You're invested in your thought leadership webinars. How can you measure their impact on lead generation?

There is no such thing as a "thought leadership webinar." You demonstrate thought leadership, you don't teach it. People who are true thought leaders possess critical thinking skills, resilience, fearlessness, and traits and skills and behaviors like that. Taking a "course" in thought leadership is like taking a course in charisma. If you need a course to learn it, you don't have it and aren't going to acquire it. Of course, there are always the initials people love to put after their names: TLC (thought leader certified). The more initials people trail after their names, the more suspicious I get about their abilities.

Measuring the impact of thought leadership webinars on lead generation requires a multi-faceted approach. Start by tracking traditional metrics like registration numbers, attendance rates, and content consumption data. Delve deeper by analyzing lead quality through conversion rates and lead scoring. To truly understand influence, monitor social shares, online mentions, and website traffic. Post-webinar surveys and attendee feedback offer invaluable qualitative insights. Correlate webinar performance with sales pipeline data to establish a direct link to revenue. Remember, the true impact extends beyond immediate leads; consider long-term brand reputation and thought leadership positioning as key indicators of success.

The registration rates were sky-high in 2020-2021 due to the surge in remote work. But now, they've become more tailored to cater to the specific needs of users and subscribers in their respective niches. This means thought leadership should aim to pique interest and make it hard for consumers to resist. When it comes to capturing leads, registration is a quick one-minute process. It might be useful for reaching out to customers for other webinars, but those contacts shouldn't be considered leads. True leads are individuals who attend or request to listen to the webinars later, as they are more likely to convert. Based on my experience, I consider only these as HQL (high-quality leads), as the rest are barely worthwhile.

Track Registrations and Attendance: Measure the number of people who register and attend your webinars, comparing it to previous events to gauge interest and engagement.

You're committed to thought leadership webinars, but let's ask you, are they truly moving the needle on getting new customers/clients, or just making us feel good about ourselves? Measuring impact is more than counting attendees, it's about tracking the journey from engagement to conversion. Are these viewers becoming customers or just fans of our content? It's time to scrutinize, optimize, and connect the dots between our efforts and actual results. For those serious about leveling up, "Scaling Success" could be a game-changer for you. It's not just about growing, it's about rewriting the rules to scale your business. Let's ensure our strategies aren't just noise but a symphony that drives tangible growth. #MoeNawaz #ScalingSuccess

Attendee Engagement: This is really kind of a "duh" and obviously important objective. Having said that, I would expand "engagement" beyond the actual webinar. Engage the invitees BEFORE the webinar to gather questions / areas of interest. Setup some friendly participants with questions that take the conversation (or online chat) where you want it to go. Then continue the engagement AFTER the webinar. Yes a follow-up email (duh #2), but online polls published to all or a continuing threaded and asynchronous chat if you can. Keep it relevant and valuable. Don't do "sales" in those settings... take that offline and 1x1.

One of the key ways to measure the impact of your thought leadership webinars on lead generation is by tracking attendee engagement. Monitor metrics like participation in Q&A sessions, poll responses, and chat activity to gauge how actively participants are involved. It’s like being a stand-up comedian—you know you’re doing well when the audience is laughing and not just staring at their phones! High engagement often correlates with interest in your content, which can translate into potential leads. Tools like engagement scores and feedback forms can provide valuable insights into what resonates with your audience. After all, the more engaged they are, the more likely they are to follow you from the webinar to your website!

I have found that when we provide actionable items to our attendees -- something that provides them with additional value (an eBook or slide deck, for example) -- engagements beyond just the webcast increase proportionate to the value. A research report has more value than an eBook but an eBook has more value than just a transcript of the session. ALWAYS respond to Q&A questions that were not addressed during the session. Generally speaking, a thank-you with a link to a transcript also can increase engagement and drive follow-up actions.

O engajamento dos participantes é fundamental para medir o sucesso de um webinar. Mais do que apenas assistir, o envolvimento ativo, como participação em enquetes, perguntas e discussões no chat, indica um interesse genuíno no conteúdo. Esse engajamento pode ser um forte indicador de que os participantes estão mais propensos a se tornarem leads qualificados. Ao criar um ambiente interativo, não apenas agregamos valor, mas também fortalecemos relações, criando uma base sólida para futuras oportunidades de negócios.

Only meaningful pre-seminar engagement can really have meaningful seminar engagement. Must do the homework on the audience to ensure what the audience wants during seminars.

Monitor Post-Webinar Engagement: Analyze how attendees interact with follow-up content, such as emails, downloadable resources, or social media posts, to assess ongoing interest.

Track how many attendees visit your website, download additional resources, or sign up for consultations after the event. It’s like leaving breadcrumbs on a trail—the more breadcrumbs (or clicks) they follow, the closer they are to becoming a lead. You can use tools like UTM tracking links and conversion analytics to monitor these behaviors. Research shows that timely follow-ups, like sending a personalized email, can significantly boost lead conversion rates. Remember, the real magic happens not just during the webinar, but in what attendees do after it—kind of like how the real test of a good movie is whether it keeps you thinking after the credits roll!

