The internet is full of disappointing B2B marketing encounters and free webinars are often the worst offenders. We’ve all had the experience of logging in to a promisingly titled session that, between the lengthy introduction designed to establish authority and the aggressive, transparent sales pitch at the end, gives you little to no value in return for your attention.

Like all content, we believe webinars have to be so much more than a thin veneer of value disguising a sleazy sales mechanism. Data shows that while only 17% of marketers see themselves as aggressive salespeople, 50% of their customers feel like they’re being given a hard sell. So, as Sally said to Harry in the infamous diner scene, “you do the math”.

In an attention economy where customer experience is a key differentiator, aim to make your webinar the real deal - flagship content you can build a community and rock solid relationships around.

Why are Webinars Effective?

Webinars and webinar series created from a foundation of customer service and value take an investment of time and resources to produce. Luckily, there are lots of compelling reasons to go down this route.

Let’s look first at audience preference. While 49% of professionals have said they’ve become more selective about the content they consume, webinars rate among the top 3 most popular content types among business professionals. 45% state they have attended a webinar over the previous year. This preference was consistent across industries, job role and age, with popularity rising to 50% among execs.

Webinars aren’t only highly valued by their audiences. 86% of marketing professionals agree that webinars represent a key part of their marketing efforts, and 25% consider them ‘critical’ to digital communications.

It’s not just that webinars offer marketers the opportunity to build an audience, establish expertise and deliver human engagement at scale. 68% of respondents to the ONS survey said that webinars helped them to tie marketing activity to revenue, and 75% reported that webinars helped them to lower their cost per lead.

When it comes to generating leads, 38% considered the quality of leads generated through webinars to be above average, with 55% of respondents saying that their sales team prioritised leads from webinars.

With the benefits clear, let’s move on to looking at best practice backed up by hard data.

How to Create a Compelling Webinar

Give yourself plenty of time

With so many moving parts, running a webinar takes a lot of planning. 69% of marketers say they plan their webinars at least 3 months in advance.

You can expect most of your registrants to sign up during the week running up to, or even on the day of, your event. However, raising awareness of your webinar and generating a buzz around it requires a promotional cycle comparable to an in person event. Ideally you should ‘promote early and often’. Start seeding supporting blog posts, and schedule your social marketing campaigns and promotional emails, four weeks ahead of going live.

Automated email marketing, advanced personalisation on emails and landing pages, and behavioural triggers can tailor your promotion strategy and nurture your prospects along the customer journey as an audience of one. Depending on how they interact with your promotional campaigns and invitations, you can send them different content promoting your webinar. A qualified lead who has previously expressed an interest but not registered needs different information to a brand new prospect who knows nothing about your brand.

Don’t stop promoting, even when you’ve hit the button to go live. Generating a buzz of conversation on social media around your event helps to establish your brand as an educator and thought-leader and builds an audience for the next event in your series.

Finally, don’t forget the all-important follow up. Although it happens after the event, any content you want to send to registrants will need to be prepared in advance to minimise delay and keep you top of mind. This not only includes any slide decks or other downloads you want to send. Pre-write your email copy and create templates with dynamic content tailored to different segments. For example attendees, partial viewers, leads who registered but didn’t attend, and VIPs who never registered.

A final email dropping into your prospect’s inbox when the on demand version of your content is uploaded and ready to view is the cherry on the cake. Don't forget to include an invitation to and teaser for your next live event to keep momentum going.

Concentrate on quality

83% of professionals say that a bad content experience would reflect negatively on their view of a company. So, to be successful you have to pay attention to detail and have excellent production values throughout.

The bar is perhaps set even higher for webinars due to the time investment required of their participants. While they are a popular with professionals, the format is less snackable on the go and requires the focused attention of busy people who are already increasingly selective about the content they consume.

Sharp attention to detail not only communicates greater professionalism and authority, but also respect for your audience’s time.

Your team has to be on top of a wide range of table stakes issues, including but not limited to:

• internet speed and reliability

• chosing a platform with a great user experience for hosting your webinar

• technology to obtain the best picture and sound quality

• minimising disruptions and distractions, for example background noise, other devices, background applications and alerts

• how to handle participant invitations, onboarding and follow ups

• capturing lead information on a webinar landing page,

• good casting and guest book,

• scripting and storyboarding

• creating beautiful graphics and other media

• considering audience engagement and live session facilitation

No webinar should ever go live without your team having rehearsed. Both your tech set up and the webinar content need a full run through to pick up any glitches and to make sure you run to time. Have a clear idea of how long any audience engagement sections, such as break outs or Q&As, will take and factor these in.

Rather than winging it, a script will help you to keep on topic and to time. If you’re co-hosting, a script will also help you to establish smooth transitions and avoid awkward moments.

If your series features guests, don’t forget to include them in your preparations. They need tech instructions to make sure they meet production standards. Schedule time so that every participant gets the opportunity to do a trial run so you can iron out any wrinkles.

Tell a story, give great value

Being thoughtful about your tech, set up, production schedule and having beautifully designed graphics is only going to take you so far.

Prezi asked business professionals in their State of Attention report what makes business content worth their time. Just like the TV series we all invest time in, they said they need a great story (55%), engaging dialogue (41%) and visual stimulation (33%) to keep them hooked.

