The Webinar as a Marketing Tool?

It has been some time since I last wrote an article and while I have had several ideas, I felt the timing was not right, with the proliferation of content online due to various lock downs meaning that ones message may struggle to reach the right audience. However now things seem to be stabilizing into a 'new normal' around online life and working from home. Even as we start to reboot and move back to a more social life, many things have changed forever in the way we will do business.

From my personal perspective, one of the fastest areas of growth has been the move from conferences to online meetings and conferences, often through the use of Webinars. A webinar is essentially a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web using video conferencing software. Generally these feature one or more hosts, who present or interact for an online audience who do not verbally take part, but may have the ability to use a written chat. A key feature of a Webinar is this interactive elements, allowing some measure of interaction between the host or hosts, and the participants. The amount of interaction tends to vary vastly between platforms, from simple presentations with a comments section to fully interactive written chat sessions running along the presentations with hosts answering questions as they go.

From the start of home office in mid March here in Germany, I have committed myself to attending initially one, and more recently two webinars per week. The increase is directly related to the massive rise in the number of webinars available, as well as the increasingly interesting content these provide. In the early days I really struggled to find webinars that we relevant for me, and resorted to some tutorials and development webinars, however as time has gone on, either I have gotten better at finding them, or, which I suspect is the case, the amount of webinars has rapidly increased as companies and groups have tried to remain visible and relevant during the crisis period.

The content likewise has improved rapidly in the last six weeks, as companies and people gather experience in what works best, but also put a higher emphasis on value add and relevant content, which is a great pleasure. Technology always jumps during a major crisis, and this one is no different.

It has also been inspiring to see not only the various tools available, but also how they are used, and I personally have learned about presenting online from some excellent presenters, both as an individual and working in pairs and panels. Some of it clearly scripted and practiced, but often genuine interest has led to good discussions and learning, which encourage follow up conversations and emails.

On the negative side, where there has been less structure or clear content, several webinars have descended into almost panicky sales pitches by under prepared, often very senior people, who were probably cringing even inside as they delivered blunt pitches or scrambled to say anything during an interactive session. On the other extreme, one webinar was a stream of statistical graphs with little commentary or opinion, and could have just as easily been a web post, adding nothing to what one could have researched in a shorter time.

Is the webinar now a new viable marketing tool, I believe very much so, provided a few short rules are followed:

• pick your webinar software or platform carefully for your needs, there are several good ones, with different functionalities.
• have a clear topic and agenda, and deliver on it. That is what your audience has tuned in to discuss.
• ensure the content is direct, relevant and structured
• allow for limited interaction, have a chat function for questions, and bring these regularly into the session. The best time for this is between topics, with a general one at the end.
• if there are slides, allow for 2 windows in the webinar, so that you can be seen and present the slides at the same time, alternatively, distribute them shortly before the webinar, so people can concentrate on what is being discussed.
• set a clear time limit, allowing for a brief summation and feedback session
• stick to your time-plan, nothing is worse that a webinar that is over in 10 minutes, except one that keeps going and going
• monitor attendees and the chat room, you can see there of people are engaged and interested, or dropping out and losing interest
• be ready to follow up with emails and engagement by the speaker(s) after. expect it!

A good webinar will have people engaged and interested, and will generate communications and leads, which is, after all, what you want.

This is the beginning of the new marketing ways, and its still early and we are still all learning, but I think we need to focus on online ways of connecting, and the Webinar is, for now, an excellent tool in this. I cannot wait to see whats next. These are my thoughts and opinions, what did I miss, that you think?