2B sales happen over a period of several months as trust builds between the prospect and the seller. Webinars may be used not just to bring new leads in the door but also to move existing leads through the pipeline to a final contract.
Therefore, rather than a one-hit approach, it makes more sense to determine where webinars fit into the overall sales cycle. A more productive approach is to review the next six months of the marketing calendar to see where webinars may fit as an integrated part of already planned campaigns.
When looking at a marketing plan, the following offer opportunities to evaluate possible webinar placement.
Product Launches
Hosting a webinar around the problem that a new product is designed to solve is an excellent webinar draw. It's never a good idea to blatantly promote a new product, especially in a webinar title and description. Doing so would turn off prospects and keep attendance low.
Instead, focus webinar content on the industry and the problem at hand; and, if possible, use a neutral outside expert. If the webinar offers valuable information, prospects will naturally turn to the webinar-sponsoring company for solutions.
Capability Promotions
Between product launches companies typically design marketing campaigns focused on key differentiators. If, for example, a company or service has an especially interesting security aspect to it, an integrated campaign on that topic with a webinar as part of the promotion could be powerful. Combining a webinar with a whitepaper can lead to a substantial audience draw.
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