People also need a compelling reason to engage with your content. Learning new knowledge or skills is a key motivator for people consuming content, along with staying up to date with industry trends and to get fresh ideas. 31% rated best practices and educational topics as valuable content.

As an interesting aside, professionals registered with a certified industry body often need to maintain their level of continuing professional development (CPD) by undertaking a minimum number of hours of training. Webinars developed to the certifying body’s standards can qualify to count towards this annual requirement. This opens up a means of monetising your content and extending your reach by co-promoting your content through the certifying body’s network.

Like TV series or podcasts, a series of webinars needs to have a narrative arc or theme that ties them all together. Aim to produce appointment worthy content that creates a sense that participants will get more out of the experience when they keep attending or miss something vital if they miss an episode.

Give them a clear sense of progression in a course format that builds their knowledge over the span of the series. You could also provide variety by inviting different guest experts to give their unique perspective on your theme each episode.

Remember - get creative. Webinar platforms have a flexible suite of tools that mean you’re not restricted to just using slides. Spice up your storytelling with video clips and animations, webcam or broadcast video, and screen sharing.

Be innovative with your format

The optimal webinar length depends on a number of factors including your audience’s preferences and what your topic and content demand to do them justice.

Research shows that people are willing to spend more time on webinars than other forms of content. We’ve looked at average viewing times across a number of studies from leading webinar platforms and they show that the majority of webinars last for around an hour. However, there is also an appetite for longer formats, with 90 minute webinars attracting 4.6x as many registrations than 30 minute session.

Consider the preferences of your target audience when making your decisions. GoToWebinar’s Content Engagement survey showed no clear preference overall for whether content was ‘short and snappy’ or ‘long and in depth’. However, execs tended to skew more towards a preference for ‘long and in depth’ content that delved into the detail.

All of this amounts to a content format that gives you considerable freedom to get creative, experiment and avoid the ‘death by Powerpoint’ experience. If your network includes industry experts and influencers, think about using traditional TV formats like chat shows or panel discussions, for example. If your audience is full of creatives, workshops including chances to get hands on or involved in collaborative challenges might be more appreciated.

When running a series of webinars, take your episode frequency into account. You might want to consider a shorter, bite size format for a weekly series or something you’re hoping will be bingeable on demand. For example, an interview series with audience Q&A or a series of work-along tutorials.

Conversely, you might want to consider a monthly cadence for longer formats. For example, unscripted panel discussions that take a deep dive into a series of complex issues or workshops involving a higher level of audience participation.

If you’re investing in promoting a fully virtual conference over a short period of time, a mixture of formats and session lengths allows you to connect with the preferences and interest of a wider range of people.

Looking at registration data for your events and average viewing times will help you understand what works for your content and audience.

Facilitate meaningful engagement

Two-way engagement is one of the key benefits of webinars, so be sure to make creative use of the tools your platform provides. When designing your programme, think about how you can use the technology at your fingertips to facilitate a more meaningful experience.

ON24 found that top-performing webinars incorporated a larger number of elements into their sessions, including PowerPoint slides (91%), Q&A sessions (88%), polls (78%) and surveys (73%). Interactive whiteboards, text chat and break out room functions can also provide opportunities for fun ice breakers, creative energisers, and provide opportunities for attendees to share their feedback, experiences and insights.

Consider what is appropriate to your audience. Getting a group of strangers from competing companies to work collaboratively on solving a problem could feel forced or fake. A workshop webinar designed for creative professionals might be a more appropriate forum for fun ice breaker games than a panel discussion targeted at C-suite executives.

Whoever your audience is, make sure you explain how everything is going to work to put them at ease. You can use your automated registrants’ welcome email to give any instructions, worksheet downloads or pre-work you want them to do before logging on. This is also an exciting opportunity to allow your audience to help set the agenda. Ask them to submit questions for your guests to answer live on-air or to direct them to a personalised landing page where they can upvote topics they’re interested in.

In addition, always timetable a brief housekeeping section at the beginning to set expectations for how the session will work. Clarify how participants can ask questions during the session and signpost any Q&As or built in breaks for longer sessions. You can also share your webinar’s hashtags if you’re encouraging conversations to happen on social media. This not only helps you to keep track of the conversation on social but also generates a buzz around your event.

Finally, define what engagement means to your organisation and develop KPIs to measure performance. Examining drop-off points and asking your attendees for feedback can give you the data you need to continually improve your experience.

Give people what they want, when they want it

While webinars are great for people who want real-time engagement, busy professionals want to consume content at their own convenience. Research shows 38% of all attendees only watch on demand webinars, and in another survey 73.2% express a preference for on demand over live.

Making sure you’re catering to this significant proportion of your audience by recording every session and offering on demand access via a content hub is a win-win. You not only get to provide a level of service your customers will appreciate, you also maximise the return on the investment you’ve made by getting your powerful, engaging and valuable content in front of as many eyes as possible.

If you’ve created a series of webinars or are considering it for the first time, you’re probably already aware they represent a not inconsiderable investment in terms of your team’s resources. That said, I hope we’ve demonstrated the excellent opportunity presented by webinars and shared a few good ideas for developing your programming further. If you remember that good marketing comes from creating outstanding value for your customers, you won’t go far wrong.

If you’d like to find out more about how 1827 Marketing’s marketing tools and creative content marketing can help your webinar marketing strategy to generate leads and maximise your investment, get in touch.