Offer collateral with an opt in. If you are truly teaching thought leadership, there should be at least one good paper discussed. I always offer the materials I discuss/show to customers on an opt-in basis. For almost 20 years I've been building lists of compelling use cases, and they have been the number one ask in the sessions I teach for almost as long. The offer gets you their accurate updated contact information and starts to establish trusted advisor status.

As ações de acompanhamento após um webinar são essenciais para avaliar o real interesse dos participantes e identificar potenciais leads. Quando um participante baixa materiais adicionais, se inscreve em boletins informativos ou solicita uma consulta, demonstra um nível mais profundo de engajamento. Essas ações sugerem uma maior probabilidade de conversão em leads qualificados. Oferecer conteúdo de valor e CTAs claros é crucial para nutrir esses interessados, guiando-os de forma eficaz pelo funil de vendas e maximizando as oportunidades de negócios.

Lead Conversion Rates: Track how many webinar attendees convert into qualified leads or clients, using tools like CRM systems to attribute new business directly to your webinars.

Audience feedback is crucial. It helps your presentation stay grounded and relevant to a wide audience with a diverse background. Knowing your audience prior to presenting can help you tweak your content to make it more relatable to them. If the audience does not find your content to resonate with their needs, then what is the point?

First place I’d look is the conversion metric %, and compare this over time and across different strategies to find the optimal approach to these seminars. Make sure your sample size is sufficiently large, so that the results make good sense and you’re not relying on spuriousness

The quintessential metric for a webinar's lead generation impact is the conversion rate, representing the percentage of attendees who undertake a desired action, such as completing a contact form or buying a product. Track attendees' post-webinar actions accurately by implementing a system that attributes their responses correctly. Analyzing conversion rates enables you to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of your webinars and guides the development of tailored content strategies for enhanced future outcomes.

Several platforms I've used provide useful metrics on attendees, but you need to go beyond that. Your ROI is based on more than just the initial engagement of the webcast - it's based on follow-up activities as well. The metrics provided by the platform is just a start. Using custom URL helps identify how well the webcast is driving traffic over time -- having aggregate data on multiple custom URLs and follow-up activity will give you much better numbers on your effectiveness.

It's super important to send an email to all webinar attendees asking for their feedback. Create a quick survey. Craft your questions using a 1-5 scale, or make the questions multiple choice. You want to make it as frictionless as possible for your attendees to give feedback. Consider running a contest where everyone who gives feedback is entered to win a prize.

Feedback is often a missed opportunity to once again touch those who attended your webcast. Not only do you want basic info on how effective the webcast was, but also ask about information your attendee wanted to hear but didn't, or perhaps something that they didn't to hear but was covered. Learning why they attended and what they hoped to obtain is extremely valuable. You also might want to run a promotion for those who do provide feedback with a small gift -- perhaps a $50 Amazon or other general use gift card.

Measuring the impact of your thought leadership webinars on lead generation requires a multi-faceted approach. Personally, the audience feedback is an important component. By carefully analyzing audience feedback and other key metrics, you can refine your webinar strategy, improve content, and optimize lead generation efforts.

Coletar feedback do público é vital para entender o impacto subjetivo dos webinars. Por meio de pesquisas ou contatos diretos, as opiniões dos participantes sobre o conteúdo, a apresentação e a experiência geral oferecem insights que os dados quantitativos não capturam. Feedback positivo sugere um webinar bem-sucedido, enquanto críticas construtivas fornecem oportunidades para aprimorar futuras apresentações. Esse retorno é crucial para ajustar o conteúdo e a abordagem, garantindo que os webinars atendam às expectativas e necessidades do público.

I agree, retention rates not only help gauge impact of thought leadership webinars, but also show intent on future purchases. This is especially true for account based marketing where you see repeat attendees from individual accounts continuously engaging on certain topics.

Analisar as taxas de retenção, ou o número de participantes recorrentes, é crucial para entender o impacto de longo prazo dos webinars na geração de leads. Um aumento constante de participantes repetidos indica que seu conteúdo permanece relevante e valioso, fortalecendo a lealdade e possivelmente gerando recomendações boca a boca. Monitorar essas taxas permite avaliar a eficácia contínua da sua posição de liderança de pensamento, além de ajudar a construir um pipeline de leads sustentável e robusto ao longo do tempo.

Along with retention rates, 2 important metrics to track is referral rates and Customer Lifecycle Value (CLV). This will enable you to evaluate the quality of audience that you have been able to garner for your webnair.

I would say it's a funnel. Each part is relevant and to have to follow through until the end, especially if your end goal is monetization and not only long term influence. Even though I would keep a balanced attention on short and long term impacts and have an absolute obsession for retention.