Video webinars make it easy to educate consumers, demonstrate new products, and increase sales conversions, making them a worthwhile component of any inbound marketing strategy. Although video webinars are less expensive than other forms of marketing, marketers still need to spend plenty of time researching their audiences and creating engaging presentations.
Choosing the right webinar topic will help ensure your webinar will appeal to a specific segment of a target audience.
Audience Research
No one wants to spend months creating an engaging webinar only to have a handful of people show up for the event. That is why it is so important to conduct market research before choosing a webinar topic. Marketers should read forum comments, blog posts, and social media pages to see if audience members are interested in a particular topic. If a blog post has a lot of comments about a topic, there's a good chance audience members will be receptive to a video webinar with additional information.
Marketers also need to gather as much information as possible about the people in their target audiences. Gathering the following information makes it easier to create webinars that appeal to a specific segment of a target audience.
- Income level
- Age
- Marital status
- Number of children
- Geographic location
- Job title
- Industry
- Educational level
Benefits of Video Webinars
Video webinars have several benefits for marketers and prospects alike. Producing a webinar is usually less expensive than advertising in magazines or promoting a product via direct mail, making it one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing available. Video webinars also have the following benefits for marketers:
- Asking attendees to register gives marketers access to a treasure trove of contact information.
- Delivering valuable information makes prospects more likely to make a purchase.
- There is no need to purchase expensive recording equipment; it's possible to produce a high-quality webinar with a basic camera and microphone.
- The use of video allows marketers to demonstrate new products without having to travel.
- Prospects tend to see webinar presenters as industry experts.
- Paid webinars are a great source of additional revenue for business owners.
Video Webinars and Inbound Marketing Strategy
Many traditional marketing tactics fall into the "push marketing" category. Also known as outbound marketing, push marketing aims to get new products in front of consumers. Pull marketing, on the other hand, aims to generate interest from people in a target audience. The goal of pull marketing activities is to have a prospect request more information, make a purchase, or sign up for a free trial. Because the goal of a video webinar is to generate interest for a product or service, webinars are considered a part of a company's inbound marketing strategy.
Planning and preparations will result in high production values and more successful webinars.
Video Webinars 101
Webinar content must appeal to the target audience. The content developed for a group of executives in their sixties should be very different from the content developed for a webinar aimed at software developers in their mid-twenties, for example. Marketers should use the data they collect during the research phase to choose a webinar topic and create an engaging presentation.
Every video webinar should have high production values. Shaky video, inconsistent audio, and other problems reflect poorly on the webinar sponsor. The content must also be well-organized and suitable for all audience members. Every marketer must consider the following when planning and producing a video webinar:
- Will there be more than one speaker?
- Is a moderator or facilitator necessary to keep the webinar moving along at the right pace?
- If there are multiple speakers, how will the content be organized?
- Will audience members have the opportunity to ask questions?
- Does the speaker require any special graphics or audio files?
- Will the webinar be recorded for distribution at a later date?
- How many people can one bridge line accommodate? Is more than one bridge line necessary?
- Do we have all the equipment necessary to produce a high-quality webinar?
Before a scheduled webinar, it's important to do a dry run to ensure everything goes smoothly. Practicing the content makes it easier for speakers to sound natural for the event, and it can also help webinar organizers identify potential problems with the equipment used to broadcast or record the webinar.
Broadcasting a video webinar has many benefits for marketers and prospects alike, but marketers must be careful not to cut corners when planning and producing their presentations. For best results, conduct extensive audience research before choosing a webinar topic. Otherwise, it's easy to miss the mark when it comes to delivering an engaging presentation.
For expert help with inbound marketing, request an assessment from Connection Model.
.Written By: Doug Milnor
